What is the Soap Opera Effect?

Soap opera effect is a term used to describe a visual effect resulting from motion interpolation, a process used by HD T.V. ‘s to show content at a refresh rate higher than the source. The intended result of motion interpolation is to present the viewer with a more life-life picture, but some user’s feel that the picture is too life-like and thus make content feel as if it were raw video feeds. The term “Soap Opera” caught on due to the fact that soap operas were recorded on video rather than film (thus they felt very life-like).

Many  T.V. ‘s have the option to switch off motion interpolation, which creates a more cinematic feel and terminates the soap opera effect.

Motion interpolation has different names, depending on the manufacturer such as anti-judder,  Smooth120Hz, TruMotion etc.