Motion interpolation (motionflow, AMP, TRUMotion, etc..) is so annoying

[DigMe]

I think you've all seen it before - some movie is playing on a 120hz or 240hz TV and rather than looking like the natural motion captured on the film it looks like some weird soap opera or home video looking thing. The motion just doesn't look right. It's because of motion interpolation which is called various things depending on the manufacturer. The motion interpolation setting can usually be set to off, low, medium or high. It results in what is sometimes called "the soap opera look" and there is a reason movies don't originally look like that! Sony calls it motionflow, Samsung calls it Auto Motion Plus and so forth and so on.

Why do people leave this turned on during movies?? I was at the Sony Outlet store last month and they were playing Avatar on 20 or so TVs at once and they all had Motionflow on (probably on high) and it looked so stupid.

I've even heard people say they are "turning up" or "turning on the 120hz" on their TVs when they adjust the motionflow as if that look is a result of the TV being a 120hz model and they think they are adjusting the actual refresh rate of the TV.

Anyway..just a pet peeve of mine. Anyone else share this?

bc

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by DigMe

I think you've all seen it before - some movie is playing on a 120hz or 240hz TV and rather than looking like the natural motion captured on the film it looks like some weird soap opera or home video looking thing. The motion just doesn't look right. It's because of motion interpolation which is called various things depending on the manufacturer. The motion interpolation setting can usually be set to off, low, medium or high. It results in what is sometimes called "the soap opera look" and there is a reason movies don't originally look like that! Sony calls it motionflow, Samsung calls it Auto Motion Plus and so forth and so on.

Why do people leave this turned on during movies?? I was at the Sony Outlet store last month and they were playing Avatar on 20 or so TVs at once and they all had Motionflow on (probably on high) and it looked so stupid.

I've even heard people say they are "turning up" or "turning on the 120hz" on their TVs when they adjust the motionflow as if that look is a result of the TV being a 120hz model and they think they are adjusting the actual refresh rate of the TV.

Anyway..just a pet peeve of mine. Anyone else share this?

bc

+1 to all of this. On my Samsung tv I think its called Motion Plus. Anyway, it is off A lot of people seem to like the effect with sports, though.

[IconBasser]

... wut?

[KeithBMI]

What does the effect do? I have it on my Samsung, but I can't tell what changes.

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

+1 to all of this. On my Samsung tv I think its called Motion Plus. Anyway, it is off A lot of people seem to like the effect with sports, though.

It does nothing to benefit sports viewing unless they are being recorded on film cameras at 24fps, which is not going to be the case with live sports. Motion interpolation is specifically aimed at video that was recorded at 24fps like many films are.

bc

[king_biscuit]

Originally Posted by DigMe

It does nothing to benefit sports viewing unless they are being recorded on film cameras at 24fps, which is not going to be the case with live sports. Motion interpolation is specifically aimed at video that was recorded at 24fps like many films are.

bc

That's interesting, I've never tried it it broadcast tv. It looks creepy on blue ray movies, though

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by king_biscuit

That's interesting, I've never tried it it broadcast tv. It looks creepy on blue ray movies, though

Fo sho. It does make a lot of recorded TV shows look weird too though.

bc

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by KeithBMI

What does the effect do? I have it on my Samsung, but I can't tell what changes.

It interpolates frames before and after and tries to smooth out the motion.

bc

[Disco_Gee]

Originally Posted by KeithBMI

What does the effect do? I have it on my Samsung, but I can't tell what changes.

Basically what it does is create extra frames in the video.

Films are shot at 24 frames per second, which is about the minimum required for the human eye to perceive the footage as continuous motion. TV shows are usually shot at either 25 frames per second for PAL, or approx 30 fps for NTSC. Not a drastic step up from film. The difference is because the restrictions of AC power and early TVs meant that images could only refresh at a rate determined by the number of cycles produced by mains power - 60hz in the US/Japan, 50hz elsewhere. That's where the 30fps and 25 fps numbers come from (half of the frame is displayed in one cycle, the other half on the next cycle - it's called interlacing).

With the advent of plasma and LCD TVs that were capable of displaying full frames (progressive) and weren't limited to refresh rates based on AC power, companies decided to develop new technology to "smooth" the motion of films and TV shows. The hardware in the TV basically examines each frame, and the subsequent one, and creates one (or sometimes more) frames in between. These 'in between' frames are usually a blend or morph of the frame before, and the one after. The idea is that more frames will make the motion appear smoother to the human eye.

The first problem is that sometimes the hardware gets it wrong and the frames aren't quite as they should be - some parts of the image might have moved more than others, for example. The other problem with this is that programs shot at 24fps, 25, or 30fps have a level of motion blur relevant to the shutter speed of the cameras recording them and the movement of the subject in frame. The faster an object moves, the more it blurs. When recorded and played back, this motion blur is not really noticeable as it assists the overall smoothness of the footage. When frames are created in between motion blurred frames, things start to look very awkward. Sometimes it creates the appearance of things speeding up and slowing down quite quickly, other times it makes people look like they're moving faster than they should be.

I spend much of my time working in TV/Video production and I personally hate this feature of modern TVs. I think it looks incredibly unnatural. The problem is that many people can't see the difference. Most people, in fact, don't really pay enough attention to what they're watching to even notice. I secretly like to switch that feature off on other people's TVs when they're not looking

[m0nst3r]

Yea, my friends have this on their Samsung tvs, and when I first saw it, the first thing out of my mouth was, "whoa, what's wrong with your tv?" I don't like it very much.

[Hollow Man]

Just saw this for the first time at a friend's house this weekend, and I REALLY didn't like it. Everything looked jerky and unnatural, and it made a lot of elements of the movie look out of sync with other events onscreen. Pretty much turned me off to the entire idea.

[Bob Lee (QSC)]

Does it produce judder?

[MatticusMania]

Hmm, Ive never heard/seen this and it doesnt sound like I want to. A fine example of ignorance = bliss.

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by Bob Lee (QSC)

Does it produce judder?

No, that happens when you jump on a trampoline without your manzierre.

Seriously though...it's actually supposed to reduce judder but I'd rather watch a movie that has some judder than a movie with MI turned on.

bc

[DigMe]

Originally Posted by MatticusMania

Hmm, Ive never heard/seen this and it doesnt sound like I want to. A fine example of ignorance = bliss.

The chances are very good that you have seen it but didn't realize it.

bc

[Deluge Of Sound]

Is that was it is? I always refer to it as the magical post-production remover.

[blendermassacre]

ugh. this is one of my major pet peeves. My in laws don't care, so when we're watching there tv, I usually have a gun in my mouth after 10 minutes or so.

[hover]

is this meant to be an explanation of how certain movies and whatnot look "too real" like you're watching the people kinda like they're actually there, but almost..hyper real? Where everything is kind of *too defined*? I mean, I watch movies at my Sis's place, and she only has an upconverting DVD player like I do, but my tv is 60hz, hers is 120, and things still, with less than Blu Ray, look like they're happening in the room...

[blendermassacre]

Originally Posted by hover

is this meant to be an explanation of how certain movies and whatnot look "too real" like you're watching the people kinda like they're actually there, but almost..hyper real? Where everything is kind of *too defined*?

yep

[hover]

Ok, thank you. I didn't know exactly what that was, but every time I notice it, I dunno if I'm envious mine doesn't or that I totally hate it. tips the scale to the latter, after about 2 minutes. really unnerving.