Streaming has become the norm for consuming entertainment. While you can watch all kinds of shows and movies on your phone and tablet, sitting in front of a TV is still the best way to view what you want. Being able to kick back and relax to enjoy the latest episode of your favorite show is one of the pleasures everyone looks forward to.
However, there are features of your TV that can make your viewing experience a lot better. I’m a bit of a cinephile and love to watch movies in dark settings to make it feel like a movie theater. I try to adjust my TV to match what I’m watching to get the full effect of the streaming experience. That’s why I make a big change to how my streaming looks on my TV every time I watch movies and live sports.
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Get rid of motion smoothing
You can get a more realistic picture
Motion smoothing or motion interpolation is a feature that is very common in today’s TVs. It adds extra frames to the content to make it look as smooth as possible. Many people find this appropriate and don’t mind the way that it looks.
But it can give it an overly processed look and provide something called the “soap opera effect.” Basically, this means that the movements on screen can look a bit unnatural if you’re watching something that isn’t live. It looks artificial and unnatural.
While this is a blanket default setting on many TVs, and you may not even know that it’s there, it can become the norm for you when you’re watching TV. It’s when you happen to watch a TV that has motion smoothing turned off that you’ll notice the difference between it and what you have on your TV.
I have a Samsung Frame TV, and there are multiple steps to turning off Motion Smoothing. Regardless of the TV you have at home, the steps are likely similar: it starts in the Settings menu and ends in Picture Settings.
The feature on the Samsung Frame TV is found in Picture > Expert Settings. The first option is Picture Clarity, and there is a button that lets you turn it off entirely. That’s what I generally do before I’m ready to watch one of my go-to options on streaming, usually an action movie on Netflix.
You can also get more granular in the settings and customize them to your liking. You can adjust the Blur Reduction, the Judder Reduction, turn on LED Clear Motion, and adjust the Noise Reduction. Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction are the two that you want to customize by adjusting the slides to a desired level. The more blur reduction and the higher the judder reduction, the greater the chance of a soap opera effect. Finding a balance of those, or just turning them off entirely, is how you eliminate the motion smoothing.
You can turn on Filmmaker Mode
This can give you the deserved settings
Many TVs also offer different modes that you can enable to change the picture settings in a more uniform way. Many offer things like Standard mode, which is the most balanced across the board in terms of its settings. The colors are leveled, and it works best for most circumstances.
But if you want a more customized experience, you can choose from other modes, like Dynamic, which illuminates your colors with more vibrancy and makes them pop. This is ideal for dark rooms, so you’re able to see scenes that might be dark. Anybody who watched “The Long Night” episode of Game of Thrones live knows how important having the proper color settings is (the show was heavily criticized for having so many dark scenes in that episode).
In my opinion, the best option for streaming is Filmmaker Mode. This eliminates motion smoothing and gives you a version of the content that is as close to what the director wanted you to see as possible. Sometimes, that blur is meant to be there (but not excessively). The colors can look darker, but by putting on filmmaker mode, it is almost like you are meant to watch the content like you would in a theater. It’s meant to be a more immersive experience.
It is not always called Filmmaker Mode for every TV manufacturer. It can also be known as Netflix Calibrated Mode, Prime Video Calibrated Mode, or Cinema Mode.
I change motion smoothing for sports, too
This isn’t something everyone does
I generally keep Filmmaker Mode on when I’m streaming sports as well. Motion smoothing can make the action look more consistent by adding those extra frames to the experience. But the overly saturated soap opera effect does bother me.
This is probably not the case for everyone, and they likely don’t notice it as much. But it’s just the way I prefer. Whether I’m watching soccer or basketball, which have players constantly moving, or baseball or golf, which are slower games, it’s the setting I prefer.
Another reason why I avoid motion smoothing for sports is that it adds lag to your stream. This can require you to be a bit behind on the action, as the TV needs time to catch up in order to add those extra frames to smooth out the picture. While it won’t be minutes behind or anything like that, unless your Wi-Fi connection is poor, it still creates a delay.
Eliminating motion smoothing is my go-to for streaming
I like to watch shows and movies on my TV in as realistic a view as possible. I take the time to either switch on Filmmaker Mode or go into the picture settings on my TV and adjust the blur and judder reduction. A few clicks on my remote give me a clearer picture and a better streaming experience.
