Ross Duffer explains the “proper” way to watch the Stranger Things series finale only hours before its release. The Stranger Things co-creator recently made a public service statement about ideal viewing standards ahead of the series’ finale.
In an Instagram video, Duffer demonstrates how to disable the different television picture and quality options that are generally enabled by default. These settings are also frequently responsible for significant drops in the overall quality of non-sports programming.
Ross Duffer breaks down the “right” way to watch the Stranger Things series finale just hours ahead of its premiere. The Stranger Things co-creator recently shared a public service announcement regarding optimal viewing standards ahead of the series finale.
In a video shared via Instagram, Duffer teaches viewers how to turn off the various television picture and quality settings that are typically turned on by default. These settings are also often responsible for drastic reductions in the overall quality of non-sports programming.
During his PSA, Duffer tells viewers to turn off settings such as Dynamic Contrast, Super Resolution, Edge Enhancer, and Color Filters. Duffer goes on to describe the TruMotion, or SmoothMotion, setting as “the worst offender of all.” As Duffer explains, these settings give films and TV shows “the dreaded soap opera effect,” adding that viewers are “definitely going to want to make sure that that is off.”
“Now most TVs have some sort of expert control,” Duffer continues. “Could be called expert, could be called, in this case, DOLBY Vision Movie Dark, that’s gonna turn off most of this garbage, but not necessarily all of it. That’s why it’s worth double-checking. But whatever you do, do not switch anything on called “vivid,” because it’s going to turn on all the worst offenders, it’s going to destroy the color, and it is not the filmmaker’s intent.”
Stranger Things Season 5 premiered back in November with its first batch of four episodes. The fifth and final season of the series has largely revolved around the ongoing efforts to find and destroy Jamie Campbell Bower’s Vecna, who is now on the brink of merging the entire world with what lies beyond the Upside-Down.
On December 25, the next three episodes of Stranger Things Season 5 debuted on Netflix, offering numerous shocking revelations that have reframed the entire series’ overarching narrative. So far, Season 5 has been widely lauded by critics, garnering an 83% “Certified Fresh” rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 122 verified critical reviews. Audiences, however, haven’t been quite as kind to the final season of Stranger Things, which currently holds a mere 56% “Popcornmeter” score, from more than 5,000 user-submitted ratings.
Numerous Stranger Things stars have been open about their experiences with the series and filming its final episodes, with Noah Schnapp previously calling the last round of production “very bittersweet.” Schnapp stated, “Obviously, it hit all of us on the last day. But even before then, I was writing notes for everyone to say goodbye, thank you letters, just writing through all the memories that I’ve had with everyone.”
What Comes After Stranger Things?
With the end of Stranger Things, the Duffer Brothers themselves are set to make the move from Netflix to Paramount as their new creative home. As explained in a statement released back in August, “We couldn’t be more thrilled to be joining the Paramount family… We’re also excited to reunite with our friends Cindy [Holland] and Matt [Thunell], who were among the very first to believe in us and an unusual little script we wrote that became Stranger Things. They took a chance on us in 2015, and they’re taking a chance again – we can’t wait to create new stories together.”