For years now, the movie industry has complained on numerous occasions about the modes that televisions are turned on by default . Almost all TVs on the market activate by default smoothing technologies and other aids that, while improving the perception of smoothness in movement in content such as DTT programs, also destroy immersion in movies. This is why the Filmmaker Mode was released, and has now been updated to be even better.
The Filmmaker Mode is a mode that has been incorporated into Smart TVs from different manufacturers since 2020, such as LG, Panasonic, TP Vision, Samsung and VIZIO. When activated, this mode deactivates all the aids that are included in televisions, including post-processing and motion smoothing , as well as applying the color, aspect ratio and frame rates per second that the director had intended. Thanks to this, the user will be seeing the film in the closest way to how its creator had conceived it.
Filmmaker Mode Phase 2 – Ambient Light
In some televisions, this mode is activated automatically when playing according to what content. This is the example of LG TVs when they play movies on Amazon Prime Video, so the user does not even have to bother to manually activate it in picture modes.
Now, the UHD Alliance has announced three years later the first major update in this way. The so-called ‘phase 2’ of the Filmmaker Mode will focus on providing ambient lighting recommendations. Directors are aware that, although they always recommend watching movies in practically dark environments or with lighting as dim as possible, that is not always possible.
For this reason, the new mode will require that the television have ambient light sensors so that it can automatically adjust the brightness and color of the television, while maintaining the same perception and quality that the directors intended for their content.
The Filmmaker Mode may appear very yellowish
When activated, you will notice that the content looks a bit more yellowish, but that is precisely the goal. The closest white color to a reliable reproduction is yellowish, and you can notice that, for example, when you go to the cinema, that the images look slightly more yellowish. The problem is that the televisions come uncalibrated from the factory, hence they come with more bluish whites by default, and the change is much more noticeable. When you use the warm setting of the Filmmaker Mode for a few days, you get used to it, and going back to the old thing will cost you a lot because you will see everything bluish.
The mode is already compatible with all the televisions that LG and Samsung are launching on the market, as well as some models from Hisense, Panasonic, Philips, TP Vision and Skyworth . Some projectors from LG, Samsung, BenQ and Hisense are also supported. On streaming platforms, unfortunately, only Amazon Prime Video and Kaleidescape are currently supported.
The mode is not going to be limited to televisions. The UHD Alliance says it is working with the Airline Passenger Entertainment Experience Association to create a technical specification to ensure that content is properly viewed on aircraft screens, including 4K resolution, HDR, and Filmmaker Mode . The first aircraft with screens compatible with the standard will begin to receive it from 2023, starting with airlines such as American Airlines.
The idea is that more and more content, platforms and televisions integrate this mode to ensure that the content is seen. We recently saw Denis Villeneuve promote this mode with the launch of Dune on HBO Max.
