Tom Cruise Wants You To Care About Motion Smoothing

[Xgm3]

He, and director Christopher McQuarrie want you to know that the motion smoothing feature on your television is bad and you should turn it off.

http://digg.com/2018/tom-cruise-smoothing

 

[Akula]

Well, DUH.

What I wonder is, since it tends to make stuff look bad and even Hollywood knows it, why is it not only included on TVs, but turned on by default? I've yet to see anything, even sports, that's improved by it. It all ends up looking like a cheap soap opera.

 

[Towen7]

Well, DUH.

What I wonder is, since it tends to make stuff look bad and even Hollywood knows it, why is it not only included on TVs, but turned on by default? I've yet to see anything, even sports, that's improved by it. It all ends up looking like a cheap soap opera.

I'd wager that it's on by default because it's attention grabbing and to the uninitiated and/or at first glance it's more realistic looking.

 

[Flint]

Just about everyone I know doesn't want to see what the producers are making on their TV because they want the TV to be clear, crisp, clean, with vibrant colors and lifelike clarity. The add edge sharpening, which is literally distortion, and brighten the source image, and increase the color intensity, and use motion smoothing. If a movie comes on which was supposed to be dark, grainy, and somewhat blurry, users get angry and say the studio fucked up the release.

This is the same for people who insist on EQ'ing their perfect speakers and headphones because they don't want to hear what the artists created if it lacks bass, punch, or brightness.

I've learned to make the reproduction system as perfect as possible then accept the limitations of the content for what it is.

 

[Huey]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, and say that at least on my Samsung QLED, it doesn't look like a soap opera, although it does look different. Watching a couple of things with this setting on, the films took on an almost video looking affect, but it didn't have that funny motion blurring that normally goes along with it. What we see in real life, looks more like video than it does film, so wouldn't something that looked more video like be truer to real life? Normally, I turn off all video processing, although if there is a setting to reduce mosquito noise, I might turn that to low. And no, this isn't some sonic whole overhead kind of thing, I have a setting where I calibrated it, and can easily switch back and forth between the two. Source material makes a difference as well, the better the quality, the better this looks.

 

[bmwuk]

When I see the motion smoothing on TVs at various stores, I feel like I've taken drugs unintentionally. The feeling that something is wrong

 

[Flint]

I'm going to play devil's advocate here, and say that at least on my Samsung QLED, it doesn't look like a soap opera, although it does look different. Watching a couple of things with this setting on, the films took on an almost video looking affect, but it didn't have that funny motion blurring that normally goes along with it. What we see in real life, looks more like video than it does film, so wouldn't something that looked more video like be truer to real life? Normally, I turn off all video processing, although if there is a setting to reduce mosquito noise, I might turn that to low. And no, this isn't some sonic whole overhead kind of thing, I have a setting where I calibrated it, and can easily switch back and forth between the two. Source material makes a difference as well, the better the quality, the better this looks.

Everything about that argument wreaks of destruction of the artists intentions. Just like I don't think I should EQ my system to make music sound the way I might prefer, I don't want to process my video to alter it from what the director and studio intended. This reminds of many of the early BluRay discs which were for movies with intentionally added noise in the image with reduced color gamut in order to set a mood to portray the story - then users were angry because they weren't seeing a crystal clear image.

In this case, if you take a movie like "Saving Private Ryan" where the opening beach landing scene was filmed specifically with high shutter rate, jerking cameras to cause a strange sense of both clarity (each frame is crystal clear with no blur) yes blurred confusion (the frames are radically different from each other and lack continuity between them) that ultimately was intended to create a feeling of stress and intensity for the viewer. The intentional effects used in that scene are what motion smoothing processing helps correct - so using motion smoothing in that scene greatly reduces the stress causing effect Spielberg worked very hard to create in his attempt to recreate realistically the feeling of landing in Normandy while under fire.

 

[Towen7]

Everything about that argument wreaks of destruction of the artists intentions. Just like I don't think I should EQ my system to make music sound the way I might prefer, I don't want to process my video to alter it from what the director and studio intended. This reminds of many of the early BluRay discs which were for movies with intentionally added noise in the image with reduced color gamut in order to set a mood to portray the story - then users were angry because they weren't seeing a crystal clear image.

In this case, if you take a movie like "Saving Private Ryan" where the opening beach landing scene was filmed specifically with high shutter rate, jerking cameras to cause a strange sense of both clarity (each frame is crystal clear with no blur) yes blurred confusion (the frames are radically different from each other and lack continuity between them) that ultimately was intended to create a feeling of stress and intensity for the viewer. The intentional effects used in that scene are what motion smoothing processing helps correct - so using motion smoothing in that scene greatly reduces the stress causing effect Spielberg worked very hard to create in his attempt to recreate realistically the feeling of landing in Normandy while under fire.

But it’s not a bad thing for consumers to have the choice to tune their sets to their liking.

 

[Flint]

But it’s not a bad thing for consumers to have the choice to tune their sets to their liking.

But of course, people should be free to do whatever they want and if they want to turn on motion smoothing, they should. But should it be turned on by default and should it be included with every TV sold??? I want to the option to save $50 on a TV which doesn't have that feature available.

 

[Huey]

I'm not saying I would use it on every movie, but at least with my set, it isn't the train wreck of a picture that I've seen on other sets when the feature is turned on. At least to me, when I turn it on and I have a high quality source, it almost gives the picture some depth and looks more like real life. Almost like you are watching something real behind a plane of glass. And as far as the director goes, I don't think there are many that shoot the movie to be watched on a tv, they shoot it to be watched in a movie theater, so in effect just by watching it on a tv you aren't watching it as the director intended. I think @Dentman has the same or similar tv as mine, maybe he can test it out and chime in.

 

[Flint]

I'm not saying I would use it on every movie, but at least with my set, it isn't the train wreck of a picture that I've seen on other sets when the feature is turned on. At least to me, when I turn it on and I have a high quality source, it almost gives the picture some depth and looks more like real life. Almost like you are watching something real behind a plane of glass. And as far as the director goes, I don't think there are many that shoot the movie to be watched on a tv, they shoot it to be watched in a movie theater, so in effect just by watching it on a tv you aren't watching it as the director intended. I think @Dentman has the same or similar tv as mine, maybe he can test it out and chime in.

I don't agree with the impression that the director doesn't care about the way movies appear on TV sets. In fact, from my recent experience, I have read and heard of directors spending more time on the TV releases than on the movie versions because the directors know the majority of the viewers over time will be watching on home and mobile screens and the legacy of the film will ultimately be impressions from TV and tablet/phone viewing. As such, they work hard to get the aftermarket versions to represent their goals for the commercial theater presentation.

SNARKY MOMENT (don't take it personally): What I am reading is that you prefer something you think is more lifelike than the original. I hear that same logic from people who love LPs and Tube amps. They claim it sound more real, lifelike, and with a perception of having a soul.

You should do whatever makes you happy. Go for it. I am only making a case for a different viewpoint in which I happen to believe. Just like I'd rather see an original painting by Dali than a cartoonish filtered version, I'd rather see a movie the way I believe the director intended than a modified version.

 

[Huey]

Flint, I completely get what you are saying, I'm just saying that maybe they've come far enough with the technology that it doesn't look so cartoonish anymore. I always turned it off on every tv I had, including this one, but playing around one day, it was like nothing I'd seen on tv.

 

[Flint]

I understand what you are saying. I am only saying it is distorting the original content or else it doesn't need to be on at all. Without some sort of alteration, it won't offer any perceptible change. If you like it, rock on.

 

[Dentman]

I'm not saying I would use it on every movie, but at least with my set, it isn't the train wreck of a picture that I've seen on other sets when the feature is turned on. At least to me, when I turn it on and I have a high quality source, it almost gives the picture some depth and looks more like real life. Almost like you are watching something real behind a plane of glass. And as far as the director goes, I don't think there are many that shoot the movie to be watched on a tv, they shoot it to be watched in a movie theater, so in effect just by watching it on a tv you aren't watching it as the director intended. I think @Dentman has the same or similar tv as mine, maybe he can test it out and chime in.

Huey I have the 800 series set. I just checked and I dont see that option. I do have motion smoothing on though.

I'm one those that that doesn't really care what a tone def producer/artist wants me to hear, or a self absorbed, self important movie director wants me to see. I'm also silly in that I clean my glasses so I can see clearly also. What a nut I am.

 

[Huey]

LOL Jack!