Would special effects for early movie patrons seem real?

Question

When I watched The Walking Dead on my 1080i HDTV, the special effects looked seamless. In other words, I knew what I was watching was fake, but it was hard to tell. When I upgraded to a 1080p HDTV, the show looked more like a Soap Opera and the Special Effects were not as impressive; mainly because the scenes containing CGI stood out like a sore thumb.Early black and white films with special effects have always seemed this way to me. However, I've only watched them on Television.If I were sitting in a 1950s movie theater, would my naked eye be able to distinguish real from fake using the technology from that era?

Answer 1

You probably want to check your new TV's settings and look for an option called something like Motion Smoothing. When you find it, turn it off. That will get rid of the soap opera look.

As for old-time special effects...some of those techniques are still in practice today. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBSpuZDKaKI They still hold up!