Apple TV Color Balance Feature May Make Image Quality and Colors Worse

[MacRumors]

Apple TV's Color Balance calibration feature may make color accuracy and image quality worse on some TVs, tests have found (via AFTVnews).

Professional television calibrator Vincent Teoh, who runs the YouTube channel HDTVTest, put the Apple TV's color calibration feature to the test on a range of popular TVs in a recent video.

The Apple TV's Color Calibration debuted in tvOS 14.5 and iOS 14.5, giving users the ability to hold an iPhone with Face ID near their TV and, after tapping a notification, the iPhone's front-facing camera and ambient light sensor will begin color measurements and automatically tailor the Apple TV's video output to deliver supposedly more accurate colors and improved contrast. Apple says this process will result in improved picture quality without adjusting the TV's settings.

Apple's demonstration image showing what the Color Balance feature can achieve.​

Teoh found that in a number of cases Apple's calibration feature actually made color accuracy worse, even going as far as to incorrectly shift the color output of a high-end Sony mastering monitor.

When set to their most accurate out-of-the-box color presets, two of the three TVs Teoh tested had their color accuracy made worse. On a Samsung QLED TV, the overall color accuracy improved, but the image was incorrectly shifted to a cooler blue tone. On a Sony LED TV, the feature made the color accuracy worse and similarly made the image too blue. On an LG OLED TV, the calibration feature did manage to improve color accuracy without making the image too blue.

When the tests were re-run with the TV's default color presets, the Apple TV's calibration feature improved color accuracy on all three models. Even so, Teoh found that when color accuracy was improved, image quality was degraded in other ways. Since the Apple TV had to shift the color output so much in these instances, the resulting image suffered from unwanted color banding lines, known as posterization.

• How to Use Apple TV's iPhone-Based Color Balance Feature

Teoh's tests indicate that the Apple TV's color calibration is certainly not a replacement for professional color calibration using specialized tools, and should be used with caution. AFTVnews suggests that users may be better off using the Color Balance feature to see how drastically it changes the TV's image, and then attempting to match the result using the TV's built-in color options.

Article Link: Apple TV Color Balance Feature May Make Image Quality and Colors Worse

 

[BarredOwl]

Knew it. A gimmicky, flawed feature.

 

[hondo77]

Yeah, the Apple calibration wanted to make my already-calibrated TV slightly cooler. So I kept it the way it was.

 

[dannyyankou]

That was the case for me, I thought it looked considerably worse

 

[Maclver]

Good thing Apple didn't say 100% of the TVs it's used on would show improvement... I feel that is why Apple gives you a comparison on your TV so you can make the decision for yourself.

 

[thadoggfather]

Knew it. A gimmicky, flawed feature.

it cant be so ! people said blindly with total conviction it would put professional calibrators out of work and render tv picture settings menus futile

 

[Andres Cantu]

Just make your own TV already, Apple. You know it would sell extremely well.

 

[MistrSynistr]

Apple developed True Tone and night shift.

I suspected if you used this feature, it would mute and destroy your TV colors and make them yellow/dark.

 

[joshwithachance]

Make the AppleTV output look better on my 65" Samsung KS8000.

 

[twennywonn]

Just to be clear his job is to professionally calibrate displays for money. I’m not saying he’s wrong just an important consideration.

 

[Gator5000e]

I ran it on my Panasonic Plasma and it made a small change so I kept the new settings and proceeded to watch Jupiter's Legacy and it look fantastic. It might have looked fantastic without the changes but I just let the changes stand. Now my TV was professionally calibrated shortly after I bought it in 2013 so I don't know if that made a difference or not. But the TV still looks darn good to me.

 

[ruka.snow]

The change it suggested to me for my LG was subtle but did look closer to my reference display when comparing one of my photos. But I was under no illusions that it'll be anything more than a good guess at improving the image.

 

[doboy]

Since I finally updated to 14.5.1 I guess I should try this feature on my LG OLED.

 

[zorinlynx]

When I ran it, the difference was so tiny that I left it turned off. I figured less processing is always better than more if you can't tell the difference.

 

[seinman]

Just to be clear his job is to professionally calibrate displays for money. I’m not saying he’s wrong just an important consideration.

Exactly. He's an expert in the field, who is in the perfect position to confirm what users of the feature have already complained about. I calibrate displays as part of my job and, while I don't have an Apple TV to try it, assumed it wouldn't work well. Glad to see others with the proper equipment and experience are able to back that up.

 

[2010mini]

it cant be so ! people said blindly with total conviction it would put professional calibrators out of work and render tv picture settings menus futile

Where did you read those comments? I’ve never seen any post saying that. From the get go the consensus was that, this doesn’t work for most high end TVs.

 

[thebeans]

Apple TV's Color Balance calibration feature may make color accuracy and image quality worse on some TVs, tests have found (via AFTVnews).

Professional television calibrator Vincent Teoh, who runs the YouTube channel HDTVTest, put the Apple TV's color calibration feature to the test on a range of popular TVs in a recent video.

The Apple TV's Color Calibration debuted in tvOS 14.5 and iOS 14.5, giving users the ability to hold an iPhone with Face ID near their TV and, after tapping a notification, the iPhone's front-facing camera and ambient light sensor will begin color measurements and automatically tailor the Apple TV's video output to deliver supposedly more accurate colors and improved contrast. Apple says this process will result in improved picture quality without adjusting the TV's settings.

Apple's demonstration image showing what the Color Balance feature can achieve.​

Teoh found that in a number of cases Apple's calibration feature actually made color accuracy worse, even going as far as to incorrectly shift the color output of a high-end Sony mastering monitor.

When set to their most accurate out-of-the-box color presets, two of the three TVs Teoh tested had their color accuracy made worse. On a Samsung QLED TV, the overall color accuracy improved, but the image was incorrectly shifted to a cooler blue tone. On a Sony LED TV, the feature made the color accuracy worse and similarly made the image too blue. On an LG OLED TV, the calibration feature did manage to improve color accuracy without making the image too blue.

When the tests were re-run with the TV's default color presets, the Apple TV's calibration feature improved color accuracy on all three models. Even so, Teoh found that when color accuracy was improved, image quality was degraded in other ways. Since the Apple TV had to shift the color output so much in these instances, the resulting image suffered from unwanted color banding lines, known as posterization.

• How to Use Apple TV's iPhone-Based Color Balance Feature

Teoh's tests indicate that the Apple TV's color calibration is certainly not a replacement for professional color calibration using specialized tools, and should be used with caution. AFTVnews suggests that users may be better off using the Color Balance feature to see how drastically it changes the TV's image, and then attempting to match the result using the TV's built-in color options.

Article Link: Apple TV Color Balance Feature May Make Image Quality and Colors Worse

So to summarize the article, it sucks and should almost never be used.

 

[thekev]

It's very unlikely that the left image is as intended. I can't imagine this being a close match on a standardized target after that kind of adjustment, even with the amount of variation between various television models and individual units.

Also how long did they allow this thing to warm up?

 

[vipergts2207]

it cant be so ! people said blindly with total conviction it would put professional calibrators out of work and render tv picture settings menus futile

Post where anyone said this.

 

[2010mini]

Yeah, the Apple calibration wanted to make my already-calibrated TV slightly cooler. So I kept it the way it was.

isn’t that why it gives you the choice? Most high end tv will be incompatible with this feature.

 

[jav6454]

I have been putting doing this calibration off as I really did not believe it was going to be exact on its first iteration. Apparently it still needs work.

 

[aircanman]

Once again Apple are giving you a calibration to what they think is best, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and while I think this is a great feature, it needs to follow some sort of worldwide colour tuning standard, Apple struggle to calibrate their own iPhone screens so letting them loose on hundreds of TV brands is going to cause issues.

 

[_Refurbished_]

Apple TV's Color Balance calibration feature may make color accuracy and image quality worse on some TVs, tests have found (via AFTVnews).

Professional television calibrator Vincent Teoh, who runs the YouTube channel HDTVTest, put the Apple TV's color calibration feature to the test on a range of popular TVs in a recent video.

The Apple TV's Color Calibration debuted in tvOS 14.5 and iOS 14.5, giving users the ability to hold an iPhone with Face ID near their TV and, after tapping a notification, the iPhone's front-facing camera and ambient light sensor will begin color measurements and automatically tailor the Apple TV's video output to deliver supposedly more accurate colors and improved contrast. Apple says this process will result in improved picture quality without adjusting the TV's settings.

Apple's demonstration image showing what the Color Balance feature can achieve.​

Teoh found that in a number of cases Apple's calibration feature actually made color accuracy worse, even going as far as to incorrectly shift the color output of a high-end Sony mastering monitor.

When set to their most accurate out-of-the-box color presets, two of the three TVs Teoh tested had their color accuracy made worse. On a Samsung QLED TV, the overall color accuracy improved, but the image was incorrectly shifted to a cooler blue tone. On a Sony LED TV, the feature made the color accuracy worse and similarly made the image too blue. On an LG OLED TV, the calibration feature did manage to improve color accuracy without making the image too blue.

When the tests were re-run with the TV's default color presets, the Apple TV's calibration feature improved color accuracy on all three models. Even so, Teoh found that when color accuracy was improved, image quality was degraded in other ways. Since the Apple TV had to shift the color output so much in these instances, the resulting image suffered from unwanted color banding lines, known as posterization.

• How to Use Apple TV's iPhone-Based Color Balance Feature

Teoh's tests indicate that the Apple TV's color calibration is certainly not a replacement for professional color calibration using specialized tools, and should be used with caution. AFTVnews suggests that users may be better off using the Color Balance feature to see how drastically it changes the TV's image, and then attempting to match the result using the TV's built-in color options.

Article Link: Apple TV Color Balance Feature May Make Image Quality and Colors Worse

Had high hopes, bummer. Maybe the software will improve over time, but this a letdown.

I get my main displays ISF calibrated anyways, so not a huge deal. However, this would have been a great feature to have when setting of friends and family TVs.

 

[dr_lha]

I used it on my Samsung Plasma and the change was not dramatic, but the difference was that the "original" that Apple showed me looked slightly greener than the "fixed". I turned it on, but it has not made a dramatic difference. Still, people presumably have eyes, so if the results look worse to you, don't use it.

 

[69Mustang]

Just to be clear his job is to professionally calibrate displays for money. I’m not saying he’s wrong just an important consideration.

It's not really a consideration at all. Anyone who is familiar with Vincent knows the integrity of his analysis. Vincent, with a razor sharp dry wit and copious double entendre, tells it like it is. He praises and criticizes with equal fervor. Well, as with as much fervor as his deadpan delivery will allow. Dude is well worth the sub for anyone looking for straight-shooting TV analysis.