Stranger Things creator says turn off “garbage” settings

Original Article ↗ Hacker News Discussion ↗

TV “Garbage” Settings and How People Work Around Them

  • Many commenters assume the creator is mainly talking about motion smoothing / “soap opera effect,” vivid mode, and similar post‑processing.
  • Common advice:
    • Use Filmmaker Mode (the standardized, logo’d one) if available; it disables most processing and aims at reference-like output.
    • Use Game Mode to cut input lag and often disable many “enhancements,” though color/contrast may still be off.
    • Turn off motion smoothing, “dynamic contrast,” “AI enhancement,” “super resolution,” and showroom-style “vivid” modes.
  • Some note quirks: Filmmaker Mode doesn’t always apply to all inputs (e.g., Chromecast), and on certain brands Game Mode or Filmmaker Mode still need manual tweaking.

Creator Intent vs “My TV, My Settings”

  • One camp strongly values creative intent: heavy grading and motion decisions are part of the art, and TV gimmicks “ruin” carefully mastered work.
  • Another camp sees creator advice as pretentious: if viewers need more brightness, contrast, or different sound to see/hear comfortably or for accessibility, they’ll change settings and don’t feel bound by the director’s vision.
  • Some propose a reasonable compromise: TVs should default to a clean, accurate mode, but users can opt into enhancements.

Dark Images, HDR, Compression, and Audio Problems

  • Frequent complaints that modern streaming shows (including Netflix) are:
    • Too dark to see in normal living rooms, especially with HDR and OLED auto-dimming.
    • Over‑compressed, with high resolution but visible artifacts, especially in dark scenes.
  • Audio is another major pain point:
    • Dialogue often buried under music/effects; many rely on subtitles.
    • Blame shared among bad downmixing from 5.1/Atmos to stereo, tiny flat‑panel speakers, “cinematic” mixing geared for theaters, and aggressive dynamic range.
    • Some use soundbars, center‑channel boosts, “dialogue enhancement,” or night modes; others note old movies/YouTube rarely have this issue.

Frame Rate and the Soap Opera Effect

  • Strong split:
    • Many hate motion interpolation, find it uncanny, “stagey,” and destructive to cinematic look.
    • Others prioritize smoothness, arguing 24 fps is an archaic compromise; they accept interpolation artifacts to reduce judder, especially on OLEDs, and want native high‑FPS movies.
  • Several note that 24 fps plus proper motion blur looks fine in a cinema but interacts badly with modern 60/120 Hz displays and instant-response panels.

Stranger Things and Content Quality

  • Multiple commenters say TV settings can’t fix perceived weak writing and plotting in later Stranger Things seasons, with season 5 in particular described as shallow, overextended, or inconsistent.
  • Others defend recent seasons as not nearly as bad as, for example, late Game of Thrones, though many agree quality has dipped since season 1–2.