Killer TV setting is ruining your picture and you won't even know you have it turned on

Have you ever noticed that a movie you've watched in theaters looked noticeably different on the small screen?

If you answered yes, there's a good chance you've encountered a controversial TV setting that directors hate.

Motion smoothing - also known as motion interpolation - is a default picture setting on nearly every modern TV. And it does exactly what it says on the tin. It smooths out motion.

The feature was born out of a discrepancy between the frame rates of films and the frame rates modern TV sets are able to run.

A default TV setting could be ruining films on the small screen (Superb Images/Getty)

While a standard film is usually shot at 24 to 30 FPS (frames per second), modern TVs are capable of operating at much higher rates of up to 240 FPS.

So, when motion smoothing is activated on your TV, fake frames are added to a film or show in order to artificially increase the frame rate.

It creates new frames by using computer trickery to essentially 'guess' what the in between frames might look like.

But, this has a tendency to create a weird, unnatural effect to fast-paced action sequences.

Cedric Demers, president of rtings.com, explained to Variety: "Multiple techniques can be used to estimate motion, but none are perfect since the real information of what is between the two frames is not present in the original footage.

"Small objects moving fast in unpredictable ways or complex transformations like explosions are the hardest to estimate and will result in weird visual artefacts."

And, both directors and movie buffs alike hate it.

Motion smoothing inserts additional frames which can create an unnatural effect to the picture quality (Dennis Fischer Photography/Getty)

Back in 2018, Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise complained about the feature, saying: "The unfortunate side-effect is that it makes most movies look like they were shot on high-speed video rather than on film."

Hollywood directors Rian Johnson and Martin Scorcese have also urged people not to use it as it ruins the cinematic effect envisioned for the film.

Even Samsung has admitted users should switch the feature off while watching movies, stating: "Motion smoothing features eliminate ghosting and blurring that occurs from fast moving images.

"On Samsung TVs, these are known as Auto Motion Plus or Picture Clarity.

"These motion smoothing settings look great on live TV, like sporting events or parades, which are filmed at 30 frames per second.

"Most movies, however, are filmed at 24 frames per second and are not intended to be viewed with these features.

"When turned on, this causes the dreaded soap opera effect."

Luckily, you can easily disable motion smoothing through your TV's picture setting and will then be free to curl up on the couch and enjoy films just as their directors intended.