Originally Posted by
OliverB
to try to reboot the tv to its factory settings (this never works)
Factory settings these days usually include motion smoothing, unfortunately. Most TVs default to it. Most people prefer it. It's the bane of my existence. I loathe it.
When I bought a new 4K TV recently I was horrified to learn that you can't even disable it on many cheaper 4K TVs now, it's baked in. I had to have the first cheap 4K TV I ordered returned to Best Buy and I needed to buy a fairly high-end TV (an LG OLED) to get one that even had the option to fully disable motion smoothing.
Originally Posted by
OliverB
I always feel like a big weirdo because nobody seems to be aware of it and wonders what I'm griping about.
I always feel this way too. The clerks at Best Buy thought I was crazy. Luckily the clerks in the high-end section of Best Buy, Magnolia, were willing to humor me. Much like these hotels, the regular section of Best Buy has no remotes for the TVs and no way to adjust the settings, so no way to test if motion smoothing can be turned off. Luckily, the Magnolia section had remotes for their TVs.
Sadly, 99% of people seem to not notice motion smoothing or even to prefer it. I can't fathom watching every movie looking like a soap opera or like it was filmed on a camcorder, but there it is.