Follow ZDNET: Add us as a favorite source On Google.
Let’s say you recently purchased a shiny new TV. You unbox it like a kid at Christmas and get ready to indulge in all its visual glory. You think to yourself, “It’s 2025. TV technology is awesome, and no matter what, it’s going to look amazing.” So you plug it in and don’t take a look at the default settings. big mistake.
Also: I saw the future of TV in Samsung’s South Korea lab — and I’m excited for these 3 things
I am guilty of this. And I agree with this because it is widely accepted that most consumers neglect to change the most basic settings when setting up their TV. Even if your TV is a few years old, you may have never modified its defaults.
Exclusively for Samsung TVs, you can change some settings to improve your viewing experience and make a dystopian survival thriller more engaging. The following are six tips for doing this.
1. Turn off Eco Mode
Almost all TVs now come with “Eco Mode” turned on by default. Eco mode is designed to limit power usage by dimming the TV’s brightness and reducing its contrast levels. A recent study found that enabling Eco Mode saves at least $7 per year on your electricity bill. (That’s literally less than two cents per day.) Is “eco” short for economy Or ecologyThis isn’t a significant savings, and there are countless ways to reduce your carbon footprint more effectively.
ALSO: 5 Settings I Changed on My TV to Drastically Lower My Electric Bill – and Why They Work
To disable Eco Mode, click the gear button on your Samsung remote to access Settings. Then follow this path: All Settings > General & Privacy > Power & Energy Saving > Energy Saving Solutions. Finally, toggle off Energy Saving Solutions.
2. Turn off brightness optimization
While you’ve already navigated to Power & Energy Saving, go ahead and toggle off Brightness Optimization as well.
Many TVs now come with optical sensors that can detect how much light is in your room and how warm or cool that light might be. Then, the TV automatically adjusts, reportedly optimizing brightness and color temperature based on that data. This is not always reliable, and this feature can give you poor results, especially in a room where the lighting can change, such as on a sunny day when large clouds darken the sky.
3. Choose a picture mode designed for movies
I think the Movie, Cinema or Filmmaker modes are generally best as they aim to provide the most accurate and faithful representation of the content creator’s vision. Additionally, by reducing unnecessary image processing, these modes reduce the risk of introducing artifacts and other image quality issues.
Go to All Settings > Picture Mode. Then flip through these three options (Movie, Cinema, or Filmmaker) to find your favorite.
Also: How to Clear Your TV Cache (And Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Do It)
The default Standard mode produces a cool or blue color temperature. TVs often come with a Vivid mode, which Samsung calls Dynamic Mode. I would recommend staying away from this, as both Dynamic and Sports modes can make colors too intense, as well as harsh glare throughout the picture. These modes are more commonly used by retailers when setting up display TVs, as the colors will appear more vibrantly in the storefront.
4. Adjust the brightness level to suit your eyes
Finding the ideal brightness level will depend on what type of content you are viewing. While HDR (High Dynamic Range) is becoming increasingly more prevalent, decades of film are still limited to SDR (Standard Dynamic Range). However, you can easily adjust your brightness level for both scenarios.
For SDR, open any app, such as Prime, and don’t start playing the video yet. Now go to All Settings > Picture > Expert Settings > Brightness (note that on some Samsung models, this is found under Picture Setup.) Move the sliders to find the sweet spot (in your opinion) for SDR brightness.
Also: Why the Samsung QLED TV model is the one most people should buy in 2025 – especially at this price
To adjust HDR brightness, you first need to find a video displayed in high dynamic range. Going to YouTube TV is a quick way to make sure you’re watching HDR content as many of its videos are labeled with a short description indicating their type. Alternatively, you can simply search for “HDR video”.
The brightness level you choose is a matter of personal preference, but looking at both technologies (SDR/HDR) you will notice differences. HDR with maximum brightness looks best to me. You’ll find that SDR looks ideal when set to a lower level.
5. Experiment with local dimming
Another setting that affects brightness levels is Local Dimming, which is available in three options on Samsung TVs. Go to All Settings > Picture > Expert Settings > Local Dimming.
Experiment by sampling Low, Standard and High to see which works best for you. Set to Low, local dimming provides less halos and blooming around bright objects on dark backgrounds. On Samsung TVs, my preference is higher because it keeps the flashpoint bright without surrounding images with a halo.
Now that you’ve modified the Local Dimming, you’ll probably want to go back and check your brightness levels on both SDR and HDR content to see if they’re satisfactory.
6. Turn off motion smoothing for a cinematic look
Most movies are (and always have been) shot at 24 frames per second. The purpose of motion smoothing is to interpolate images into footage shot at 24 fps to reduce blur and judder. This can be beneficial when watching sports as live television is shot at 30 fps.
However, another common default feature is motion smoothing, which has earned the TV a reputation for giving it a “soap opera effect”. From that description alone, you’ll probably get the idea. I think of it as glossy vs matte in photographic prints shiny Describing the soap opera effect, which resembles a live broadcast. Although I always aim for an intense visual experience, I don’t need to feel like I’m on set with the actors and crew shooting the scene.
Also: You should disable ACR on your TV right now – here’s how and why
Go to All Settings > Picture > Expert Settings > Picture Clarity Settings(Note that motion smoothing is called Picture Clarity or Auto Motion Plus on Samsung TVs.)
From here, you can turn off picture clarity (motion smoothing) entirely or choose custom settings. There, you can adjust sliders for Blur Reduction and Judder Reduction, which you can choose to increase when watching a football match or playing video games. However, for traditional (filmic) aesthetics, turning off motion smoothing is the way to go.
If you get a new Samsung TV this Christmas, congratulations! Now, take a few minutes to maximize its potential. If you have an older model, you can still get a better looking picture with a few clicks of the remote.
