Ahead of the hotly-anticipated launch of Fallout Season 2 on Prime Video, a Samsung executive has discussed the optimal TV picture settings for watching the show — and even got Bethesda development chief Todd Howard asking questions of his own.
Optimal settings became part of the discourse around Stranger Things Season 5 after co-creator Ross Duffer called on fans of the Netflix series to turn off what he described as “garbage” TV settings because they “destroy the color” and present an image that is “not the filmmakers’ intent.”
So in a recent interview with Kevin Beatty, Head of Product for Samsung Gaming, Interactive Experiences, and Emerging Tech (Bethesda and Xbox recently announced a partnership with Amazon and Samsung to stream Season 1 for free on Samsung TV Plus), we asked him for his optimal picture settings recommendation for watching Fallout.
Bethesda chief Todd Howard was in the same interview, and he got pretty excited about the question. “I look this stuff up,” he said. “I want to know as well. This is the best question!”
Replying, Beatty pointed to HDR10+, the High Dynamic Range (HDR) format that uses dynamic metadata for scene-by-scene or frame-by-frame adjustments to color, contrast, and brightness. It’s supported by major brands and streaming services like Amazon Prime Video, where Fallout Season 2 kicks off today, December 16.
“… HDR10+ and with AI processors now we are upscaling these things,” Beatty said. “And so, these are actual capabilities that exist in every single line that you’re buying off the shelf, that is going to improve the experience when you’re watching it on Amazon Prime.”
Determined to find out more, Howard asked a question of his own:
“No, but legit, backlight 20 or 11? I sit there and mess with it.”
Beatty responded: “Oh, well, I think it depends on the lighting of your room.”
At this point in the interview we’re told HDR10+ does this automatically. “Yeah, but sometimes it clicks it on and off,” Howard countered. “It’s not the fault on your TV, I’m just saying.”
Beatty added: “I think it also depends on your room though, right? If you’re in a room that is well lit versus completely dark…”
At this point Howard made one thing very clear: “Not dynamic mode though, you turn that off. That’s for stores.”
In Ross Duffer’s TV settings post, he expressed particular disdain for what he called the “worst offender of all: TruMotion, aka smooth motion, “or the dreaded soap opera effect.”
Then, Duffer added: “whatever you do, do not switch on anything called ‘vivid’ — because it’s going to turn on all the worst offenders, it’s going to destroy the color, and is not the filmmaker’s intent.”
We put Duffer’s comments to Beatty, and while he didn’t want to respond to them directly, he did say he understood where Duffer was coming from as a creative.
“I was mentioning to Todd, I came from Disney prior to Samsung, and so worked really closely with a lot of the creators, and so there is absolutely a bias on, this content has to look this good, and it has to have this type of color variation and sensitivity,” he began. “I think it really depends. I can’t comment on necessarily Stranger Things 5, of what works best, but I would say though that HDR10+ generally speaking will improve it the most.”
And on Duffer’s comment on TruMotion specifically, Beatty replied: “Yeah. I could see where he’s probably coming from, where he thinks that it’s adding creative flexibility on top of what he’s trying to come up with. And these are settings that people can turn off, if they want.”
Fallout Season 2 starts tonight, December 16, on Prime Video after Amazon brought the release date forward by a day. Check out IGN’s Fallout Season 2 Episodes 1-6 review to find out what we think of it.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at [email protected].
