Hollywood’s campaign against motion smoothing on TVs is gaining momentum and Netflix is now joining the movement with a full set of recommendations for optimal TV picture settings. The company says that these are the “best practices for watching Roma”.
Netflix joins the movement
Earlier this month, Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie released a video to explain why you should deactivate motion smoothing on your TV. It was only the latest message in a campaign from Hollywood filmmakers to make TVs respect the creator’s intent.
Netflix has already developed a ‘Netflix Calibrated Mode’ for Sony high-end TVs and has now taken further action by recommending optimal picture settings for watching its latest movie Roma by Alfonso Cuarón. Of course, the company is just framing it like this to hype Roma -
the recommendations apply to all movies.
First,
the company recommends three “basic adjustments”. In the company’s own words:
- Turn off Motion Smoothing or Interpolation
A lot of commercial televisions come with an image interpolation option turned on by default. The name for this setting can vary depending on the manufacturer. For the best viewing experience, turn off any setting such as TruMotion, Action Smoothing, Motion Interpolation, or similar names. When in doubt, research your manufacturer's motion smoothing terminology.
- Set your color temperature to "normal"
"Warm" color temperature can make the film appear tinted sepia or yellow. When set to "cool" the film can appear overly blue. Set the color temperature to "normal" to avoid this.
- HDR enabled
The film is available in Dolby Vision and has been color graded specifically to make the best use of this new technology. For viewing Roma in HDR, you must have an HDR capable television and a 4 screen Netflix plan. If you meet these criteria, make sure to enable HDR viewing on your TV.