Motionflow

Barks · 29 Jun 2011 at 19:19

Parents bought a new Sony 3D LED TV and it has this feature Motionflow.

I've been watching Wimbledon all day and I've been really impressed!

Now I've switched onto Sky Movies HD and it looks ridiculous. With Motionflow turned on everything looks sped up. I'm watching The Ugly Truth right now and even static scenes with little movement look like they're on speed. Turned off, picture is back to normal and looks fantastic.

Question: Why is Motionflow great with sports and general TV but rubbish with films? I have a feeling it's something to do with the frame rate but I have no idea what Motionflow does.

DiCe! · 29 Jun 2011 at 20:01

Have you tried an action flick?

Barks · 29 Jun 2011 at 20:07

DiCe! said:
Have you tried an action flick?

Yeah Transporter 3 the other night and it looked diabolical.

Nightglow · 29 Jun 2011 at 20:24

All motionflow does is add extra frames the between standard frames, which makes for smoother images.
It only works with fast images, like motor racing & some sports.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_interpolation

RoyMi6 · 1 Jul 2011 at 11:46

I have a similar problem with those gazillion hertz teles (ok, 240Hz or whatever it is)

To me it looks like movies are playing in fast motion or recorded with the same equipment as a TV soap series.

I think the problem has to do with the fact that movies are usually 24fps and as such they have a almost gritty, solid feel to them. Smoothing everything out gives it the impression it's been recorded at 30fps which, although better, we've come to accept in our heads as being a feature or sign of low quality handheld camcorders which is their native framerate I think.

EDIT:: Ah, here you go. There's talk on the rotten tomatoes forum exactly about this and how 24fps indeed is chosen to give a certain aesthetic to the film. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/vine/showthread.php?p=19109033

Obviously just peoples opinions but some of it backs my initial thoughts so I'm going to post it

EDIT 2:: Oh, another point. My mate has a 240Hz tele and leaves it on all the time - he says he can't see the difference when he's watching a movie so just leaves it on. Does my head in! I actually make a conscious decision not to watch movies at his house.

IPAddis · 1 Jul 2011 at 18:53

Are you using Theatre mode for films? I have a button on my EX713 that sets this and it turns off motionflow until the mode is cancelled.

Sam098765 · 3 Jul 2011 at 01:26

All looks great on my ex723. Was very worried about motion issues but has been fantastic. Can handle f1 and also movies and games. Just let it do it's thing. This is coming from someone who had a 32" Sony CRT.

BunnyKillBot · 3 Jul 2011 at 19:01

I cannot watch films these days without motionflow/frame interpolation switched on. Panning shots just give me a headache without it. And with all the shaky cam about these days its only making the problem worse.

Bring on The Hobbit in its sweet 48p glory

nero120 · 3 Jul 2011 at 19:50

Yeah its weird, at first it looks plain wrong but then you get used to it and can't live without it!