What's the deal with new TVs?

[Roger]

What is the deal with new TVs that make everything look like a soap opera? Something is off with the lighting or depth of field or both. I'm not sure if it is stores manipulating the settings or something to do with all the new 3d stuff, but it is really off-putting.

[robcat2075]

Turn off the feature that interpolates extra frames in between the real ones. That's the problem.

[Roger]

Ah. I don't actually have one of the new ones, but I've been looking around. Given that you can get a 50 to 60" screen for what I paid for a 32" lcd years ago (or even less, in some cases) it is awfully tempting. I really like watching movies on a big screen, I have also been looking at projectors, but based on the on-going costs of bulb replacement ($300!! ouch!!) and the need for a pull-down screen (not to mention I would still need a regular tv for every-day viewing) I don't know that makes much sense.

 

Glad to know it is something that can easily be turned off, I can't stand that video/soap opera look.

[John Bigboote]

The refresh rate is important. I bought a cheep 37" with a low refresh rate... and I see weird stuff from time to time. It really does not bother me, but next time I will make sure I get a higher refresh rate.

[Gerry]

There are also an awful lot of settings to tweak contrast, color, etc. After we got our flat screen a few years ago I spent the first couple of years convinced that NBC was messing with the broadcast quality on Law & Order because everything was so dark, that many scenes were dominated by solid blacks. Then I found I had settings to mess with!

[robcat2075]

Maybe the next make-it-look-like-a-soap-opera feature will be to somehow remove all the depth-of-field effects from films.