While I had the Apple TV app running, I tuned into some live MLB soccer. The action: sharp and smooth (and dull, obviously, because soccer), and the same was true when I switched over to an NFL game on DirecTV. That’s as expected with a 120-Hz refresh rate.

Speaking of which, that rate, coupled with low-latency game mode (which kicked on automatically) served my Xbox experiences well. From the 1930s palette of the cartoonish Cuphead to the candy-colored arcade racing of Burnout: Paradise , everything looked crisp and vivid, with fast response times and zero blur.

For my color investigations, I clicked into Planet Earth II on HBO Max, Pixar’s Coco on Disney+, various “8K” nature videos on YouTube, and an Inglorious Basterds 4K Blu-ray played on the Xbox. Across the board, the Roku Pro Series produced vibrant, richly detailed color—but with less of the “pop” I’ve witnessed on high-end LG and Sony OLEDs.…