A SIMPLE Amazon Fire TV mistake could be ruining your picture – and you may not even realize.
It’s all linked to a common but controversial television setting.
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There’s a feature called Motion Smoothing (or similar) on many TVs that is designed to make footage look smoother.
But some people hate it and try to turn it off.
However, Fire TV Stick owners have tried – to no avail – to find the controversial feature on their devices.
One poster who created a Reddit thread about the issue said: “Can’t find any options under the display menu for motion smoothing. It hurts my eyes so bad.
“Everything I’m finding online is about Amazon TVs – not Fire Sticks. If anyone could help that would be very appreciated”
One user replied: “Motion smoothing isn’t something that your device does, it’s something that your TV does.
“You need to look at your TV settings. Not your Fire Stick settings.”
In another thread three months ago, a poster trying to turn off Motion Smoothing complained: “I’ve tried everything!”
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They added: “Please help Reddit. I’m losing my mind over this!”
Another user replied: “That’s not an option on external streaming devices, it’s a function on your TV.”
And the original poster responded: “The level of embarrassment I feel right now is staggering. You are right, I am an idiot. Thanks.”
The responders are correct: you won’t find the Motion Smoothing feature inside your Amazon Fire TV Stick settings.
Instead, it’ll be tucked away in your actual TV settings, which you’ll need to navigate to using your regular television remote.
What is Motion Smoothing?
Your TV has a refresh rate, which is how quickly the television can refresh its screen to show a new image.
For instance, a fairly common 60Hz TV can refresh 60 times every second.
If you have a TV show that was filmed at 60 frames per second then you’ve got a perfect match-up, and the footage will look very smooth.
But most movies – and some TV shows – are traditionally filmed at 24 frames per second.
This creates a visual effect that we’ve all come to know and appreciate, giving content a cinematic feel.
What Motion Smoothing does is add in artificial frames to bring the frame rate up to match the TV’s refresh rate.
This creates a smoother look, but many people prefer more traditional viewing.
Mission Impossible star Tom Cruise and Star Wars director Rian Johnson have both spoken out against the feature.
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You can turn it off in your TV settings very easily.
And while you’re there, look for Filmmaker Mode – an increasingly popular TV setting that turns Motion Smoothing off and aims to show movies the way their directors intended.
