Why does everything on my new TV look like a 1970s BBC drama
June 17, 2022 3:23 PM   Subscribe

We just got a new 32" tv replacing a similar sized 2006 set. I'm watching the film Titanic. The visual quality of the film looks incredibly cheap - as if I'm watching the camera work from a 1970s BBC production.

It's not just this. Lots and lots of TV programmes and films now have this visual quality to them. I'm assuming that it's because the TV set (Samsung QE32Q50A 2021) I'm watching now has is higher definition. But what exactly is it that I'm seeing and what era/type of film/tv is it likely to affect. Or is it something I'll stop noticing after a while?
posted by plonkee to Technology (11 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Default settings on new TVs tend to be pretty awful. There are lots of guides that will help you fix this.
posted by rikschell at 3:28 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]


I'm guessing you have motion smoothing on (it's on by default on most new TVs). This seems to be the directions for shutting it off on Samsung TVs.
posted by General Malaise at 3:29 PM on June 17, 2022 [21 favorites]


Seconding motion smoothing/motion blur settings. Also a higher frame rate can cause this.
posted by tacodave at 3:31 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]


does it look like a sitcom? Like sort of brightly and artificially lit? I find that a lot of new stuff looks like that now, been wondering what's causing it. I hate it so much. Watching this thread.
posted by fingersandtoes at 3:37 PM on June 17, 2022


Definitely motion smoothing. Walking in to my parent's house they were watching old reruns like Gunsmoke or Have Gun Will Travel and it was so off-putting I couldn't even look at the TV.
posted by sanka at 3:47 PM on June 17, 2022 [2 favorites]


Seconding motion smoothing. But even when you adjust your set, the network you're watching may be an issue. For example, BBC America's copy of "Edge of Tomorrow" has motion smoothing turned on somewhere in their broadcast chain, the effect is remarkably annoying during the film, but isn't seen in the commercials. Argh.
posted by Marky at 4:14 PM on June 17, 2022 [3 favorites]


There are lots of guides that will help you fix this.

Here’s another one
posted by Special Agent Dale Cooper at 5:52 PM on June 17, 2022 [1 favorite]


you may also want to check the contrast setting, sometimes it will be set to maximum on a new tv and everything will look dreadful until it's set to a more reasonable level
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 6:26 PM on June 17, 2022


Weirdly, putting our TV into sport or action mode fixed this for us and we have kept it there for years. It wasn't a samsung, but it did work on two models of the same brand.
posted by soelo at 6:26 PM on June 17, 2022


Did you "calibrate" the display?
posted by kschang at 6:31 PM on June 17, 2022


In about 5 years I'm really looking forward to seeing a youtube video (or whoever will be running those things, and whatever they'll be called then) with some 12-year-olds who grew up watching smoothed playback almost exclusively on their home TVs, and then getting their reaction when they watch something like a VHS tape on a 1990s era TV.
posted by morspin at 7:53 PM on June 17, 2022


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