A few years ago, Christopher Nolan, Tom Cruise and other Hollywood giants appealed to TV manufacturers on one issue. It was about the so-called image smoothers – a function that is forced on us, spoiling the pleasure of watching movies.
Why does a good quality movie look like a soap opera?
For almost a century, cinema has operated at 24 frames per second. We are used to it and it is hard-wired that this is how films should be shown. Meanwhile, TV manufacturers came up with a “great” idea – they decided to artificially generate additional frames between the original ones to improve the smoothness of the image.
The TV analyzes the movement on the screen and tries to guess how looks likethere would be transitions between frames. Based on this, it “adds” its own frames, increasing fluidity. Effect? Instead of the atmospheric “Lord of the Rings” recorded with the highest quality cameras, we watch something that looks as if the cameraman was shooting a movie by phone with a good camera, but without special settings. The example of “The Lord of the Rings” is not accidental. When “The Hobbit” premiered in cinemas, it was shown in two lines – 24 and 48 frames. Few people liked this “better” effect, the vast majority of people felt that something was wrong with the image.
How to turn off the liquefier in different brands?
Depending on the manufacturer, the function has different names and is located in different places in the menu. Here is the guide:
LG:
In LG TVs, this function is called TruMotion. To turn it off, enter the settings menu, then go to the “Clearness” tab, which is located at the very bottom. You can disable this feature completely or set both sliders (De-Judder and De-Blur) to zero.
Samsung:
Samsung calls this feature Auto Motion Plus. You'll find it in the main menu by going to Image, Expert Settings, and then Image Clarity Settings. You can deactivate it completely or set the blur and judder reduction sliders to minimum.
Sony:
For Sony TVs, look for a feature called Motionflow. You will find it in the Image tab, then in Advanced Settings in the Motion section. Just change the “Smoothness” value to zero or simply turn off the entire function.
Philips:
Philips hid this function under the name Perfect Natural Motion. To get to it, go to the image settings, then find the Motion tab and there, Motion Style. Turn it off completely for the best movie effect.
TCL:
On TCL TVs, this feature is called Motion Clarity. You will find it in advanced video settings, in the “Motion” section. It is best to set it to the “Off” position.
Hisense:
Hisense called this feature Ultra smooth motion. It is relatively easy to find – just go to the image settings, then the Motion tab. As with other brands, we recommend turning it off completely.
When to leave it on?
A liquefier may make sense in the case of sports broadcasts (matches, races) or in games (in some models you can find a special image smoothing mode created for games). For all other content, especially cinematic films and series, it is better to disable this function.