If you were one of the lucky few to get a new TV in the holiday sales extravaganza, you'll be wanting the best picture quality it can muster. While not every TV is built the same, often you can improve the performance with just a few quick tweaks.
Whether you have one of the best OLED TVs or a mid-range QLED, I've included a few helpful hints that will enhance picture performance without wasting your time in settings menus. With my years of TV testing, I know exactly which settings to change if you're trying to eke out even more immersion from your TV.
1. Change to Filmmaker mode
One of the first things I recommend after buying and setting up a new TV is changing the picture mode to Filmmaker. It's one of the quickest and easiest methods for improving picture quality, as it enhances content by disabling all the other unwanted settings your TV might already be using.
Filmmaker was designed to be the end-all-be-all of TV picture modes, offering a robust collection of picture amendments to match the content as it was intended to be experienced. As the name implies, it was spearheaded by the UHD Alliance, a coalition of electronics manufacturers, Hollywood studios and executives that includes input from some of the most well-known creators in the business, such as Christopher Nolan and Martin Scorsese.
If you're a one-and-done type who doesn't like to fiddle with the settings menus at all, Filmmaker mode is the only tweak you'll ever need to make.
What the mode does on a granular level is strip out all the unnecessary noise, giving you the cleanest, least-processed image possible. Filmmaker mode does this by disabling certain settings, such as motion smoothing (which we'll discuss later), and adjusts sharpness, brightness and noise reduction, all to bring the image closer to the director/creator's intent. There's no need to alter any other settings. If you're a one-and-done type who doesn't like to fiddle with the settings menus at all, Filmmaker mode is the only tweak you'll ever need to make.
To put it succinctly, there really isn't any other picture mode you'll ever need to use, aside from "Gaming" — and, even then, that should automatically enable when you turn on your console or PC, so there should be no need to change picture settings for the pastime. Several newer TVs also allow you to select specific picture modes for different sources, or apply the same mode across all sources, so you shouldn't have to worry about changing them.
Filmmaker is also still regularly updated. It received a 1.1 upgrade in October 2025 that addressed one of its most debilitating setbacks: scenes being too dark. Now, Filmmaker mode can use the ambient light sensor in your TV for improved contrast and brightness. Hopefully, even more issues can be resolved in the future.
2. Turn on Local Dimming
This tip only applies if you have an LCD TV, particularly one with Mini-LED backlighting. Local Dimming can be a bit confusing, but it essentially allows the TV to improve black levels without diminished brightness. Mini-LED TVs with full array local dimming offer a varying number of dimming zones, with larger sizes often including more, given the additional space.
With more dimming zones, you'll get better backlighting control, and chances are your Mini-LED TV has over a thousand at its disposal. This means you'll have access to local dimming controls, which aren't often enabled out of the box, and they can range between four or five different modes: Off, Low, Medium, High, or Auto.
While you can adjust the dimming zones depending on your entertainment setup, I recommend simply setting it to "High." This will offer the best picture quality, but if your TV is set up in a bright room, you may not need the highest option. One mode to ignore entirely is Auto, as it will often dynamically change brightness and contrast on a dime, diminishing picture quality in certain scenes.
For the safest bet, simply enable Local Dimming at the highest level, and if it's too much, adjust to Low or Medium depending on which mode looks better in your space.
3. Disable motion smoothing
One of the most egregious settings that can make or break a TV is motion smoothing or motion clarity. These settings tend to lead to the dreaded "soap opera effect" that makes shows and movies look unnatural and disorienting. It's one of the first few settings I change right away when turning on a TV, making content look far better at its natural frame rate.
How does motion smoothing work? Well, it smooths out the content by reducing blur and increasing the frame rate to 60fps or even higher in some cases. This is what makes shows and movies look so unnatural, as some of our favorite content is often shot in either 24fps or 30fps.
Depending on the TV brand, the setting can often be labeled with a different name. Samsung tends to use the "Auto Motion Plus" tag, while LG uses "True Motion."
Whatever you do, make sure to disable the motion smoothing setting immediately after setting up your TV so you can rest easy knowing everything from "The Godfather" to NHL games looks stunning and flawless.
Filmmaker will turn this off for you (that's why it's our first recommendation) but turning off motion processing is a good option if you want to retain a neutral or cool color temperature. With these settings in place, your TV should be looking loads better.
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