Learn how color works on your TV to avoid a thousand-dollar mistake

For all the talk of screen panels and AI enhancements and operating systems, it can be easy to overlook a basic component of smart TVs when you’re shopping around: color. The ability of a TV to produce color the way the filmmaker intended is an important feature, and while it seems like a simple endeavor, the details around color can quickly become complicated and confusing.

Particularly with the rise in popularity QLED panels, there is a lot of emphasis on offering the brightest possible colors across the widest possible range. Sony, for example, boasts that its XR Triluminos Pro technology provides viewers with over 1 billion colors. That seems like a lot! And it seems good, too, but when companies talk about numbers that big, it can obscure the real meaning.

With that in mind, here’s everything you need to know about colors on your smart TV.

What is color accuracy?

A basic yet important component

Perhaps the simplest term that applies to color relates to accuracy. If a TV boasts a high level of color accuracy, then it means the TV can recreate colors that are faithful to the original source material. Basically, it means you’re getting the colors that the filmmaker or creatives behind the camera want you to get. Accuracy is important for a number of reasons, mainly because it creates a more realistic and immersive viewing experience.

There are a few ways to tell if a TV offers accurate color. More advanced video formats, such as Dolby Vision or HDR10+, will generally offer better color accuracy than less formats, such as HDR10. You’ll also want to avoid picture settings such as Vivid or Dynamic when watching most films and shows, as these increase brightness and color saturation while sacrificing accuracy. Filmmaker Mode, and similar presets like Movie or Cinema favor color accuracy to bring you the most faithful viewing possible.

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What about color gamut?

More is better when it comes to color options

Color gamut, also sometimes referred to as color range, denotes the spectrum or palette of colors that a TV provides. The wider the range, or larger the palette, the more colors the TV offers when recreating images on screen. This is important when watching newer content shot in HDR (as opposed to SDR). When shopping for a TV, you want to seek out models with better color gamuts, as they offer more realistic and vivid images.

Color gamut can be fairly technically; color space refers to the range offered in mathematical terms, but to the average consumer, it’s not important to know the different options. Instead, keep in mind that newer TVs, particularly OLED and QLED models, feature a wider color range, which is expressed as a percentage of the color space. A higher percentage means the TV can deliver more colors within that color space, leading to richer, more vibrant visuals on screen.

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How color factors into brightness and contrast

More colors mean more detail

Two other important components of your viewing experience, brightness and contrast, are also influenced by how well your TV produces color. The ability of your TV to maintain color fidelity is tested when significantly increasing or decreasing brightness. While colors can pop at higher brightness, they can also appear as washed out if your TV lacks a wide color gamut.

Similarly, if a TV lacks high contrast, then colors may appear less vivid, and shadowing or blurring can occur on screen. Colors can start to blend into each other, resulting in less detail on screen.

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What exactly is color volume?

The intersection of color range and brightness

Lastly, color volume is a determination of a TV’s color gamut, accuracy, and brightness all together. It basically denotes how consistently a TV is at recreating color as the filmmaker intended, evaluating it across various scenes, both dark and light. A QLED TV, for example, might look good during bright scenes, with eye-popping colors, but it can struggle when scenes are much darker. Meanwhile, an OLED TV, with its individually lighted pixels, looks better during darker scenes and may struggle with peak brightness.

Color volume basically brings together all the different components of color and looks at how well your TV is in various settings.

Color can be quite complicated, but figuring out if your TV is good at reproducing color faithfully across different scenes is important. Seek out models with a wide color gamut that offer either HDR10+ or Dolby Vision (some offer both). Consider the advantages and drawbacks of OLED and QLED screen panels, and keep in mind that newer versions of these technologies are working hard to limit the drawbacks. It’s all worth it: enjoying shows and films that can be recreated as intended on your screen can create a realistic and often unforgettable entertainment experience.

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