This new Netflix upgrade is the feature I didn't know I'd always needed

EntertainmentStreamingThis new Netflix upgrade is the feature I didn’t know I’d always neededDitch the judder: Netflix’s smooth motion algorithm could fix your streaming experience for the betterWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Ditch the judder: Netflix’s smooth motion algorithm could fix your streaming experience for the better

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

(Image credit: Future)

netflix tv

(Image credit: Future)

Perhaps this problem was highlighted all the more for me because in-between T3’s in-house testing (slash at-home testing, as I like to conduct TVs reviews just like any consumer would experience) I don’t have a fancy up-to-the-minute panel. My current Panasonic model doesn’t even haveHDMI 2.1(I know, the woes) so there are shortfalls in what it can do (my recentLG G3review and forthcoming LG C3 reviews are the far better panels that, in many circumstances, will deliver better motion smoothing results).

(Image credit: Netflix)

Jay Lycurgo as Tim Drake, Ryan Potter as Gar Logan, Teagan Croft as Raven and Brenton Thwaites as Dick Grayson in Titans

(Image credit: Netflix)

Pino’s article refers to an officialNetflix tech blogpublished at the beginning of June 2023, which highlights a Netflix engineer, David Zheng, and how his work has aided in delivering 24p content – (i.e. 23.97 frames per second recordings) which, to you and I, is effectievly ‘how Hollywood movies are shot and output’ – with less judder on today’s TVs.

Part of this issue, especially in the UK (where the standard is PAL, not NTSC as it is in the States), is that the native refresh rate of panels is 50Hz, i.e. fifty refreshes per second. Do 24 frames per second fit into 50 refreshes per second? No, they do not, which is why additional frames have to be added in order to create a fitting stream to match the panel. But that’s also what causes the judder effect, because certain frames are multiplied.

Zheng’s work is effectively a mathematical solution in image interpolation to reduce the degree of this judder effect. And while all TV manufacturers also add their own processing options to panels, I’ve long seen it be ham-fisted in its approach to over-smooth results (the ‘soap opera effect’) or just not do enough to be convincing, it seems to me that this net Netflix upgrade is a silent wonder that I (and probably you) never knew you needed. My recent poor Plex experience points it out all the more, really, so here’s to spot-on motion smoothing. Cheers, Netflix!

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