TV: Motionflow: To Go Or No?

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rockovreality

17 posts

Geek

# 39765 18-Aug-2009 19:22

Hey all.

I am buying a new TV, yay.

The final decision is whether to go with a tv that has motionflow 100hz, or not to bother.

Is it really going to help? Can you really notice it? Is it really worth it?

Its going to be another $500 just for this feature and i am not really wanting to pay quite that much, especially for something i won't be able to fully appreciate.

Your thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance!!

J.

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219 posts

Master Geek

# 248350 18-Aug-2009 20:57

Hey.

Are you looking at any two tvs in particular? Motionflow/plus/trumotion etc is very brand and model dependent but in my opinion it shouldn't be a make or break feature, especially not for $500.

You'll probably end up turning it off after 5 minutes anyway if you enjoy your movies as it makes everything look ridiculous, like it's moving at the speed of light.

From memory samsung's tvs in particular had laughable results with 100hz.

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kiwijunglist

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# 248444 19-Aug-2009 03:37

I'd say motion flow is not important, anything over 60hz is not needed.
I would go for TV that can do 24hz / 50hz / 60hz
Even better if it can do 23.96Hz (Cinema fps) as well

Ask the TV shop to hook up a bluray with split cable to both TVs side by side.

It really depends on what you want to do with the TV. ie blu ray / good upscaling within the tv for dvds / home theatre pc etc...

If for home theatre computer then following is important...
1. Pixel mapping @ native resolution
2. It doesn't change view modes when changes hz via htpc/ doesn't change modes when the htpc goes to standby / turns off + on.

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sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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# 248454 19-Aug-2009 06:39

First thing I do with any LCD TV is turn it off - it's something that I personally can't stand as I believe it gives an unnatural look to images and resutls in a sped up look to some content.

Others disagree and love it which is obviously the reason companies keep developing the technology. It really is a matter of personal opinion.

LennonNZ

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# 248462 19-Aug-2009 07:53

I have a Samsung 52" LCD and yes it made things look horrible.Its hard to explain what it looks like but it looked just wrong. I turned it off within the 1st day

kiwijunglist

2793 posts

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# 248472 19-Aug-2009 08:16

usually video enthusiastics who want realistic pictures disable ALL of the options in the menus.

Dingbatt

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# 248501 19-Aug-2009 09:08

As a plasma fan I had only a passing interest in the affect of 100Hz (and 200) until I started looking for a 32" bedroom TV. The biggest difference I noted was the removal of judder particularly in panning shots. Here I am assuming it is the 'motion-flow' technology that is removing the judder. I will need to have a closer look at the speed-up effect alluded to above.
Are you sure the extra $500 isn't for things like DLNA, USB, etc as well?

Areas of Geek interest: Home Theatre, HTPC, Android Tablets & Phones, iProducts.

Kraven

611 posts

Ultimate Geek

# 248522 19-Aug-2009 09:42

When I was shopping for a new TV recently, our local Harvey Normans did an impressive demo on Motionflow. They had a Bravia V5500 (50Hz), W5500 (100Hz) and a Z4500 (200Hz) all sitting together with various pan-shots running through them. You could certainly see the difference, however this was a manufactured test, with images purposely selected to demonstrate the technology.

In general everyday use, you're probably not going to see the difference. I ended up settling on the W5500, as I wanted something that would handle anything I could throw at it and it was within my budget. I didn't purchase from Harvey Normans, however. Got a better deal elsewhere :)

DLNA - The most useless feature ever. DO NOT buy a TV just because it has DLNA (at least in its current form - google 'W5500 DLNA').

kiwijunglist

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# 248652 19-Aug-2009 14:38

Basically motionflow just creates an average frame and interpolates it between each frame, this has the benefit of reducing any judder in a panning frame, but this is at the expenese of picture sharpness, since the TV doesn't always get it right. It's probably only noticeable if viewing 24fps material, as 24fps is not very fast, however with DVD PAL 50fps there would be minimal if any judder anyways on a panning shot.

kiwijunglist

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# 248654 19-Aug-2009 14:47

http://www.projectorcentral.com/judder_24p.htm

rockovreality

17 posts

Geek

# 249077 20-Aug-2009 15:30

Thanks so much for all the replys! If only everyone would swing the same way, i'm still conflicted!

The TV in particular i am looking at is the Samsung LA40B550. I can get it for 2400, otherwise the next one up (LA40B650) i can get for 2900.

Motionflow is the only difference between the two that i really care about.. i just don't know whether its worth $500.

I am mainly going to be using the tv for watchin SD TV, games and blu-ray on PS3 and DVD's on my samsung upscaling dvd player. Thats pretty much everything huh? lol.

Any furthur help would be much appreciated, just tell me what to do! haha.

LennonNZ

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# 249108 20-Aug-2009 17:01

I have the 52" version of the samsung and the MotionFlow makes things look horrible.. As I said I turned it off in the 1st day after I worked out what was causing it. I haven't found any situation where stuff looks better.

richms

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# 249171 20-Aug-2009 19:55

Its another thing that guesses content, when its right, its great, when its wrong its terrible.

And it makes lag, so you need to dick around on your reciever to delay the audio too, and then when you change modes on the TV its wrong again. That would be a useful feature for the hdmi stuff to sort out, not turning off the reciever when you turn off the tv or making a volume slider on the tv appear ontop of the one from the reciver when changing the volume...

Richard rich.ms

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

# 249214 20-Aug-2009 21:43

Although from the spec sheets it doesn't look as if theres much between the 5 and 6 series other than 100hz the 4 and 5 series use cheap panels, (chi mei and auo from memory) and the 6 series and up (in 40") use much better samsung panels so the 6 should have a much better picture.

rockovreality

17 posts

Geek

# 249223 20-Aug-2009 22:06

Oh really?

I read that most of the 550 used LTF panels which are the best samsung ones, although i am aware that some use AUO or CMO. I am planning on checking that out tomorrow. In store, the panel looked pretty amazing to me!

samwooff

219 posts

Master Geek

# 249226 20-Aug-2009 22:27

Some of the 5 series do get the samsung panels but obviously most of the good panels get allocated to the more expensive tv. The bigger you go and the higher up in the model chain you go the greater the likelihood of getting a decent panel.
LCD tvs especially the samsungs with the glossy panels stand out in the store because they turn the backlight up to max and vivid settings which not only look terrible in your home but shorten the life of the tv. Get a 550 and a 650 side by side if you can at settings that you'd use in your home (cinema, low backlight) then see if it looks any better.

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