14.5 for iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS rumored to be released today

[OtinG]

Expectation is that 14.5 for iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS will be released today likely around 10am PST. Apple traditionally releases updates around that time, although it can take a while to propagate out to everyone.

If you have an ATV 2015 (or later) and an iPhone X (or later with FaceID), then you will be able to try out Apple's new color calibration of your ATV for your TV once you install iOS 14.5 and tvOS 14.5.

[JSWolf]

Well, not yet for iOS 14.5.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

Well, not yet for iOS 14.5.

It is barely 8:11AM in CA, you don't expect those guys to be up and moving yet do you?

10 AM in CA (PST) means 1 PM on EST, 12 PM CST, and 11 PM MST. I don't expect to see it for about 2 hours at the earliest.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by OtinG

It is barely 8:11AM in CA, you don't expect those guys to be up and moving yet do you?

10 AM in CA (PST) means 1 PM on EST, 12 PM CST, and 11 PM MST. I don't expect to see it for about 2 hours at the earliest.

They should have been up and releasing 14.5 at 6am at the latest.

[OtinG]

tvOS 14.5 has been released. I’m installing it right now.

First attempt at installing tvOS 14.5 failed. Trying again...

I had trouble installing the last tvOS upgrade too. It took several attempts before it worked correctly.

ETA: iOS and iPadOS 14.5 have also been released. I’m installing them right now too.

[OtinG]

tvOS 14.5 installed. See attached screenshots.

[OtinG]

iPadOS 14.5 installed on my iPad Air 2020. I just started the install on my iPad mini 5.

iOS 14.5 is still installing on my iPhone XR. These must be fairly big updates because they are taking quite a while to install. That could be because of server load too, of course.

[downeaster59]

These are big updates - over a gig each. Big Sur 11.3 has been released as well for macOS.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by downeaster59

These are big updates - over a gig each. Big Sur 11.3 has been released as well for macOS.

I figured they were big. The downloading/preparing time was really long and slow, but once they started installing it went fairly fast. iOS 14.5 has installed on my iPhone XR now. That one took the longest to install.

Thanks for the Big Sur 11.3 update status. I don’t run Big Sur so I couldn’t verify if it was available. I don’t have an Apple Watch, so ditto on not being able to verify watchOS update status.

[OtinG]

Okay I just ran the new iOS 14.5 / tvOS 14.5 color calibration on my Sony Bravia XBR49X800H 2020 4K TV.

I used the Cinema color setting option because most experts say that is the option which Sony claims is the closest to the best out of the box calibration. In other words, it is supposed to be the most color accurate. The ATV color calibration feature appears to have made a very slight change by making the picture a tiny bit warmer. Other than that I cannot see any obvious changes. However, the Sony Bravia TVs do have a reputation for really accurate color calibration out of the box. It will be interesting to see if this makes a big difference with a TV that has poor color calibration.

BTW, the ATV color calibration showed me the attached beach scene to illustrate the before and after differences. However, that is perhaps the absolute worst scene to use as the sandy beach has almost no frigging color in it! Apple really needs to think through what they are doing. I snapped this photo of my TV using my iPad Air 2020 and made no color adjustments to it. Comparing the photo to my TV set after the color calibration it does appear that the sand on the left is slightly warmer in color. Apple really should use a better image though that will well illustrate any changes.

[JSWolf]

A test pattern would be good to use for the color calibration.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

A test pattern would be good to use for the color calibration.

That was my thought too. They would have had to included the image in the update. Instead they chose the worst screensaver they had for such a task. The fly-over cityscapes with lots of buildings and green grass and blue sky would have made more sense if they wanted to use a screensaver. One like that attached would have been better. Best would have been just to use a static image of a test pattern that was exactly the same on both sides so we could see all of the differences.

[tomsem]

If you change the TV color setting, is the ATV color calibration still valid? Seems like it would always take effect if ATV is the video source, regardless of what color settings the TV has.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tomsem

If you change the TV color setting, is the ATV color calibration still valid? Seems like it would always take effect if ATV is the video source, regardless of what color settings the TV has.

I think the ATV color calibration is being applied universally to all the TV’s color options, except for Dolby Vision of course. However, the calibration made such minor changes to my TV’s Cinema setting that it is difficult to tell for sure, but it looks like the calibration is being universally applied. Judging by the screens that appeared for my iPhone XR to scan, it mostly looked at RGB, that is red, green, and blue colors. If it is primarily adjusting RGB gain and bias, then it could easily be applied universally to all the color options. I don’t think it adjusts things like brightness, clarity, noise reduction, etc.

BTW, tvOS already comes with built in adjustments for Dolby Vision, so that doesn’t need to be calibrated, or so I’ve read. I do think they made some tweaks for Dolby Vision in 14.5 though. If you have Netflix you can look at the series “Life in Color with David Attenborough” to see if Dolby Vision seems improved. That series looks stunning in Dolby Vision and HDR on Netflix.

[JSWolf]

Originally Posted by OtinG

BTW, tvOS already comes with built in adjustments for Dolby Vision, so that doesn’t need to be calibrated, or so I’ve read. I do think they made some tweaks for Dolby Vision in 14.5 though. If you have Netflix you can look at the series “Life in Color with David Attenborough” to see if Dolby Vision seems improved. That series looks stunning in Dolby Vision and HDR on Netflix.

Life in Colour is originally in 4K/HLG and when streamed form BBC iPlayer, it does look very good.