Motionflow Film mode

[lollypop11]

Hi,

I have X900e sony bravia android tv. Just recently I have been starting to notice that whenever i am watching a movie, randomly I see blinking/shaking subtitles. After a lot of digging and messing around with the settings, I have figured out that if I turn Film Mode to either low or off, the fuziness goes away.

Now I understand that Film mode in motion settings is supposed to take the judder away which it actually does and I see no frames skipping or juddering. But in a scene where camera is moving and subtitle is being dsiaplyed the same time, the text blinks and shakes. The actuall motion flow settings has nothing to do with it, I have tried all of them - they dont make a difference, it is that film mode. But turning film mode to low or off shows a lot of judder.

I acuatlly like a bit of smoothness and for that I have left the motion flow on standard and film mode on medium.

I have recorded a video to show you. In this video you'll see that all the subtitles are appearing properly except the "second  last" line when she says: "I missed deadlines". goes all fuzzy. and this happens on different times of the movie:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/5phureyix7834a4/File%2026-08-2017%2C%2022%2016%2042.mov?dl=0

Here is another clip which you can play on any media player including kodi and you will be able see that youself:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/w4dgf6x19yk250p/Africa%20The%20Serengeti.mkv?dl=0

I have tested this on kodi, smpc, the default movie player and also on MrMc installed on apple tv, connected to Sony bravia. In other words, in every single player and yet the same behaviour.

So, I am wondering if this is a normal behavior or what can i do to fix it? Or is this is a bug introduced with Nougat becuase as far as I remember it wasnt happening with Marshmallow.

[cass_n]

Hi @lollypop11 - I am just looking into this for you and will get back to you shortly.

Cheers,

Cass

[lollypop11]

Hi Cass,

any update?

cheers

[lollypop11]

Anyone? 

[cass_n]

Hi @lollypop11 - apologies for the delay!

I have checked this for you and have been told that as the intention of Film Mode is to give the impression of watching a movie in a cinema, it isn't the best setting to use for subtitles.  So it would be better to turn off Film Mode if using subtitles, or watching a news channel for example.

Cheers,

Cass

[lollypop11]

Thank you for your reply. Much appreciated! 

But the thing is when I turn Film mode to Low or off, i see a lot of judder in movies. I have tried changing the motion flow to smooth but still I see a lot of jerkiness in playback. What would you recommend to overcome that?

Second, as far as I remember, this jerkiness in subtiltes wasnt the case before nougat update, I could be wrong but I do remember having no probs with subtitles in before. Could it be that Sony may have issued an update to motion flow which is why I have started seeing this behaviour?

Cheers

[Kuschelmonschter]

In the Motionflow settings you can specify the level of motion interpolation (Smoothness). Film mode controls on which content to apply it.

You find lots of wrong information on the internet. And Sony is not able to clearly specify what those settings really do. And whether they work the same for Android MediaCodec playback (display is always @60Hz) and HDMI input with different refresh rates. The answer by @cass_n is as vague as it can get...

I did some tests with Kodi, playing back different content:

(1) 1080p24 - horizontally moving bars at different pace

(2) 1080i25 - horizontally moving news ticker

I set Smoothness to Max so that I get a pronounced soap opera effect if motion interpolation is applied.

Result:

(1) motion interpolation is applied at Film mode set to Medium and High

(2) motion interpolation is only applied at Film mode set to High

Film mode does not affect the “strength” of the applied motion interpolation. This is what the Smoothness slider does. Film mode just controls on which content to apply it. And motion interpolation might indeed cause trouble when displaying subtitles.

So you have to decide between proper displaying of subtitles (motion interpolation off) or judder-free video playback (motion interpolation), which is controlled by the Film mode setting.

How about setting Film mode to High and Smoothness to 3? It might give you some kind of a compromise.

[victorazv]

I'm with exactly the same problem. I'm very disappointed.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgbtd7skzNk

[kabusa]

Be sure your not confusing judder with stutter. Judder is a random jumpiness, stutter is rythmic and is common with 24 frame per second content, like movies. not everyone sees this apparently. It is one of the reasons I chose the 940E because it has a slow response panel that is less able to reproduce stutter. Check the reviews at Rtings.com, because I see often that new TV's can produce Judder on certain material, especially cable/satellite.

[lollypop11]

---

@victorazvwrote:

I'm with exactly the same problem. I'm very disappointed.

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgbtd7skzNk

---

Yep, I feel the pain and disaapointment - there is no solution to it except turning off the motion flow. What a waste of money!!! Never every buying a sony product.