Common TV settings may be ruining your picture – change them now for free instant upgrade
YOU might have the wrong TV settings – and it could be ruining your picture.
There’s an easy “black and white” trick that can get your screen looking right in minutes.
If you’ve forked out hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars on a fancy television set, it’s important to get the most out of it.
Unfortunately not all default TV settings are right for the type of content you’re watching.
And the settings might even need changing depending on where the TV is in your room – and the ambient light too.
To fix that, TV experts at Which? have revealed a clever trick to getting the right settings for you.
How to do the black-and-white trick
This trick – revealed in a Which? memo – involves setting your TV to black and white.
The idea is that once you’ve done that, you can slowly tweak your settings to exactly how you’d like them.
Which? recommends turning off all picture enhancement modes and reducing the colour until your TV is totally black and white.
From there you’ll want to adjust your settings in the following order:
- Brightness – until dark details are only just visible
- Contrast – so that the picture is bright but not “washed out”
- Colour – find a scene with a human and adjust it until skin tones look natural
Then start switching enhancement modes back on and see if you prefer them.
If you don’t like any, leave them switched off.
Smooth move?
For instance, many guides recommend turning Motion Smoothing off.
This creates fake frames for the content you’re watching to make it seem smoother.
But many Hollywood bigwigs – including Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise and Star Wars director Rian Johnson – have spoken out against Motion Smoothing.
That’s because it can create visual errors and add details that weren’t really there.
So consider switching that off when you’re watching a blockbuster at home.
Filmmaker Mode!
Counter to Motion Smoothing is a special mode that many TV models offer called Filmmaker Mode.
The mode – hailed by legendary director Martin Sorcese – is designed to show movies in the most accurate way possible.
It’s the result of a partnership between Hollywood studios, TV makers, movie directors and the UHD Alliance.
“Watch your movies and TV shows the way the filmmakers intended,” the UHD Alliance explains.
“This new picture mode on supported Ultra HD TVs preserves the director’s creative intent and provides a cinematic experience.
“By disabling all post-processing (e.g. motion smoothing) and preserving the correct aspect ratios, colors and frame rates, Filmmaker Mode enables your TV to display the movie or television show’s content precisely as it was intended by the filmmaker.”
If your TV offers Filmmaker Mode, try turning it on for your next movie night.