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Close-up on Apple TV's calibration feature using an iPhone

After you update your devices to iOS 14.5 you can easily utilize your iPhone's face detection camera to balance your TV's color. Here's what it looks like.

Sarah Tew
I'm a visual storyteller, working primarily in the medium of photography and photoshop. I listen to more podcasts than I can keep up with and enjoy gardening, cooking, reading, and am striving for a sustainable lifestyle. A big-picture thinker, I am always trying to put the pieces together, and though things are scary these days, I believe humanity will pull through.
David Katzmaier Editorial Director -- Personal Tech
David reviews TVs and leads the Personal Tech team at CNET, covering mobile, software, computing, streaming and home entertainment. We provide helpful, expert reviews, advice and videos on what gadget or service to buy and how to get the most out of it.
Expertise A 20-year CNET veteran, David has been reviewing TVs since the days of CRT, rear-projection and plasma. Prior to CNET he worked at Sound & Vision magazine and eTown.com. He is known to two people on Twitter as the Cormac McCarthy of consumer electronics. Credentials
  • Although still awaiting his Oscar for Best Picture Reviewer, David does hold certifications from the Imaging Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Standards and Technology on display calibration and evaluation.
Sarah Tew
David Katzmaier
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Apple TV owners with the latest software and a newer iPhone can use their phone's camera to automatically color balance their TVs.

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To use the feature you'll need to update your Apple TV and your phone to TV OS 14.5 and iOS 14.5, respectively. The phone also needs to be a newer model (iPhone X or later) that has Face ID.

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The feature uses the phone's front-facing camera to read the TV screen.

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To start, go to the Color Balance section of the Video and Audio menu within the Settings app.

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Selecting it will bring up a notification on your phone.

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At the same time, you'll see this screen with instructions on how to begin.

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Note that the feature doesn't work with Dolby Vision.

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Once you hit the notification on your phone you're ready to go.

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This screen will appear on the TV.

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Once you hold your phone up it will begin a series of measurements and different swatches of white and color will appear. 

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All done.

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Yep, all done.

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Afterward there's a results screen that lets you compare the "before" and "after."

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