Film & TV makers debut new feature to end the “soap opera effect” scourge

Enlarge / LG's B8 OLED TV. (credit: LG)

A group of filmmakers, distributors, and electronics manufacturers called the UHD Alliance has announced a new viewing mode coming to future TVs that will, among other things, disable the controversial motion smoothing effect that fakes a higher frame rate when showing regular TV shows and movies.

The consortium is focused on standardizing 4K and HDR content in home theaters and says it developed the new "Filmmaker Mode" with input from 400 filmmakers, like Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, Patty Jenkins, and Rian Johnson. The mode could either automatically be enabled by metadata present in the content (such as an UltraHD Blu-ray disc), or enabled by users with a single button press, without the need for digging for the setting in menus.

Filmmaker Mode would also preserve aspect ratios (that is, ensure the proper aspect ratio is displayed even if the user has set their TV to something different) and color coding. The goal is to accurately represent the artist's intent, which is often diluted or distorted by TVs bloated with features to differentiate them from other similar TVs in the marketplace.

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