You just spent two grand on a gorgeous OLED. You sit down, dim the lights, and fire up a gritty cinematic masterpiece like The Batman or Dune. But something is... off. Robert Pattinson looks like he’s starring in a daytime soap opera filmed on a cheap digital camcorder in 1998. The movement is weirdly fluid. It’s too "smooth." You aren't imagining things; you’re witnessing the controversial byproduct of LG TV smooth motion technology, known technically as TruMotion.
It’s the first thing most film buffs disable. Honestly, it’s also the first thing your grandmother complains about without knowing why.
Motion smoothing is a classic case of engineers solving a problem that movie directors didn't want solved. Movies are traditionally shot at 24 frames per second (fps). That’s why they have that "filmic" blur during fast movement. TVs, however, have refresh rates of 60Hz or 120Hz. To bridge that gap, LG uses MEMC (Motion Estimation, Motion Compensation). Basically, the TV's processor looks at frame A and frame B, then "guesses" what a frame in the middle would look like. It injects these fake frames to make the movement look like 60 or 120 fps.
The Science Behind Why LG TV Smooth Motion Feels So Uncanny
Why does our brain reject this? It’s because we’ve been conditioned for a century to associate 24fps with "cinema" and high frame rates with "reality" or "cheap video." When you apply LG TV smooth motion to a movie, you’re stripping away the intentional motion blur that hides the artifice of a movie set. Suddenly, the props look like plastic. The makeup looks heavy. You’re no longer in Gotham; you’re looking at an actor on a soundstage in London.
LG's Alpha series processors—like the Alpha 9 Gen 6 found in the C3 and G3 models—are incredibly powerful. They can track individual objects, like a soccer ball or a bird, and apply smoothing just to that object while leaving the background alone. This is called "Object-based Sharpness." It’s technically impressive. It’s also often visually jarring.
Tom Cruise famously went on a bit of a crusade about this. Along with directors like Christopher Nolan and Paul Thomas Anderson, he pushed for "Filmmaker Mode." If you have a modern LG TV, you’ve likely seen this setting. It’s a one-tap solution that kills all the post-processing, including TruMotion, to show the film exactly as the director intended.
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Breaking Down the TruMotion Settings
If you go into your Picture settings, then Advanced, then Clarity, you’ll find the TruMotion menu. LG doesn't just give you an "on/off" switch anymore. They give you a sandbox.
- Cinematic Movement: This is the "Goldilocks" setting. It tries to preserve the 24fps cadence while eliminating the "stutter" that occurs on OLED panels. Because OLEDs have instantaneous response times, the transition between frames can look a bit jumpy. This setting adds just a tiny bit of interpolation to smooth that over.
- Natural: A middle ground that is slightly more aggressive. It’s usually fine for documentaries or nature shows where the "live" look actually adds to the immersion.
- Smooth Movement: This is the full Soap Opera Effect. High frame rate interpolation. Great for sports, terrible for Succession.
- User Selection: This is where the real geeks live. You get two sliders: De-Judder and De-Blur.
De-Judder handles low-frame-rate content (24fps movies). Cranking this up creates that hyper-smooth look. De-Blur handles high-frame-rate content (60fps sports or news). Most enthusiasts suggest keeping De-Judder at 0, 1, or 2, and De-Blur anywhere from 0 to 10 depending on your taste.
Why OLEDs Actually Need a Little Bit of Smoothing
Here is the irony. While everyone loves to hate on LG TV smooth motion, OLED technology actually makes motion look "worse" in one specific way: stutter.
Old-school LED/LCD TVs have a slow response time. The pixels take a millisecond to change color, creating a natural, slightly messy blur. OLED pixels change instantly. When a camera pans slowly across a bright landscape in a 24fps movie, the image can appear to "flash" or jump because the transition is so sharp. It’s technically more accurate, but it’s physically distracting to the eye.
This is why "Cinematic Movement" exists. LG knows that if they turned off all processing by default, customers would return TVs thinking the screen was broken during slow pans. You need a microscopic amount of smoothing to make up for the fact that the screen is "too fast" for the content.
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The Sports Exception
Everything changes when the whistle blows. If you’re watching the Super Bowl or a Premier League match, you want LG TV smooth motion on. Sports are broadcast at high frame rates, but the fast-moving camera and the tiny ball often result in "ghosting" or "blur" on lesser screens.
In this context, TruMotion is a godsend. It keeps the grass sharp and the player's jersey numbers legible even during a sprint. Most people find that the "Smooth Movement" preset is actually the best way to watch football. The uncanny valley effect doesn't apply because sports are "real life" broadcasts, not stylized fiction. We want them to look like we are standing on the sidelines.
OLED Motion Pro: The Hidden "Flicker" Setting
Deep in the TruMotion settings, you’ll see "OLED Motion Pro." This is Black Frame Insertion (BFI).
Instead of creating "fake" frames, the TV flashes a black frame between every real frame. Why? It mimics the way old film projectors worked. It clears the "retinal persistence" in your eye. It makes motion look incredibly clear without that weird soap opera fluidity.
The catch? It dims the screen significantly. If you’re in a bright room, it’s useless. If you’re in a cave-like home theater, it’s the secret sauce for perfect motion. However, some people are sensitive to the flicker and might get a headache. It's a "try it and see" feature.
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Gaming and the Death of Smoothing
If you are a gamer, LG TV smooth motion is your enemy. Motion smoothing takes time. The processor has to look at frames, calculate the "in-between," and then display it. This adds "input lag." In a fast-paced shooter like Call of Duty, that split-second delay between pressing a button and seeing the action is the difference between winning and losing.
LG TVs automatically switch to "Game Optimizer" mode when they detect a console. This turns off TruMotion entirely. It gives you the raw, fastest possible connection to the screen. If you feel like your controls are "mushy," check your settings. You might accidentally have a cinema preset active while gaming.
Real-World Tweaks for the Best Experience
Don't settle for the factory defaults. They are designed to look "poppy" and "smooth" on a bright showroom floor, not in your living room.
- For Movies: Switch to Filmmaker Mode or ISF Expert (Dark Room). If the "stutter" on slow pans bothers you, go into TruMotion and set it to "User Selection" with De-Judder at 2 and De-Blur at 0.
- For Animation: Keep it off. Hand-drawn animation is often "shot on twos," meaning the same image is shown for two frames. Motion smoothing destroys the intentional timing of the animators. It looks horrific.
- For Modern TV Shows: Shows like The Bear or The Last of Us are shot with cinematic intent. Treat them like movies. Kill the smoothing.
- For Reality TV/News: Let the TV do its thing. The "Natural" setting makes these look sharp and lifelike.
The Future of Motion on LG Displays
As we move toward the 2026 models, LG is leaning harder into AI-driven motion. The latest Alpha 11 processors are getting better at identifying "human faces" versus "backgrounds." The goal is to apply smoothing only where the eye naturally tracks, leaving the rest of the frame with its original cinematic blur.
It’s getting harder to tell when the processing is on. That’s the ultimate goal. Good motion processing should be invisible. It should solve the technical limitations of the panel (stutter) without imposing a new aesthetic (soap opera effect) onto the art.
Your Actionable Checklist
Stop wondering if your settings are right and just do this:
- Audit your inputs: Check the settings for your Apple TV, your PS5, and your built-in apps separately. LG TVs often "remember" settings per input.
- The "Slow Pan" Test: Put on the opening of Star Wars or any movie with a slow camera sweep. If the stars look like they are vibrating, turn De-Judder up to 2. If the movement looks like a soap opera, turn it down to 0.
- Update your firmware: LG frequently tweaks their motion algorithms via software updates. Make sure you’re on the latest version to get the most refined version of TruMotion.
- Trust your eyes over the internet: If you actually like the smooth look—and some people genuinely do—keep it on. It’s your TV. You paid for it.
The "Soap Opera Effect" is a choice, not a curse. By understanding how LG TV smooth motion works, you can finally stop fighting with your remote and just enjoy the show. Turn off the "intelligence" when you want art, and crank it up when you want to see exactly how many blades of grass a linebacker just hit.