5 free fixes that make every smart TV perform like a premium model
When you buy a new smart TV, you expect a quality viewing experience from the moment you turn it on. Still, you might accidentally accept lower image quality, unreliable connections, and privacy issues by keeping the default settings. The best performance gains are already inside the device you own. By following these steps, you can correct these distortions, stabilize streaming, stop data tracking, and speed up your TV to what is now industry standard.
Disable motion smoothing
Fix That Weird Soap opera Look
If you’re watching a movie on a new smart TV and it looks strange, you’ll likely notice motion smoothing. This setting creates the soap opera effect, which makes movies look like they were filmed with a basic home camera. Most shows are shot at 24 frames per second to create natural motion blur. Since modern TVs have refresh rates of 60Hz or 120Hz, they use motion interpolation or MEMC to bridge the gap between these rates.
The TV’s processor guesses which images should pass between the real images and inserts artificial images to make them look smooth. While this helps reduce blur in live sports, it ruins the texture of fiction broadcasts by making them look hyperrealistic.
You can fix it in your settings. Brands use different names for this, like Samsung Auto Motion Plus, LG TruMotion, Vizio Clear Action or Sony Motionflow. You can also switch to Filmmaker mode or Cinema mode to turn it off automatically and enjoy a natural viewing experience.
Switching to wired Ethernet connections
Permanently stop buffering
Hannah Stryker / Practical Geek
Wi-Fi is convenient, but it’s usually unstable and prone to interference from things like microwaves, walls, or a neighbor’s network. When the signal drops, streaming services lower the quality of your video, causing pixelation and audio issues. Plugging an Ethernet cable directly into your TV provides a more stable connection.
Using a physical cord makes your data transmission impervious to environmental issues that plague wireless networks. Most smart TVs use 10/100 Mbps Ethernet ports. Although this is not gigabit speed, it is an advantage in terms of reliability. Services like Netflix and YouTube only need 15-25 Mbps to stream 4K content, so a stable 100 Mbps connection gives you plenty of bandwidth.
A wired connection also reduces latency, so movies start playing as soon as you press the button. You also won’t have to re-enter Wi-Fi passwords with a bulky remote.
Calibrating image settings
Get better colors without eye strain
New TVs are generally not set up to provide the best viewing at home. Manufacturers ship them with very high brightness and color saturation using modes like Vivid, Dynamic, or Standard. These settings are meant to catch your eye in a bright store, but they’re too harsh for a typical living room.
They wash out details in shadows and cause eye strain, especially if you’re watching in a dark room. Switching your picture preset to Cinematographer mode, Movie mode, or Cinema mode is one of the simplest free adjustments you can make. These presets change colors and contrast to realistic levels and use a warmer, more comfortable color temperature.
They also disable unnecessary post-processing, like artificial sharpening that creates halos around objects. Using these settings ensures that you see the film as the director intended, without the artificial look designed for retail screens.
Disabling Automatic Content Recognition (ACR)
Stop your TV from spying on you
Modern smart TVs track your viewing habits using a technology called automatic content recognition, or ACR. This feature monitors the content displayed on your screen, which includes sources such as set-top boxes, gaming consoles, and laptops connected with HDMI cables.
It works by capturing audio fingerprints or taking screenshots every 500 milliseconds. Some brands analyze 7,200 images every hour to build a profile of your habits. When the TV identifies content, it combines that information with your IP address and location to sell it to data brokers.
Companies use it to create household profiles for targeted advertising. You can stop this by adjusting the ACR settings, although brands tend to use unclear names for them. Samsung calls it Viewing Information Services, LG calls it Live Plus or Viewing Information Agreement, Vizio uses the term Viewing Data, and Roku calls it Using Information from TV Inputs. Your TV will work without these settings and may even perform better.
Configure smartphone remote controls
Use your phone to type more easily
Losing physical remotes happens often and it’s tedious to enter passwords or movie titles with them. You can fix this problem by downloading the official remote app from your TV manufacturer. Apps like Samsung SmartThings, LG ThinQ, Roku Mobile, or the Google TV app connect to your TV over your Wi-Fi network.
They take less than 90 seconds to set up, provided your phone and TV are on the same network. These apps provide a full numeric keypad, which allows you to quickly enter credentials and search queries. They also include touchscreen navigation and swipe controls that are faster than pressing buttons on a physical remote.
Since the apps use Wi-Fi rather than infrared signals, you don’t need a direct line of sight to the TV. You can even use your phone’s voice assistant to open apps. This gives you a backup controller in your pocket so a misplaced remote doesn’t interrupt your evening.
Don’t settle for the default settings
You only need a few minutes to correct these settings. Manufacturers configure these devices to look good on store shelves and to collect your data. TVs should focus on delivering your entertainment services instead of showing you targeted ads or suffering from pixelation. This checklist works for all major brands and helps you avoid factory defaults. You need to stop accepting the default and get the display performance you paid for.
7/10
- Brand
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TCL
- Display size
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85 inches
- Dimensions
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74 x 42 x 2.3 (without stand)
- Operating system
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Google TV
