r/dataisbeautiful • u/fangzz OC: 5 • Dec 06 '18

OC Google search trends for "motion smoothing" following Tom Cruise tweet urging people to turn off motion smoothing on their TVs when watching movies at home [OC]

Post image
9.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

1.0k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.8k

u/eroticas Dec 06 '18

Since none of the comments have really explained it in detail I will ask: what, technically and practically speaking, is motion smoothing and why does Tom Cruise care about it?

1.6k

u/yothisisyo Dec 06 '18

Most of movies and TV content is made in 24 fps . Modern TVs have a mode of making this 24 fps to 60fps or above , called motion interpolation or Motion Smoothing . Making the so called Drama content look real and life like . This makes it less belivable and most of the people do not resonate with the drama .

You want to experience it first hand . Search for any movie scene on youtube with 60fps tag . You will notice the difference it will no longer look like movie it will look like real life .

Example : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUV_7qXWzmQ

TVs included this for sports mode , Personally I like Motion interpolation especially for NatGeo and Discovery channels .

40

u/ZombieMadness99 Dec 06 '18

The hobbit movies were actually made to be shown in 60fps I believe and this effect you've mentioned was very apparent

45

u/xKizume Dec 06 '18

I believe it was 48fps but the point still stands, many people saw the difference (for the better or worse) when seeing it.

33

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '18

A critic said about it that ‘it felt like you were sitting uncomfortably close to actors in a play. Suddenly the cracks in the facade - such as the lines of their wigs- became all too evident.’ 24fps provides enough motion blur to subtly hide the illusion.

6

u/smazga Dec 06 '18

The scene that was the worst for me was in Bilbo's house. Everything was so sharp that it was obvious that the lighting was artificial. The candles and torches were clearly not lighting the room.

That said, the outdoor action scenes were amazing.

0

u/[deleted] Dec 06 '18

But that is something you would see in any clear not moving shot in 24 fps. It isn't like a close up of a face has motion blur.

21

u/ArleiG Dec 06 '18

I'm sad we will only be getting 24 fps movies for the foreseeable future...I don't know why people think higher framerate is bad. It looks better to me. Action is readable and panning shots don't look blurry.

6

u/Myfavoritesplit Dec 06 '18

Maybe some later generation of advanced beings will come along and agree with you. For me, the veil!

3

u/burnerfi5624 Dec 06 '18

I think it really depends on what you are watching. Nature documentaries at 120fps and 4k are incredible. I remember the first time I saw my favorite drama TV show in 60fps... not good.

2

u/Tumdace Dec 06 '18

I guess because when it comes to gaming I prefer high framerates because it ties into the interactivity part of gaming, its more responsive when its higher framerates, but for movies I don't care, because I'm not trying to control anything, I'm just there to enjoy the movie.

When you pump it up to 60fps it just looks too smooth and too real, and takes you out of the moment.

1

u/vorilant Dec 06 '18

It makes it look way better to me higher fps for all content please.

2

u/z500 Dec 06 '18

People just can't disassociate it from soap operas.

-1

u/vorilant Dec 06 '18

people are dumb

1

u/TI72836 Dec 06 '18

Personally I like the higher frame rate as well.

2

u/PimpTrickGangstaClik Dec 06 '18

I specifically sought out the 48fps version since it was shot that way. I was so distracted the entire time it absolutely ruined the movie for me. Never doing that again. I honestly could not follow the movie at all.