All Ways to Incorrectly Set up the TV
This TikTok video from Kylo Sten begins with a bold statement: “I work in TV post-production and almost all of you guys are setting your TVs wrong.” Below are the top three mistakes Sten makes when setting up a TV, as well as a few of our own to add to the list.
Disable motion smoothing mode
Motion smoothing, or motion interpolation, essentially adds frames to what you’re watching. Movies and TV shows are usually shot at 24 to 30 frames per second, but newer TVs can run at 60, 120, or even 240 frames per second. Motion Smoothing guesses what will be in the “missing” frames and adds them. This setting is great for watching sports but gives other content an artificial look (such as a soap opera effect).
According to Sten, “There is no show on TV that could be improved by including motion smoothing.” The same applies to movies, as you can see from this request from Tom Cruise to disable this setting .
How to turn off motion smoothing on your TV
Motion smoothing is often enabled in your TV’s default settings, so you may not even notice that you have it enabled. But you must turn it off. Since different TVs have different ways to change settings, I agree with Mr. Cruz who recommends going to Google and typing: “Disable motion smoothing [your brand of TV]”.
Place your TV at eye level
It may not suit the aesthetic of the room where you watch Netflix and relax, but for optimal viewing pleasure, your TV should be at eye level. “Unless you have a very expensive OLED TV, most TVs won’t work well when viewed from an angle,” Sten says.
So take the TV off the high shelf and place it at eye level from the couch. This will not only improve the appearance, but also prevent stress on the neck.
Do not use the TV’s built-in speakers
A lot of people don’t realize how important sound is to enjoying movies and TV shows and are happy to just use the crappy built-in speakers that come with their TVs. Don’t do it: I promise, movies and TV shows look better when they sound better.
Ray recommends spending 25% of your TV budget on sound and 75% on the actual set, “whether it’s a soundbar or a system.”
I’ve tried a couple of TV soundbars in my life and I don’t like them, so I recommend a decent stereo receiver and five speakers plus a subwoofer, but pretty much anything that can beat the tinny sound from your TV speaker.
More improvements you can make to your TV
The above three improvements are relatively basic, but if you want to go deeper into improving your TV viewing experience, check out this post Change these settings on your new TV for a better picture by Lifehacker’s David Murphy and learn all about calibration, “judder” , why you shouldn’t use eco-mode and much more.