#CES: New Martin Scorsese Promo Touts Filmmaker Mode For TVs

The UHD Alliance—a coalition whose members include Hollywood studios and consumer electronics manufacturers—came to CES to preview the latest advances to Filmmaker Mode, a TV setting that effectively disables post-processing such as motion smoothing and aims to allow consumers to view content in the way that the filmmakers intended, including with the original aspect ratio, color and frame rates. 

The development was prompted by concern in the production community that with the many settings available on consumer UHD TVs, the filmmakers’ artistic intent is not always what is displayed. This mode was first announced in 2019 with the help of many leading directors including Martin Scorsese, who this year appears in an Apple TV+/LG promo for Filmmaker Mode that features his latest movie Killers of the Flower Moon. “Every movie should be seen in Filmmaker Mode,” Scorsese says in the promo. “To watch a film with motion smoothing and brightness settings, it’s like watching an incomplete record of the film.”

During CES, the UHD Alliance announced its latest developments: automatic implementation of Filmmaker Mode when viewing Apple TV+ content on select LG and Samsung displays; and Filmmaker Mode combined with Dolby Vision on select LG TVs.

Additionally, members of the Alliance were on hand to demonstrate a developing feature for Filmmaker Mode that addresses ambient lighting. Effectively, with the use of an ambient lighting sensor, a TV would automatically adjust the content for the given viewing environment. UHD Alliance president Mike Zink says the group hopes to have the recommendation completed this year and available for TV set makers.