This smart TV picture setting is completely overrated

Smart TVs have a lot of customization built into them that reward you for diving deep into the settings. It’s one of my favorite things to do after buying a TV. For some reason, I find it satisfying to tweak various picture settings just to get things to my liking. I understand not everybody likes doing that, and that might be why smart TVs have numerous settings to pick from, where you don’t have to tweak anything.

A lot of people like to recommend Filmmaker mode to get close to how the filmmaker intended their film to look, as the name suggests. While I agree that’s the case, I don’t actually think it’s the best fit for what a lot of people are looking for. For lack of a better word, I’d even call the setting overrated because it doesn’t always represent the best visual quality. If you’re unable to make your room completely dark when you’re watching something, I don’t think I’d recommend it at all.

It’s fine, but I wouldn’t call it the best

Filmmaker mode still has some flaws

I don’t mind TVs launching with preset modes like this, because a lot of people like to set it and forget, and I don’t blame them. However, I spent too much on my setup not to get the most out of it, and it usually doesn’t take a lot of time to tweak settings and get things how I like them. Filmmaker mode, to its credit, looks nice when you’re watching movies, but I don’t think it’s great for anything else.

Watching something on TV or any sports content would benefit from other modes, and as strange as it sounds, a Vivid setting might even look better. I would hate for somebody to pick up an OLED TV expecting their colors to pop off the screen, only for something like Filmmaker mode to make that not happen. If you’re primarily gaming, it’s actually a mode you should actively avoid.

At first glance, it might be hard to figure out why that’s the case, especially since a lot of people recommend throwing on the Filmmaker mode. If it works for you, that’s perfectly fine, but I think there are better options out there for most people. At the very least, don’t watch the Super Bowl with the setting turned on. What I will say is that the mode is good for getting people off the dreaded motion-smoothing modes. Directors never intend their content to be watched that way, so that’s a major plus in my book.

It’s worth checking out the various picture settings your TV offers, especially the Dolby Vision options, because everyone has different preferences. While you might like the more accurate look the Filmmaker mode provides, not everybody is going to be a fan of the more muted colors.

I’d rather make my own settings

It’s more rewarding

Instead of toggling on a specific picture setting on my new TV, I like to really dig into the settings and mess with the numbers. There are all types of things you can change, including brightness and contrast. If you think the picture is too vibrant, you can tweak the HDR settings too. I think this is much more beneficial to people instead of using a default setting because it lets you make things look the way you want them to look.

When I reviewed the Fire TV Omni QLED, I messed around with the regular settings before tweaking the SDR and HDR options. That TV is in a room where the sun shines through a window directly onto the TV for several hours a day, and until I get a new curtain, that’s going to remain a problem. Fortunately, the TV settings let me combat that for the time being, and I’m happy with the look.

If you’re particularly lazy, but still want something that looks better than the preset modes, then there’s a nice middle ground available. What I would recommend is looking at the RTINGS calibration guide for your TV and going from there. Keep in mind that it’ll still vary by where your TV is positioned and where you’re sitting, but even if you blindly copy all the settings, you’ll get a good picture. This is what I have done for many of my TVs, and I’ve never had major issues with how things look. I’d typically take the settings and make some minor changes from there, but they’re largely great if you go down that route.

Once you start to understand why you’re changing certain things instead of just copying what somebody else does, it really helps you tweak without any outside help. At the end of the day, it’s your TV, so you can do what you like with it. If you’re a fan of Filmmaker mode, go ahead and keep using it. It still looks good, but I don’t think it looks as good as you could make your TV look by messing with the settings yourself.