The Soap Opera Effect: Can HDR10+ Advanced Save the Day?
The battle against motion smoothing's unwanted side effects.
Motion smoothing, a feature in modern TVs, has become a controversial topic among cinephiles and content creators. While it aims to enhance the viewing experience by reducing judder, it often leads to the dreaded 'soap opera effect,' leaving many viewers dissatisfied.
Enter the new HDR standards, HDR10+ Advanced and Dolby Vision 2, which promise to revolutionize motion smoothing and bring it closer to the creator's vision. But will they succeed?
HDR10+ Advanced: Intelligent FRC to the Rescue?
Samsung has unveiled the next evolution of the HDR10 format, introducing a feature called Intelligent FRC (frame rate conversion). This innovative approach aims to improve motion smoothing by allowing content creators to dictate the level of smoothing for each scene. It's designed to adapt to ambient lighting conditions, ensuring a more personalized viewing experience.
Dolby Vision 2: Authentic Motion for Cinematic Authenticity
Dolby's upcoming HDR standard, Dolby Vision 2, boasts a similar feature called Authentic Motion. Dolby describes it as a 'creative-driven motion control tool' that aims to make scenes feel more authentically cinematic without unwanted judder. This feature will be available on high-end TVs supporting the Dolby Vision 2 Max tier.
But Here's Where It Gets Controversial...
While these new standards sound promising, there are still questions and concerns. Will they truly enhance the appearance of videos with motion smoothing, especially for those already averse to the feature?
Giving creators control over motion smoothing intensity could reduce the soap opera effect in unnecessary scenes. However, neither standard has proven that motion smoothing will look natural when applied at varying levels to different shots.
And This Is the Part Most People Miss...
Visual artifacts, like halos, are a common issue with motion smoothing. These artifacts occur when a TV struggles to determine the appearance of frames between drastically different-looking ones. Simply setting per-scene motion smoothing levels doesn't directly address this problem.
Samsung has provided simulations of how HDR10+ Advanced's Intelligent FRC might look, but we need to see the technology in action on supported TVs to make a judgment.
The Adoption Challenge
Adoption and availability are key questions. While HDR10+ has gained support from 500 movies and 16 streaming services, and Dolby Vision has over 900 movie titles, we don't know the additional burden these new standards might place on content creators.
HDR10+ Advanced is set to debut on Samsung's 2026 TVs and will be supported by Prime Video. Dolby Vision 2 HDR, on the other hand, has no release date yet.
The Bottom Line
With motion smoothing often enabled by default on many TVs, improvements to this technology could significantly enhance the viewing experience. However, both HDR standards have a long road ahead to win over cinema enthusiasts and prove that motion smoothing can be both natural and appealing.
What are your thoughts on motion smoothing? Do you think these new standards will make a difference? Share your opinions in the comments below!
