What do soap operas and football have in common? No, not scripts. They both need motion smoothing. Never heard of her? Motion smoothing has been the default setting on televisions for years and creates an artificial type of image, essentially turning a well-produced, million-dollar movie into something resembling, well, a soap opera.
Television manufacturers make it almost impossible to turn the setting off. It’s often hidden behind a labyrinth or maze of settings and menus. Each brand also has a different name for the setting: LG calls theirs TruMotion, Roku opted for Action Smoothing and Sony decided on Motionflow.
Motion smoothing is supposed to help TVs adapt to how film and television are shot, which is at 24 fps (frames per second), but televisions have a higher refresh rate, running at 60 or 120 Hz. Because of this mismatch in frame and refresh rates, you might notice a slight judder as you watch television. Some people notice it, and some people couldn’t care less. However, television manufacturers decided to fix the problem, and that’s how motion smoothing was born.
So, where does football come into the picture (pun intended)? If you are aware of the motion smoothing effect, the one time you should turn it on is during the big game. The higher refresh rate can make fast sports like football feel and look even more crisp. Need more television advice? We have a guide to the best brands available.
