TV Lighting (AKA Backlighting)
Here, we’re talking about adjusting your TV’s lighting system for overall “brightness,” usually in the first available Picture Settings. The name can be confusing because it varies by TV brand and display type. This is often called “Backlight” but may be labeled “Brightness,” a title originally reserved for a different picture setting that affects black levels and dynamic range (defined below). Your TV should give you some basic guidance to find the right setting, and you can hit “reset” at any time if you get lost. Unlike most other picture settings, increasing or decreasing brightness will not affect picture quality or accuracy.
In SDR, the display brightness will usually be set somewhere below maximum, depending on which Picture Mode you choose. If you like your current SDR picture mode, but feel that the overall picture is too bright or dark, simply adjust the backlight/brightness to taste. Because SDR content is more static than HDR, increasing the brightness level too high can be uncomfortable.
When watching HDR content, your display’s brightness will automatically be maxed out by default (unless the ambient light sensor is turned on). That’s because HDR metadata tells your TV where it’s going to be really bright or really dark, and the TV responds accordingly without popping your eyeballs. One HDR setting adjustment worth considering is Dynamic Tone Mapping, which is designed to analyze and optimize for the brightest and darkest sections on the screen. It’s often turned off by default in movie modes (but not always) and quality varies by make and model. On most TVs, I recommend leaving Tone Mapping on for starters and adjusting it later if you need more pop.
Ambient Light Sensors: The Ghost in the Machine
Even after you change your TV’s picture mode from the default Low Power or Eco mode, you may find that it dims automatically or behaves differently in different light. This probably means that your TV has an optical sensor turned on somewhere. It’s fine if you don’t mind your TV automatically adjusting to your room’s ambient light, but I’ve found that most of those sensors don’t work as well as advertised and can sometimes lead to a no glitter picture.
Not all TVs have light sensors, but if you’re noticing strange dimming, this could be the culprit. If your TV’s backlight changes by itself, you may need to find the Picture or General settings and turn off said optical sensor. It’s usually labeled something like Eco or Ambient Light.
Lightness/Black Levels
Not to be confused with the backlight settings above, this setting specifically adjusts the TV’s black levels by changing the overall dynamic range. Raising this setting will help you see the difficult shadow details that may be obscuring some content by default, but you’ll want to be smart because setting it too high can make the image look washed out. For most TVs, you’ll want to leave the Brightness or Black Level setting at or near the default, only adjusting if you have trouble seeing dark content in your regular viewing environment.
Contrast
At its simplest, Contrast adjusts your TV’s white point levels without increasing black levels. This corresponds to the Black Level/Brightness setting, with one affecting the other. For HDR TV modes that use dynamic tone mapping, Contrast is often considered ineffective and/or unpredictable.
For SDR video, raising or lowering Contrast can help control blurring of brighter images, known as clipping. If you’re missing some detail in the clouds or skyline, you can try lowering the contrast a few points to see if it looks better. If you’re making any noticeable Contrast adjustments, you should use a proper test pattern, such as those offered on benchmark discs. Then you’ll want to go back to the Black Level/Brightness setting to make sure it still looks clear and accurate.
Aspect Ratio
You probably won’t need to touch this setting unless you’re watching some super old-school show with a 4:3 aspect ratio. Your TV’s Aspect Ratio is usually set to something like “Auto” or “Normal” but if your picture looks odd or stretched, you may need to play with the ratio or Zoom function in the picture settings until it’s more it’s beautiful
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Color and Temperature
I don’t recommend messing with the basic Color or Tint settings for newer TVs, especially when using accurate picture modes like Filmmaker or Cinema, but there are some color settings you can adjust according to taste Turning Color Saturation up or down makes things brighter or darker respectively. Adjusting the Color Temperature will greatly affect the overall appearance, with Warm modes giving a redder overall tone and Standard or Cool modes appearing more bluish. Again, warmer modes are usually the most accurate (although they may look a bit blurry or yellowish at first), but cooler modes can look better for some content, like sports.
Sharpness/Clarity
The TV’s Clarity or Sharpness is another setting you generally want to leave alone, with a few exceptions. If you’re getting an unnatural amount of moiré, where the image flickers or swirls in particularly nice patterns, lowering the Sharpness a bit might help. You can also reduce the Sharpness if you notice strange artifacts around lines or hard edges, which corresponds to how close you are sitting.
Motion Smoothing: A Dab Will Do
Motion Smoothing settings. including options like Judder or Blur Reduction, have long been maligned by picture purists. With digital enhancements such as frame interpolation (which adds artificial frames), motion smoothing can create the infamous “Soap Opera” effect, making movies and TV shows look oddly cheap.
The setting is usually off by default in film-forward picture modes, but not always. For years, I’ve recommended disabling motion smoothing for anything but high-frame-rate content like sports. However, as TVs have gotten better at digital enhancement, I found myself using very little motion smoothing to adjust for jerky motion like hard-panned camera shots or fast-moving objects. which tends to stutter due to the input response of a display.
