Stranger Things creator says turn off "garbage" settings

Stranger Things creator Ross Duffer offered a piece of advice to viewers who plan on watching the season 5 premiere.

On Instagram, Duffer guided fans through their TV settings so they could watch the new season of Stranger Things the way it was meant to be seen. He stated, "A little PSA before you watch tonight. I want to make sure that your TVs are set up properly." He proceeded to tell his followers to turn off all their settings, especially dynamic contrast, super resolution, edge enhancer, and color filter. He even described those features as "garbage."

The Stranger Things creator then returns to the picture settings menu, pointing out that viewers should disable noise reduction, too. He also said that truemotion and smoothmotion are the biggest "offenders" and should be turned off most of all because they cause “the dreaded soap opera effect.”

He explains that most televisions will fix many of these problems if you switch to their advanced viewing presets, such as Dolby Vision Movie Dark. However, even those modes aren’t perfect. He urges fans to manually confirm each setting is off and adds, “Whatever you do, do not switch anything on ‘vivid’ because it’s gonna turn on all the worst offenders. It’s gonna destroy the color, and it’s not the filmmaker’s intent.”

Duffer’s advice highlights a conflict between technological advances and creators' goals. Features like the ones he mentioned are designed to appeal to casual viewers by making images appear sharper or more colorful, but they alter the original look of the content. By asking fans to turn these features off, he is stressing the importance of preserving the director’s vision.

Stranger Things season 5, volume 1, is available to stream now on Netflix. Volume 2 will be released on December 25, 2025, and the finale on December 31, 2025.