Soap opera effect

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The soap opera effect makes it appear as if the viewer is either on set or watching a behind the scenes featurette. Delirium. Movie Set 2.jpg
The soap opera effect makes it appear as if the viewer is either on set or watching a behind the scenes featurette.

The soap opera effect (SOE) is a byproduct of the perceived increase in frame rate where motion interpolation may introduce a "video-look" (instead of a "film look"). [1] The image has been described as "too realistic" or "too smooth" and therefore undesirable for viewing films. [2]

Contents

This term is a reference to the distinctive appearance of most broadcast television soap operas or pre-2000s multicam sitcoms, which were typically shot using less expensive 60i video rather than film. [3] The "soap opera effect" is not a glitch or a defect, but a purpose-built feature found in many modern television sets to make the image more smooth and to compensate for the display's motion blur. [4]

Conversely, the effect has been well-received and much desired for sports, news and video games due to the very smooth-looking action displayed on screen. [4]

Background

The term "soap opera effect" stems from inexpensively produced television drama, also known as soap operas, which lacked sufficient money and had to be shot and edited promptly on video tape (VHS) at 30 frames-per-second (60 interlaced frames). Therefore, a daytime soap opera would look very clear and almost "real life", which was in contrast to high budget Hollywood movies (that were filmed and exhibited in theaters on more costly film stock at 24 FPS). Even on television sets, the difference between content recorded on film and on a VHS was rather detectable. [5]

The soap opera effect is the result of a default setting on modern television sets that generates and inserts extra frames in between the existent ones to make a sharp and crisp image of the action on screen. [6] The effect is more apparent in pans and camera movement, although many viewers may see it in any motion. [2] When media is filmed at lower frame rates, the human eye anticipates a definite measure of motion blur and time between frames, except that the addition of interpolated frames may eliminate this, thereby causing the image to appear to be excessively sharp, smooth or unnatural looking. The soap opera effect becomes more noticeable the lower the FPS of the original image. [5] The effect occurs because the video content and the display do not give out the same number of images per second. [7]

Reception

Negative

On modern Smart TV and high-definition television sets, the soap opera effect has become the unwelcomed ramification of motion interpolation experienced by some viewers, due to the hyperreal, ultrasmooth motion. Many complain that the soap opera effect ruins the theatrical look of cinematic works due to the strong picture clarity and high detail visibility when it comes to fast-moving imagery, which is normally lacking in television or theater presentations. As such, almost all manufacturers provide ways to disable the feature, but because methods and terminology differ, the UHD Alliance proposed that all televisions have a "Filmmaker Mode" button on remote controls to disable motion smoothing. [8]

Motion interpolation so annoys filmmakers that Tom Cruise and Christopher McQuarrie released a public service announcement in 2018 describing the effect and how to disable it. [9] While some people dislike the effect, others do not notice it and some actually enjoy it. But those who dislike it feel as if it makes the picture look artificial and unfamiliar, since they are not accustomed to watching television with such a high frame rate. [4]

Furthermore, audiences felt disconcerted watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey at 48 frames per second as opposed to the 24 fps that was used for a long time (and simulated by digital cameras later on), where they opined that the film looked "unnatural" and "too real", thereby giving it a "soap opera" look. [4]

Positive

Some sports viewers appreciate motion interpolation, [4] as it can reduce motion blur produced by camera pans and shaky cameras, and thus potentially yield better clarity of such images. It may also be used to increase the apparent framerate of video games for a more realistic feel, although the addition of display lag may be an undesired side effect. [5]

In the early 2000s, the "video look" was created deliberately by the VidFIRE technique to restore archive television programs that only survive as film telerecordings, such as early seasons of the TV series Doctor Who . VidFIRE made its broadcast debut on BBC2 in 2001 where the effect was applied to a few episodes of Dad's Army . Subsequently, it was used to critical acclaim in the restoration of The Seeds of Death , The Dalek Invasion of Earth and the Lost in Time collection. [10]

Television setting

Every television manufacturer uses its own name for motion smoothing; LG titles the setting TruMotion, Hisense names it UltraSMR, Samsung uses the term Auto Motion Plus, Sony has MotionFlow, TCL calls it Action Smoothing, and Vizio names it Smooth Motion Effect. [4]

Moreover, Vizio, LG, Samsung, and Panasonic have pledged to include 'Filmmaker Mode' – Since 2020, LG TVs have 'Filmmaker Mode' integrated in the coding for Amazon Prime Video, so that the motion filter is disabled during Prime Video movies and shows. [4]

See also

Related Research Articles

Frame rate, most commonly expressed in frame/s, frames per second or FPS, is typically the frequency (rate) at which consecutive images (frames) are captured or displayed. This definition applies to film and video cameras, computer animation, and motion capture systems. In these contexts, frame rate may be used interchangeably with frame frequency and refresh rate, which are expressed in hertz. Additionally, in the context of computer graphics performance, FPS is the rate at which a system, particularly a GPU, is able to generate frames, and refresh rate is the frequency at which a display shows completed frames. In electronic camera specifications frame rate refers to the maximum possible rate frames could be captured, but in practice, other settings may reduce the actual frequency to a lower number than the frame rate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Telecine</span> Process for broadcasting content stored on film stock

Telecine, or TK, is the process of transferring film into video and is performed in a color suite. The term is also used to refer to the equipment used in this post-production process.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motion blur</span> Photography artifact from moving objects

Motion blur is the apparent streaking of moving objects in a photograph or a sequence of frames, such as a film or animation. It results when the image being recorded changes during the recording of a single exposure, due to rapid movement or long exposure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Slow motion</span> Effect in filmmaking

Slow motion is an effect in film-making whereby time appears to be slowed down. It was invented by the Austrian priest August Musger in the early 20th century. This can be accomplished through the use of high-speed cameras and then playing the footage produced by such cameras at a normal rate like 30 fps, or in post production through the use of software.

The refresh rate, also known as vertical refresh rate or vertical scan rate in reference to terminology originating with the cathode-ray tubes (CRTs), is the number of times per second that a raster-based display device displays a new image. This is independent from frame rate, which describes how many images are stored or generated every second by the device driving the display. On CRT displays, higher refresh rates produce less flickering, thereby reducing eye strain. In other technologies such as liquid-crystal displays, the refresh rate affects only how often the image can potentially be updated.

In video technology, 24p refers to a video format that operates at 24 frames per second frame rate with progressive scanning. Originally, 24p was used in the non-linear editing of film-originated material. Today, 24p formats are being increasingly used for aesthetic reasons in image acquisition, delivering film-like motion characteristics. Some vendors advertise 24p products as a cheaper alternative to film acquisition.

Deinterlacing is the process of converting interlaced video into a non-interlaced or progressive form. Interlaced video signals are commonly found in analog television, VHS, Laserdisc, digital television (HDTV) when in the 1080i format, some DVD titles, and a smaller number of Blu-ray discs.

VidFIRE is a technology intended to restore the video-like motion of footage originally shot with television cameras that have been converted to formats with telerecording as their basis. The word is both a noun and a verb; in a sense, it is the opposite of filmizing, which makes video look like film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Time-lapse photography</span> Filming at a lower frame rate than the viewing rate

Time-lapse photography is a technique in which the frequency at which film frames are captured is much lower than the frequency used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing. For example, an image of a scene may be captured at 1 frame per second but then played back at 30 frames per second; the result is an apparent 30 times speed increase.

In filmmaking, video production, animation, and related fields, a frame is one of the many still images which compose the complete moving picture. The term is derived from the historical development of film stock, in which the sequentially recorded single images look like a framed picture when examined individually.

Flicker-free is a term given to video displays, primarily cathode-ray tubes, operating at a high refresh rate to reduce or eliminate the perception of screen flicker. For televisions, this involves operating at a 100 Hz or 120 Hz hertz field rate to eliminate flicker, compared to standard televisions that operate at 50 Hz or 60 Hz (NTSC), most simply done by displaying each field twice, rather than once. For computer displays, this is usually a refresh rate of 70–90 Hz, sometimes 100 Hz or higher. This should not be confused with motion interpolation, though they may be combined – see implementation, below.

High-motion is the characteristic of video or film footage displayed possessing a sufficiently high frame rate that moving images do not blur or strobe even when tracked closely by the eye. The most common forms of high motion are NTSC and PAL video at their native display rates. Movie film does not portray high motion even when shown on television monitors.

Television standards conversion is the process of changing a television transmission or recording from one video system to another. Converting video between different numbers of lines, frame rates, and color models in video pictures is a complex technical problem. However, the international exchange of television programming makes standards conversion necessary so that video may be viewed in another nation with a differing standard. Typically video is fed into video standards converter which produces a copy according to a different video standard. One of the most common conversions is between the NTSC and PAL standards.

The term post-processing is used in the video and film industry for quality-improvement image processing methods used in video playback devices, such as stand-alone DVD-Video players; video playing software; and transcoding software. It is also commonly used in real-time 3D rendering to add additional effects.

Display motion blur, also called HDTV blur and LCD motion blur, refers to several visual artifacts that are frequently found on modern consumer high-definition television sets and flat-panel displays for computers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motion interpolation</span> Form of video processing

Motion interpolation or motion-compensated frame interpolation (MCFI) is a form of video processing in which intermediate film, video or animation frames are generated between existing ones by means of interpolation, in an attempt to make animation more fluid, to compensate for display motion blur, and for fake slow motion effects.

Display lag is a phenomenon associated with most types of liquid crystal displays (LCDs) like smartphones and computers and nearly all types of high-definition televisions (HDTVs). It refers to latency, or lag between when the signal is sent to the display and when the display starts to show that signal. This lag time has been measured as high as 68 ms, or the equivalent of 3-4 frames on a 60 Hz display. Display lag is not to be confused with pixel response time, which is the amount of time it takes for a pixel to change from one brightness value to another. Currently the majority of manufacturers quote the pixel response time, but neglect to report display lag.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">8K resolution</span> Resolutions with approximate width of 8,000 pixels

8K resolution refers to an image or display resolution with a width of approximately 8,000 pixels. 8K UHD is the highest resolution defined in the Rec. 2020 (UHDTV) standard.

In motion picture technology—either film or video—high frame rate (HFR) refers to higher frame rates than typical prior practice.

References

  1. 1 2 Moskovciak, Matthew (January 8, 2008). "Vizio adds 120 Hz LCDs to its lineup". CNET.com. Retrieved 2008-02-01.
  2. 1 2 Morrison, Geoffrey; Katzmaier, David (July 18, 2023). "How to Disable the Annoying Soap Opera Effect That's Ruining Your TV". CNET . Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  3. ↑ Biggs, John (August 12, 2009). "Help Key: Why 120 Hz looks "weird"". crunchgear.com. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Wouk, Kris (2019-09-21). "What is the Soap Opera Effect and how can you get rid of it on your TV?". Digital Trends. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  5. 1 2 3 Wright, Gavin. "What is the Soap Opera Effect?". Techtarget.com. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  6. ↑ von Voss, Olaf (October 11, 2017). "The Soap Opera Effect – How Your TV is Destroying Cinematic Efforts". Cined. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  7. ↑ "What is Soap Opera Effect and How Do We Get Rid of It?". Elite Screens Projector Screens. 24 December 2017. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  8. ↑ Shafer, Rob (2024-07-14). "What Is The Soap Opera Effect?". Display Ninja. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
  9. ↑ Cruise, Tom; McQuarrie, Christopher (2018-12-06). Tom Cruise 'Motion Smoothing' PSA . Retrieved 2024-06-14– via YouTube.
  10. ↑ "VIDFIRE – The Doctor Who Restoration Team". restoration-team.co.uk. Archived from the original on May 17, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2011.
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