If you ever went over to a family member's house for a holiday and looked at their TV, you might have noticed things are running a lot smoother than they are on your TV. This is the soap opera effect, and it's something that many people toggle on because it makes their TV look nice. Of course, looking nice varies by person, and if you're like me, you want to stay as far away from the soap opera effect as you can.
Creators have control of motion smoothing
It sounds nice on paper
It's clear that when you give control of motion smoothing to the consumer, they don't know what to do with it. There's no reason to have a movie, something that's often running at 24 FPS, look like it's running at 60 FPS. It's odd, and something feels off about watching it right away.
HDR10+ Advanced, the successor of HDR10+, is taking motion smoothing to another level. Instead of giving the TV's owner complete control, the film or TV show's creator will set the limits on how much motion smoothing can be used. On paper, this sounds like a good idea that doesn't let people stray too far from the vision of the creator. It makes it sound like toggling on a motion smoothing setting will no longer make things look as strange as they do now, but I'm not fully convinced. It's hard for me to picture a world where any motion smoothing is good, but I would feel better about it if a professional overlooked the entire process before sending it out.
It sounds almost identical to what Dolby Vision 2 has planned, and I had many reservations about that. After learning a bit more, it doesn't sound as bad as I initially thought. Of course, all I can do right now is guess, and seeing how it's implemented could change my mind. Amazon Prime Video is already on board, so it could be as soon as the next season of Invincible that I will know whether I'm a fan or not.
I'd rather see no motion smoothing at all
This should all be optional
Motion smoothing in its current implementation is entirely optional, and if things remain the same going forward, then I'll be a happy camper. I'm not one to be resistant of change, because it's always coming whether I like it or not, so I'll give this a chance when it comes out. Now, I don't have a TV that uses HDR10+, and I'm far more likely to get one that supports Dolby Vision 2, but the two sound close enough to me that if I like one, I'd probably like the other.
There's nothing to indicate so far that these will be forced options, so that's a good thing if you don't like them. Motion smoothing like this isn't for everybody, and although creators will presumably have more control over how it's implemented, it's fair to have some reservations. I know I still have many questions that won't be answered until I get to see the new motion smoothing features play out in front of me.
With TVs getting better and better with each passing year, I suppose it should come as no surprise to see companies take advantage of the new hardware. I just hope it doesn't end up being something that's a detriment to my viewing instead of a positive. I love the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats as they are, especially since they enhance my experience instead of hurting it. I can't say the same about the new motion smoothing features just yet, but I'm going to keep an open mind.