How To Improve Your TV’s Display Settings for Movies

Buying the Blu-ray set of your favorite new release is only worth it if you can recreate that theater-going experience at home! Here are three tips on how to improve your TV’s display settings for movies that don’t require more than a remote!

Start Simple With Cinema Mode

The fastest way to turn your TV into a movie theater screen is to simply switch to Cinema mode. Also referred to as Movie mode or Calibrated mode, this picture mode adjusts multiple settings to create a more vibrant but not necessarily brighter experience.

The thought is that these modes are closest to what the director saw and intended you to see in the cinema.

Be warned that some complain this picture mode adds a red hue or a dull finish. Watching in the dark gives the warm tones more impact!

Adjust the Backlighting and Black Level

Two factors that have the biggest impact on the movie-like feel of your picture at home are the backlighting and the black levels. Backlighting combats a dim picture while black levels add to a display’s richness by deepening the blacks.

If you are struggling to make out what’s happening in back-alley fight scenes, lighten the black levels to reveal all the detail the director intended to show you!

Every TV is different, as is the ambient lighting in each room, so toying with these settings during a film you know will help you find the perfect picture for your unique space.

More Doesn’t Always Mean Better

An issue that really messes up movies for those watching at home is that one or more of the settings are just too much. Movies aren’t meant to be viewed the same way that TV shows are.

Tom Cruise even once asked viewers to turn off one specific setting, interpolation, before viewing his movie Mission: Impossible Fallout at home because it ruins the viewing experience!

Interpolation makes up for missing frames by smoothing between one frame to the next, which can take away from the fast-paced action the directors intended. Sharpness that’s set too high also doesn’t add to the picture the way you might expect, as the clearer visuals quickly get grainy.

Every setting has the potential to go too high, so as you play around in the settings to find the perfect picture, don’t be afraid to start low.

Unfortunately, if you notice that adjusting the TV settings isn’t fixing a display problem that’s affecting your movie-watching experience, the issue might be the TV’s light strips. Most modern TVs rely on a series of bulbs in the back to turn your living room from pitch black to a home cinema, and if enough of these bulbs fail, knowing how to improve your TV’s display settings will only do so much!

Fortunately, light strips can be repaired unless you’re in the mood to splurge on a bigger, better screen for your home theater!

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