Film Mode on LCD TV for PAL

[Speedy2056]

I know that film is shot at 24fps and NTSC is 30fps and Film Mode is used to improve this and make the 24 framerate "catch up" to 30fps. I know it is a Progressive Scan feature.

However, I live in Europe (using the PAL system) and our framerate is 25fps.

Should I turn on Film Mode on my LCD tv or leave it off?

Sense tells me to keep it off as it is more useful to NTSC but am I correct?

There is only 1 frame difference for us and I don't think the human eye is capable of telling the difference between that one frame. There are three options for Film Mode on my tv, Off, Standard and Advanced...Advanced being the one that makes the most difference. It's just that the motion seems unrealistic to me and *too* smooth. Movies seem to become like one of them animated CGI films.

Also a question, I do have Region 1 DVD's and play them on my PAL dvd player but does the frame rate become converted to PAL or does it play in it's native 30fps?

I have not played any R1 dvd's on my LCD tv as of yet.

[NicolasB]

Okay, film mode doesn't do what you think it does.

What film mode does is control how an interlaced signal is deinterlaced. Different deinterlacing strategies are appropriate depending on whether the source material you are watching was originally shot with a film camera or a video camera. The way most TVs work is that if film mode is "off" then the TV assumes that everything it is fed is a video source. If film mode is "on" then it will try and figure out whether it is film or video and adjust accordingly - usually with a bias towards film. (I'm deliberately not going into any technical detail, here).

The upshot of this is that if the original source is actually film then switching film mode on will make it look clearer and sharper, but if the original source is video then switching on film mode will make it look worse. So, if what you're watching is a cinema film, or an american TV series shot on film, you should switch film mode on. If you're watching a low budget UK series or something shot live for TV (like a news broadcast) then switch film mode off.

Differences between PAL and NTSC are relevant if you get into the technical detail of how the TV distinguishes between film and video, and how likely it is to get the decision right (it is much easier to tell the difference between film and video with 60Hz material than it is for 50Hz) but it doesn't directly influence the basic advice: regardless of whether the material is 50Hz or 60Hz, use film mode for film, and not for video.

[Speedy2056]

Thanks for the reply.

I admit, I'm not clued up on how to tell what is shot with what except when it comes to movies, obviously they are shot with a film camera.

I might just leave Film Mode off for tv altogether.

Also, it may come down to taste, I still don't like the smooth motion as it looks too animated for my liking.

As for the picture quality looking even more smoother in itself, not sure I noticed that. I will have to go back and look.

[NicolasB]

Different TVs do film mode processing differently. Some even have more than one film mode. My SXRD rear pro, for example, has settings of "Off", "Auto 1" and "Auto 2". The "Auto 2" setting looks really good for film material, but "Auto 1" looks absolutely awful - it messes up motion in a way that makes normal movement look like stop-frame animation.

As with any setting, if you like the effect of it, use it, and if you don't, don't.

[David Mackenzie]

What LCD TV are you using? Often the "Film Mode" option only affects NTSC film and doesn't even attempt to do anything for PAL.

I think the best thing to do - assuming that your TV doesn't manage the Film Mode properly - is to get a good Progressive Scan DVD player which will do the job for you. But that's a minefield in itself.

Also a question, I do have Region 1 DVD's and play them on my PAL dvd player but does the frame rate become converted to PAL or does it play in it's native 30fps?

Some of them can be set up to convert between the two, and tend not to do a very good job of it. Usually, they'll output what they're fed (NTSC as 60hz and PAL as 50hz).

[choddo2006]

How does it look when you use "Standard"?