We haven't had a TV in my house in 20 years so I can't answer, but my understanding of the need for this kind of thing is that it's related to the refresh rates. It's the same issue with computer monitors.
The cinema standard of 24 fps provides natural-looking motion blur and works well for motion picture projection in a movie house. But it can be problematic on some televisions and computer monitors. Playing 24fps content on a 60Hz monitor can cause judder (motion stutter), because 24 does not divide evenly into 60. On some monitors you can adjust the refresh rate to 24Hz or a multiple of 24 such as 48Hz, 72Hz, or 120Hz to eliminate the judder.
The judder is noticeable to me at times in my videos (I usually shoot at 24fps because I find 30fps looks too much like "video" for my taste) when I watch them on my monitor. I imagine this "smooth motion" thing on TVs attempts to bring them up to 30 fps to reduce judder (assuming the TV has a 60Hz refresh rate). But that smoothness leads to a more video-like image compared with film.
This is all based on what I read a few years ago; it's possible that technologies now exist to rectify some of these issues.
Jul 24, 2026 at 01:19 PM
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