Your TV’s factory settings are wrong: 5 picture settings you should change

TVs leave the factory set up to grab attention in the shop: exaggerated colours, lots of brightness and “enhancement” effects that, at home, make films look like a soap opera. Five settings make them look much better, and that goes for channels and series too.

1. Change the picture mode

“Vivid”, “Dynamic” or “Store” modes oversaturate colours and push up sharpness. Choose Filmmaker Mode if your TV has it, or the Cinema or Movie mode. For the first few hours it will look duller; within a few days you will not want to go back.

💡 Filmmaker Mode was created by the UHD Alliance together with studios and film directors. TVs from LG, Samsung, Panasonic, Philips and Hisense, among others, have it.

2. Turn off motion smoothing

This is what causes the “soap opera effect”: the TV invents in-between frames and films lose their look. In 2018, Tom Cruise and director Christopher McQuarrie recorded a video asking people to turn it off.

Brand	Setting name
Samsung	Auto Motion Plus or Picture Clarity
LG	TruMotion
Sony	Motionflow

For sport or live programmes you can leave it on a low level if you like it; for films and series, it is better off.

3. Lower the sharpness

High sharpness adds white outlines around objects. Set it to zero or very low: the picture gains real detail, not artificial detail.

4. Turn off noise reduction with good sources

It helps with low-quality channels, but with HD or 4K content it smears faces and textures. Try it off and only turn it on if a channel looks very grainy.

5. Check the energy-saving mode

Energy-saving mode lowers the brightness automatically, sometimes in jumps. If the picture looks dark to you, turn it off or use the ambient light sensor.

💡 Do your settings undo themselves and the brightness goes back to maximum? Your TV may be in “store mode” (demo mode). In the general or system settings, look for the usage mode and choose “Home” or “Home use”.

What about IPTV?

The same settings apply to channels. If a channel stutters, it is not the TV: it is usually the connection or the server. We explain it in why IPTV keeps cutting out.

Frequently asked questions

Is Filmmaker Mode good for sport?

For live sport, many people prefer a standard mode with a little smoothing. It is a matter of taste.

Do I need to calibrate the TV?

There is no need. These five settings give you most of the improvement.

Are the settings lost when I switch input?

On many TVs, each input (HDMI, apps) keeps its own mode. Check the picture mode on each one.

Sources

What is Filmmaker mode? The cinematic picture mode explained · Trusted Reviews
Tom Cruise Wants You to Fight Back Against Your TV’s Soap Opera Effect · Mental Floss (December 2018)

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