The UHD Alliance, a group of TV manufacturers that includes LG, Vizio and Panasonic, unfortunately not a group of superheroes, has announced its intention to create a new Filmmaker mode to ensure that movies and TV shows are in place. display as expected on smart TVs today.
Accurately recreating movie works can be difficult even for high-end televisions, due to the diversity of panel technologies, processing techniques, and lighting bays. No TV model can display exactly the same picture, and the default settings on many 4K TVs often alter or distort the picture that the film's director or colorist will have seen in the production studio.
How can this situation be improved? Director mode will attempt to correct some of the more radical changes in picture setting, avoiding excessive contrast and removing motion smoothing, a processing technology designed to "smooth out" fast-moving scenes like action or car chases.
This could mean you see more sudden jumps in speed, but the mode is likely to make its way to TVs capable of handling a lot of motion anyway. You can watch the likes of Christopher Nolan (Inception, Interstellar) and Ryan Coogler (Black Panther) explain the purpose of the technology in the video release below.
Perfect picture?
The theme of designer intent has become an increasingly important topic over the past year or so, with streaming TV service Netflix developing a Netflix calibrated mode for some Panasonic and Sony TVs.
The Netflix mode provoked mixed reactions. In our review of the Sony Bravia AF9 OLED, we stated that "One of the most controversial options introduced in the Master Series is a Netflix calibrated mode that is supposed to emulate the picture seen on Netflix mastering monitors. It's a movie pre- Screened under a different name, and not very attractive either, it will squash a Dolby Vision presentation and tend to look a bit lifeless."
While Filmmaker Mode may really give effect to this intent, it can be a sensible addition to the current picture setup, and seeing it backed by the likes of JJ Abrams, Rian Johnson, and M Night Shyamalan certainly deserves attention. However, for those who like more contrast or anti-alias frames than the idea of creator intent, this may also seem a bit pointless.
ViaEngadget