- TCL's 2025 TVs will feature Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode
- TCL joins LG and Philips in adding the feature
- Director-approved picture when viewing movies with Dolby Vision HDR
Among the many specs accompanying the new TVs being introduced at CES 2025, one feature in particular is capturing our attention: Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode.
This feature was introduced by LG in 2024 in the LG C4, LG G4 and LG B4 OLED TVs, and it applies the principles of the UHD Alliance’s Filmmaker Mode picture preset to the increasingly widespread Dolby Vision content on 4K Blu-ray disc and the best streaming services. Those principles are basically “do no harm” to the creator’s intent by adding motion smoothing, inaccurate color settings, excessive sharpness and other enhancements to movies displayed on the TV’s screen.
The basic version of Filmmaker Mode simplifies the process of turning off motion smoothing and other aggressive enhancements by providing that option in a single picture preset. This preset can be used for viewing programs with both standard and HDR10 high dynamic range (HDR), where it will provide a “director-approved” picture.
Many of the best TVs feature Filmmaker Mode, including models from Samsung, Panasonic, Philips, Hisense, and Vizio. Now, TCL has announced at CES that its new TVs coming in 2025 will feature a Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode. In this, they join both LG and Philips, the latter of which implemented the feature in its new OLED TV models introduced in the second half of 2024, such as the Philips OLED809.
Why is Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode important?
When most TVs that feature Dolby Vision HDR support show a program with Dolby Vision, the TV will default to a Dolby Vision custom mode, sometimes with a couple of presets that can be selected such as Dolby Vision Normal or Dolby Vision Dark.
A problem with these modes is that they all apply motion smoothing to the image by default, along with other picture settings that can result in less-than-accurate pictures. The Dolby Vision IQ preset, for instance, uses a light sensor in the TV to vary brightness based on your room’s ambient light conditions, and it could make pictures look overly dark or drab.
With Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode, brightness, color temperature (the relative “warmth” or “coolness” of the TV’s color rendition), picture sharpness, and motion settings are all optimized in the same manner as regular Filmmaker Mode, resulting in director-approved picture quality. Also similar to Filmmaker Mode, the Dolby Vision version is set and forget, with no additional adjustments required.
Will more TVs be getting Dolby Vision picture mode in the future? Likely, the list of companies who already incorporate standard Filmmaker Mode in their TVs will eventually add Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode. Samsung doesn’t support Dolby Vision HDR in its TVs at all, so in that case, the mode is a moot point.
The best ultra short throw projectors such as the Hisense PX3-Pro are also increasingly adding Dolby Vision HDR support, so the next frontier for Dolby Vision Filmmaker Mode could very well be the best projectors.
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