This article is sort of a review of the color balance feature of the Apple TV, where we will figure whether it really improves your picture quality or not. If you have used this feature before, then you would know that it utilizes the iPhone cellular device to balance and measure the hue shades of the Apple TV.

Generally, people do not like to tinker with their television, but there are people who prefer a certain resolution and picture color optimization, and if you are interested in calibrating these aspects of your Apple TV, then you can proceed to read further. A new television function has been released by Apple for their premium television box Apple TV, which lets you draw the most high-quality pictures through your streaming box. And, it does not even require professional toolsets and an exorbitant light meter. The new function released by Apple just requires your iPhone device to do the job. And the whole process will not take more than thirty seconds.

The new function is called “Color Balance,” and users can find the option present in the settings menu of their Apple TV setup.

However, before proceeding further, let us glance at some procedures on how to access this feature.

How to Access the “Color Balance” feature of Apple TV

In the commencing step, you need to ensure that you are in possession of an iPhone cellular device with the version “iPhone X” or versions after that. The phone should also have a Face ID application, and the operating system of the device should be at least iOS 14.5 or the versions newer than that.
Of course, in order to use the “Color Balance” function, you need to own an Apple TV 4K, or any Apple TV with the running operating system of versions TVOS 14.5 or later versions.
Now, if you need to access the “Color Balance” feature of Apple TV, you need to switch on your streaming box and then click on the “Settings” application which you may find on the screen.
Then, tap on the “Video & Audio” option.
Open the Calibration section. Look for the “Color Balance feature, and once you find it, please select it.
Now, hold your cellular device in front of your Apple TV screen.
You will notice that on your Apple TV screen, a color swatch will appear, and your phone will commence to measure it.
After the measurement is done, the phone will balance the color output of the Apple TV to regulate the hue output.
Is Color Balance Feature Effective Enough?

After following the above-mentioned instructions, you would notice that the color output of your Apple TV has been altered. Now, you may ask how much of a difference the feature makes. Well, first of all, the feature does work, but there are some red flags. Several reviewers, such as David Katzmaier of CNET, have tested the features with different budgeted TV models like high-end, midrange, and low-cost.

Overall, the “Color Balance” will give you a satisfactory result; however, the picture mode will affect the result if you choose to change. The feature works fine on the images offering dark tone or low quality and also on inadequate picture modes. However, “Color Balance” will not prove to be much useful in the accurate mode because it already has a high quality. In those pictures, you will see that “Color Balance” will offer no noteworthy impact.

Another disadvantage of this feature is the fact that “Color Balance” can only be used exclusively on Apple TV systems only. You cannot use it on any device of another brand, be it a game console, cable, or PC. In such instances, you should start optimizing the color setting to your preferred mode.

Now, let us dig into it a little bit more

What Do We Mean By “Color Balance”?

The term “Color Balance” refers to the exactness of each color shade, which you observe on your television. At the crux of the whole technology is a concept called “color temperature,” which can be dubbed as “white balance,” and can be translated as the colors grey and white in the literal sense. Generally, the behavior of white is to deviate towards “red” or “blue,” i.e., hot or cool; however, there is a specific white color used in cinematography. This white point has been termed “D65.” The point is generally employed by large film studios and independent content creators to give realistic vibes to their pictures. In a general sense, you imagine that if your television does not succeed in matching that “D65” point, the picture will look unreal, the clouds and mountains would look artificial, and the skin tones of the actors would look awkward. So, to get the optimal “Color Balance,” it is imperative for the users to get as close to “D65” as possible. How can you do that? Well, to begin with, you must use the in-built white balance color palette of your television and try using different white and grey test patterns to get an accurate idea of the image quality.

The TVs we have in our house use a blueish white point as the basis, which gives an attractive outlook to the images. And, that is why the default picture mode settings are often fixed at Dynamic or Vivid, so that the images that would appear on TV become dazzling and glamorous. On the other hand, movies and web series use a more calibrated and accurate picture mode, and the white balance used there gives a realistic feel to the images.

Where Does “Color Balance” Work?

As it has been stated earlier, the “Color Balance” feature of Apple TV works finest when you are applying it to an “inaccurate mode.”In the inaccurate mode, the effect of the feature is extremely tiny, if not non-existent. For example, if you use premium television sets such as Vizio M65Q7-H1, LG OLED 65 G1, and Insignia NS50DR710NA17 along with the Apple TV streaming box, you will find that the “Color Balance” function will show improvement in all three sets with inaccurate mode and will only show improvement in Insignia 50DR710NA17 with accurate mode. The inaccurate mode means that the white balance used here is deviated from D-65 and intending towards the bluish side. In that mode, the “Color Balance” improves the color output by 2000K, which is quite desirable. In other HDR (High-Dynamic Range) models such as Vizio M65Q7-H1 and LG OLED65G1, there will be little to no change in accurate mode. And, frankly, people do not need “Color Balance” in HDR television set accurate mode. It provides adequate color output.

However, the kind of television you are using also determines the “Color Balance” output of your Apple TVs. People with expensive TVs, who are most likely to buy Apple TV boxes, will experience better hue patterns with “Color Balance” than the people who prefer to watch Apple TV at a bargain-priced television.

We must also take into account that though secondary colors such as red, blue, or green emerge as options in the color swatch, the function showed no significant impact in secondary colors before and after the activation of “Color Balance.” Furthermore, a user is also unlikely to see any alteration in gamma or light output while using secondary color swatches.

And, it is a little hard work as well; you might have to try again and again and keep your phone stable at the right angle in order for it to work.

Conclusion

You do not need this function of “Color Balance” if you are using an accurate color mode to start with. And, if you want to select the accurate color mode, the process is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is to go to the TV menu and opt for either of the following modes such as Filmmaker, Cinema, Calibrated, Movie, ISF Bright, Custom Bright, or Calibrated Bright. Furthermore, the default setting of HDR television is optimized in a way that you would need to do anything to get the best color output. However, you can utilize “Color Balance” in lower-end televisions while using Apple TVs.

Source: https://wyattjohn90.wordpress.com/2021/05/21/how-effective-is-apple...