How to Turn Off Motion Smoothing on an LG TV

So, you just bought a new LG TV. You set it up, and it looks nice and suits the space around it well. You lay back, and it is time to relax with a movie and some popcorn. However, something does not look quite right. Everything on it has an artificial look, also known as the “Soap opera effect,” which some don’t mind and others despise.

This is due to a feature LG calls “TruMotion,” generally known as motion smoothing. Whether you love it or hate it, it can be turned off to create a more authentic cinema experience.

What Is Motion Smoothing and Why It Looks Good (or Not)

To explain it in short, the motion smoothing effect works by artificially increasing the frame rate of your video. Frame rate is the number of images —frames— shown on your screen per second (abbreviated as FPS).

Most shows and movies are shot at 24 FPS, sometimes 30 FPS, which the human eye sees as smooth. However, modern-day screens and TVs can project video at much higher rates, such as 60 or even 144 FPS, which should ideally make it look even smoother. Thus, “TruMotion” tries to make a 24 FPS video look like 60 FPS.

Here’s how motion smoothing works:

1. The TV receives two adjacent frames to display.
   
2. The processor deconstructs the frames and isolates their similarities and moving objects.
   
3. The moving objects get interpolated, moving to a point between where they were on the old and the new frame.
   
4. This process repeats multiple times with different interpolation settings if motion smoothing multiplies the frame rate beyond twice.
   
5. The new frames get inserted between the original frames and shown on TV.
   

The entire process happens in nearly real-time for every frame.

Ideally, motion smoothing makes the transition between the pictures smoother to the eye and removes stutter. This can be beneficial for some programs, like live sports, where movement is from side to side and the camera does not move much.

But in the case of film or TV shows, it can make movement unnatural and the picture distorted or blurry, ruining the look of 4K or Full HD resolution. The case against the option got to the point where a few well-known filmmakers and actors complained that it ruined the way they intended their movies to look.

How to Turn Off Motion Smoothing on LG TV

Companies tend to name the motion smoothing effect differently, and LG’s name for motion smoothing is “TruMotion.” This is what you will need to look for in the TV settings. Turning it off is rather simple and can be done in the following six steps:

1. Press the “Settings” button (the one with the gear icon) on your remote.
   
2. On the drop menu on the left, navigate to the first option, “Picture,” and select it.
   
3. Pick the first option from that menu called “Picture mode settings.”
   
4. Scroll down to the end of the menu and choose “Picture options.”
   
5. Scroll down again until you find “TruMotion” and select it.
   
6. Choose “Off” in the confirmation pop-up window and confirm.
   

Older TV models might have the TruMotion setting hidden in different menus or call it by its generic name.

Enjoy Your Cinematic Experience

Even though it was intended to be a tool to alleviate the problems such as stuttering and motion blur, the motion smoothing option might do the opposite. This can be especially noticeable for those who bought a TV for the cinematic experience.

If you are curious about the technology, you can experiment with its settings and figure out when it looks best besides sports. Perhaps you even change your view of it.

Once that is out of the way, go ahead and enjoy your favorite movie or show.

When did you notice motion smoothing at first? Do you think it is a useful tool or a distraction? Let us know in the comment section below.