On every smart TV I’ve ever owned, I’ve always tried to get as much out of it as possible. That means tweaking the picture settings to make everything look as vivid as possible, finding ways to enhance the audio experience, and improving performance so that browsing the home screen, opening apps, and switching inputs are as snappy as possible.
Fortunately, most modern smart TVs come with pretty extensive settings menus, packed with options and features you can enable, disable, or adjust to get the best possible experience. The trick is knowing which settings are worth changing and where to find them.
If you’ve spent hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars on your TV and aren’t in any rush to replace it, here are some simple ways to breathe new life into it. Best of all, they’ll cost you absolutely nothing and can all be done right from your TV’s settings menu.
Turn off all the features that make your TV worse
Instantly improve your TV’s picture quality and protect your privacy
When I got my new LG C5 TV last year, one of the first things I did to improve it was to dig through the settings menu and turn off all the features I knew would make my experience worse. The three settings I turned off first were Energy Saving, Motion Smoothing, and ACR.
Most smart TVs now come with energy-saving features enabled by default. While these can help reduce your TV’s power consumption and lower your energy bill, they can also come at the expense of picture quality. If you’ve spent a ton of money on your TV, you’ll probably want the best picture possible, which means getting the most out of its brightness and colors. Energy-saving features can limit both by reducing your TV’s brightness. To fix this, on my LG TV, I switched the picture mode from Auto Power Save to Standard and disabled a setting called Energy Saving Step, which automatically adjusts brightness. Other TV brands offer similar energy-saving features under different names, including Eco Mode, Low Power Mode, and Energy Saving. You’ll usually find them in your TV’s General settings.
Motion Smoothing is another setting worth disabling, as frankly, it can make shows and movies look terrible. It works by artificially inserting extra “fake” frames between real ones to make motion look smoother. The result is often called the “soap opera” effect because it makes movies and shows look unnaturally smooth. You can disable it by enabling Filmmaker Mode, which turns off artificial picture processing, or by turning Motion Smoothing off entirely in your TV’s Picture settings. Depending on your TV’s brand, it might go by names like Auto Motion Plus, Picture Clarity, or TruMotion.
Finally, there’s ACR (Automatic Content Recognition), which is worth turning off for privacy reasons. This technology lets your TV track what you’re watching so it can use that information to serve targeted ads. You can usually find ACR controls under the Privacy section of your TV’s settings.
Improve your TV’s audio with Bluetooth
You can listen to your TV using AirPods
One of my favorite features on any smart TV is Bluetooth audio. While I don’t mind listening through my TV’s built-in speakers, I much prefer using headphones when I’m gaming or watching a show or movie alone late at night. Not only does it make the experience more immersive, but it also means I’m less likely to disturb anyone else in the house.
If you want a more immersive listening experience without spending any money, Bluetooth audio is a great option. You can connect pretty much any Bluetooth audio device you already own, whether that’s a pair of earbuds, headphones, or even a Bluetooth speaker, and use it with your TV. If you’re a gamer, this is also a handy workaround for using regular Bluetooth headphones with your PS5 or Xbox Series X/S, since neither console natively supports standard Bluetooth audio connections.
Most newer smart TVs have Bluetooth built in, and you can typically find the option to connect an audio device under the Sound settings. Look for an option called something like Use Wireless Speaker, Bluetooth Speaker, or Bluetooth Device. From there, simply pair your headphones, earbuds, or speaker with your TV, and you’ll be able to listen through them instead of your TV’s built-in speakers.
I’ve been using my SteelSeries Arctis 7 headphones with my TV, along with my AirPods, and both have worked flawlessly. They sound great, too, making this an incredibly easy way to upgrade your TV’s audio experience without spending a dime on new equipment.
QuizTV settings and formats
Trivia challenge
From Filmmaker mode to HDMI specs — how well do you really know your TV’s settings?
Filmmaker ModeHDMIColor DepthEthernetDisplay Settings
What is the primary purpose of Filmmaker mode on modern TVs?
Correct! Filmmaker mode disables motion interpolation (the so-called ‘soap opera effect’) and turns off other processing enhancements so content looks exactly as the director intended. It was introduced as an industry-wide standard backed by major filmmakers and the UHD Alliance.
Not quite. Filmmaker mode is all about disabling post-processing features like motion smoothing, sharpening, and noise reduction. The goal is to preserve the director’s original creative vision rather than enhance the picture with the TV’s own algorithms.
Which organisation was primarily responsible for developing and promoting the Filmmaker mode standard?
Correct! The UHD Alliance, the same body behind the Premium 4K UHD and Dolby Vision certification programs, spearheaded Filmmaker mode. It was announced in 2019 with backing from directors like Christopher Nolan and Patty Jenkins.
Not quite. The UHD Alliance developed Filmmaker mode, announcing it in 2019 with support from prominent Hollywood directors. The feature began appearing on TVs from brands like LG, Samsung, and Vizio from 2020 onwards.
What maximum bandwidth does the HDMI 2.1 specification support?
Correct! HDMI 2.1 supports up to 48 Gbps of bandwidth, a massive leap from the 18 Gbps ceiling of HDMI 2.0. This extra headroom enables features like 4K at 120Hz, 8K at 60Hz, and Variable Refresh Rate (VRR).
Not quite. HDMI 2.1 supports 48 Gbps, which is more than double the 18 Gbps offered by HDMI 2.0. This increase in bandwidth is what makes features like 4K/120Hz gaming and 8K/60Hz video possible over a single cable.
Which HDMI feature allows a TV to send audio back to a soundbar or AV receiver through the same HDMI cable used for video?
Correct! eARC (Enhanced Audio Return Channel) is an HDMI 2.1 feature that allows high-quality audio, including lossless formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS:X, to travel from the TV back to a connected audio device over the same HDMI cable. It supersedes the older ARC standard.
Not quite. The answer is eARC — Enhanced Audio Return Channel. Unlike standard ARC, eARC supports lossless and object-based audio formats like Dolby Atmos via TrueHD, making it essential for high-end home theatre setups. HDMI CEC, by contrast, handles device control commands.
How many possible colour values per channel does 10-bit colour depth provide?
Correct! 10-bit colour depth provides 2^10 = 1,024 possible values per colour channel (red, green, and blue). Compared to 8-bit’s 256 values per channel, this results in over a billion possible colours versus 16.7 million, dramatically reducing banding in gradients.
Not quite. 10-bit colour means each colour channel can represent 2^10 values, which equals 1,024 steps. This is crucial for HDR content, as it allows much smoother gradients and a wider range of brightness levels compared to standard 8-bit displays.
What is the term for the visual artefact caused by insufficient colour depth, where smooth gradients appear as visible stepped bands of colour?
Correct! Colour banding occurs when a display lacks sufficient bit depth to render subtle tonal transitions smoothly, causing gradients like a blue sky to show distinct stripes instead of a smooth fade. It is one of the main reasons 10-bit and 12-bit panels are preferred for HDR content.
Not quite. The artefact is called banding. It appears as visible stripes in what should be smooth colour or brightness gradients, and is a direct result of too few available colour steps. Posterisation is a related but slightly different effect often associated with heavy image compression.
Which HDMI specification first introduced the HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC), allowing devices to share an internet connection over an HDMI cable?
Correct! HDMI 1.4, released in 2009, introduced the HDMI Ethernet Channel, which allows compatible devices to share a 100 Mbps network connection through a single HDMI cable. While clever in theory, adoption has been limited and most users still connect devices to their network separately.
Not quite. HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) was introduced with HDMI 1.4 back in 2009. It provides up to 100 Mbps of bidirectional network connectivity between connected devices, though it has never become widely used in practice compared to dedicated Ethernet or Wi-Fi connections.
Why do many home theatre enthusiasts recommend using a wired Ethernet connection rather than Wi-Fi for a smart TV when streaming 4K HDR content?
Correct! A wired Ethernet connection offers more stable and consistent throughput than Wi-Fi, which can be affected by interference, distance from the router, and network congestion. For 4K HDR streams that can demand 25 Mbps or more, a reliable connection helps prevent buffering and quality drops.
Not quite. The key advantage of Ethernet over Wi-Fi for streaming is reliability and consistency. Wi-Fi signals can fluctuate due to interference from other devices, walls, or distance from the router. For high-bitrate 4K HDR content, a stable wired connection helps ensure smooth, uninterrupted playback.
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Make your TV faster
A slow TV can be sped up again
Smart TVs are a lot like PCs these days: the longer you own and use one, the slower it can become over time. Fortunately, just like with a PC, there are ways to maintain your TV and keep things running smoothly. This can help you avoid sluggish menus, apps that take forever to load, and input switching that takes much longer than it should.
One of the quickest and easiest ways to speed up your TV is to clear its cache. If you’re not familiar with cache data, it’s essentially temporary information that apps store on your TV to help them retrieve information more quickly and run smoothly. While this is generally a good thing, too much cache data can accumulate over time and potentially cause performance issues rather than improve things. That’s why clearing the cache is often one of the first things worth trying when your smart TV starts to slow down.
Thankfully, clearing your TV’s cache is usually pretty straightforward, and you can typically find the option somewhere in the Settings menu. On my LG TV, the feature I use is called Memory Optimizer, while Samsung TVs have a Clear Cache option under Device Care. If your TV doesn’t have a dedicated cache-clearing option, you can also try power cycling it to clear out its temporary system memory. Simply unplug it for about a minute, then plug it back in.
Finally, another way to improve your TV’s performance is to make sure its system software is up-to-date. Most smart TVs receive software updates for anywhere from three to seven years, so even if you have a model that’s a few years old, there’s a good chance it’s still getting regular updates. These updates often include performance optimizations, bug fixes, and new features. So, if you’ve been dealing with strange glitches, sluggish menus, or other performance issues, installing the latest update might be all it takes to clear them up. On most smart TVs, you can check for updates in the settings menu, and it’s usually a setting called Software Update.
