Commercials. I made the mistake of signing up for trying out Hulu+ for a couple of months. Netflix and Amazon Prime have spoiled me, not to mention if I'm paying a premium for a certain service I kinda expect it not to have as much or more advertising than if I had just subscribed to cable TV.
Content presented at the wrong aspect ratio. Examples such as 4:3 aspect ratio stretched to fill a 16:9 screen, anamorphic widescreen that ends up with both letterbox and pillarbox, etc.
@davidgro I've actually seen a number of setups where folks have used a zoom mode to eliminate the pillarboxes. Because staring at black bars is so difficult? Why not slow down playback by 33% while you're at it?! Or maybe crank up the brightness, or some other nonsense?
@sydlexius this is also what i came to post. i have family that thinks 4:3 stuff looks better when it fills their 16:9 screen. can't they tell everyone looks fatter?
@sydlexius There are movies that are actually funny/staggeringly annoying with pan and scan. You can almost get vertigo with the screen swinging back and forth to include all sides of the screen. I hate commercials, but I can zip through those with my amazing 30 second advance button, but snippets of a movie are too much.
@sydlexius - YES, this!! I voted for SD on the poll, because that was the closest option, but really, it's SD in f'n stretch-mode that drives me nuts. Why make everyone 30% fatter? Just deal with bars on the side, you don't even notice them after a minute.
Similar to my gripe about aspect ratio, is old 1.33:1 movies that have been put through some especially perverse form of "Pan & Scan" to fit onto modern 16:9 screens.
I can't stand it when I'm watching TV at night THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN A LOUD COMMERCIAL COMES ON AND SCARES THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. IT ALWAYS ENDS UP PUTTING ME IN A BAD MOOD AND MAKES ME WANT TO BE LOUD FOR NO REASON AT 2AM IN THE MORNING.
@dashcloud I came here to post the same thing! I can't stand that "trumotion" nonsense these new manufacturers put on their TVs. It looks horrible and is difficult to turn off sometimes.
@dashcloud Here's something that will make you hate this even more. Turn on your netflix and load up A Clockwork Orange. We had a bet to see who could watch it longer in 120Hz. I lost almost immediately.
@marklog Now I'm confused. I haven't bought a tv yet because I thought I WANTED 120Hz. Not the fake we "optimized it to be pretend 120Hz" but actual 120Hz. Are you saying I don't actually want this?
@marklog well if I buy it before you are done being the goat it will be your fault whichever way I go :P but I don't watch sports so maybe I will go cheap after all
@chellemonkey a cheap 60hz LCD or LED will be just fine for movie and TV watching. Unless you need smart capabilities or extra inputs. Try not to buy into the 6,000hz and 20,000,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio hoopla. In fact, most people sit too far from their TVs to really even notice the difference between 720p and 1080p anyway. It's a lot of marketing nonsense.
I voted Some other irritant you'll annoy us with in the forums: My vote goes to 'Watching truly live TV' Pause, FF, and rewind, is mandatory. The whole I idea of scheduling my TV watching when someone else wanted me to watch seems archaic. First DVR, now with Netflix and Hulu+ instead of cable. I never want to say "hurry up the show is about to start" again.
@caffeine_dude It is vital to delay watching a show 15 for every hour in length. Done properly, you end up live just as the show is ending after zapping through the commercials. Allowing more delay for sports, you can watch a basketball game in well under an hour and not miss a play.
@Tsaritzky The exact number is actually 16 minutes per hour, but totally agree. My windows media center box is setup to automatically flag commercials. It's so nice to be able to jump in later and have zero exposure to commercials!
@caffeine_dude End credits have zero impact on skip strategies. Odd start times (say, 8:02PM vs 8PM) might. As for intro length, modern shows don't often resort to lengthy ones (supposedly out of a fear of losing habitual channel changers), and almost all shows use intros and "previously on" segments in lieu of actual content. It's often the case that season and series finales skip out on these to cram more content, but we've now totally went off the rails of the topic. Hopefully the popularity of streaming content will have a positive impact on media consumption via "TV"; I'd settle for them supplanting it.
@sydlexius It does seem like most shows have short intros - and some even have an extra short version of their short intro. But Tyrant (on FX, and yes, I know it's ridiculous) has a LONG intro. All slow and atmospheric. It's almost like a fuck you to the time slot, letting you know right away they're going to run long.
@dnash Bite your tongue; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of (if not the) best action actors of contemporary cinema and you'd do well to show him a little respect.
I hate those little ads that are parked in the corner of just about every TV show in the world. The networks do it, the local channels do it, and even channels like HBO sometimes do it. On some channels it’s so bad each of the 4 corners has some kind of ad in it. I have come to the conclusion that local channels are trying to burn their logo into everyone’s LED TVs.
@Teripie current LED TVs should be fine. Plasma used to be really bad about this. I agree though, those advertisements are getting huge these days and taking up too much screen space.
I've deliberately not watched certain series because of their intrusion into other TV shows. I think it was TBS that was going so far as to pause what you were watching and have the character in the ad talk to you. I also hate hashtags in the corner. If I wanna tweet about your damn show, I will. But don't grovel for tweets.
I can't stand those ads for other shows that pop up when you're watching something and cover the bottom part of the screen. Not only distracting, many times they obliterate a vital part of the picture.
When someone bumps the remote and accidentally changes the picture mode, and I forget what setting it was before, making me extremely paranoid for several days that the colors are not exactly the way they were.
I hate when I'm watching TV and suddenly the sound gets low and rumbly and there's static and blood starts dripping from the edges of the screen and the characters stop in place and start talking directly to me about how they can see me and they know all my secrets and there's no way to hide or fight back and the TV itself starts shaking and the screen ripples and bulges out and there's a demonic cackle and a loud chanting in a language I've never heard before that gets faster and louder while the walls and floor convulse violently.
2nd place is those GEICO ads. Save money blah blah blah whatever it's shit, who cares.
I can deal with technical glitches, I dislike all of the clutter that stations insist on adding to the screen (logos, hashtags, screen crawls) - but what I really hate? The person who walks in in the middle of a movie, watches for a few seconds, then says: "Oh, I've seen that! You know that Joe dies at the end, right?"
@rockblossom My friend did this to me once and I still haven't let him live it down. He walked in and says "hey is this the movie where everyone gets Alzheimer's?" ……goddamnit.
Another one is networks deliberately screwing with DVR users by having shows end (and occasionally start) at :01 or :02 pm. It's just enough to make you miss the last scene, and the preview. If you need to tape other things, you then need to sacrifice a recording slot to get that couple of minutes.
Digital darkness! When whatever you're streaming doesn't quite make it to HD level, and all dark areas become fuzzy little digital blocks. Everything else appears pretty clear, but it ruins the darkness!
This is what happens when you find a stranger in the Alps
@brandon The Big Lebowski dub! Good grief that had me laughing so hard I was in tears.
@brandon You see what happens when you feed a stoner scrambled eggs?
@waltersobchak he stops talking about jam bands long enough to eat and go to bed happy?
Commercials. I made the mistake of signing up for trying out Hulu+ for a couple of months. Netflix and Amazon Prime have spoiled me, not to mention if I'm paying a premium for a certain service I kinda expect it not to have as much or more advertising than if I had just subscribed to cable TV.
@bluejester Isn't cable a premium over broadcast television? And yet you still have ads there.
@jqubed True, I guess I know too many people who take it for granted that not everyone wants to shell out money for cable of any kind.
@bluejester The least Hulu could do is get some more variety in their commercials. That Cricket Wireless guy made me cancel my subscription.
Content presented at the wrong aspect ratio. Examples such as 4:3 aspect ratio stretched to fill a 16:9 screen, anamorphic widescreen that ends up with both letterbox and pillarbox, etc.
@sydlexius Thank you, that's what I was about to post. Why on earth didn't they figure this out while HDTVs and ATSC were being designed.
@davidgro I've actually seen a number of setups where folks have used a zoom mode to eliminate the pillarboxes. Because staring at black bars is so difficult? Why not slow down playback by 33% while you're at it?! Or maybe crank up the brightness, or some other nonsense?
@sydlexius Yes! As someone who has been paid to ensure content is in the correct aspect ratio, this drives me batty.
@sydlexius I have been known to fix the aspect ratio at friends' houses and business establishments without being asked to.
@sydlexius this is also what i came to post. i have family that thinks 4:3 stuff looks better when it fills their 16:9 screen. can't they tell everyone looks fatter?
@sydlexius There are movies that are actually funny/staggeringly annoying with pan and scan. You can almost get vertigo with the screen swinging back and forth to include all sides of the screen. I hate commercials, but I can zip through those with my amazing 30 second advance button, but snippets of a movie are too much.
@sydlexius - YES, this!! I voted for SD on the poll, because that was the closest option, but really, it's SD in f'n stretch-mode that drives me nuts. Why make everyone 30% fatter? Just deal with bars on the side, you don't even notice them after a minute.
Boy, what the FUNK you say?
I don't watch TV.
I am become hipster.
@peas destroyer of cool
@peas This is the shit I can't tolerate. ;-)
Similar to my gripe about aspect ratio, is old 1.33:1 movies that have been put through some especially perverse form of "Pan & Scan" to fit onto modern 16:9 screens.
@sydlexius hate this.
The lack of Meh commercials. Other commercials are hard to walk away from but periodic Meh commercials would make great bathroom and snack breaks.
I can't stand it when I'm watching TV at night THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN A LOUD COMMERCIAL COMES ON AND SCARES THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS OUT OF ME. IT ALWAYS ENDS UP PUTTING ME IN A BAD MOOD AND MAKES ME WANT TO BE LOUD FOR NO REASON AT 2AM IN THE MORNING.
@MeatyYoker All those advertisers care is that you notice them, not whether it was in a good or bad way.
Someone else having control of the remote.
Compression artifacts.
120 Hz must die! All it ever does is make the insidious "soap opera" effect show up and ruin everything it touches.
@dashcloud I came here to post the same thing! I can't stand that "trumotion" nonsense these new manufacturers put on their TVs. It looks horrible and is difficult to turn off sometimes.
@dashcloud That's it for me. When I go to someone else's house and they have a high refresh rate on their tv, I cringe.
@dashcloud Here's something that will make you hate this even more. Turn on your netflix and load up A Clockwork Orange. We had a bet to see who could watch it longer in 120Hz. I lost almost immediately.
@marklog Now I'm confused. I haven't bought a tv yet because I thought I WANTED 120Hz. Not the fake we "optimized it to be pretend 120Hz" but actual 120Hz. Are you saying I don't actually want this?
@chellemonkey it's great for sports. It's horrible for movies, In the humblest of opinions.
@marklog well if I buy it before you are done being the goat it will be your fault whichever way I go :P but I don't watch sports so maybe I will go cheap after all
@chellemonkey a cheap 60hz LCD or LED will be just fine for movie and TV watching. Unless you need smart capabilities or extra inputs. Try not to buy into the 6,000hz and 20,000,000,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio hoopla. In fact, most people sit too far from their TVs to really even notice the difference between 720p and 1080p anyway. It's a lot of marketing nonsense.
I voted Some other irritant you'll annoy us with in the forums:
My vote goes to 'Watching truly live TV'
Pause, FF, and rewind, is mandatory. The whole I idea of scheduling my TV watching when someone else wanted me to watch seems archaic. First DVR, now with Netflix and Hulu+ instead of cable.
I never want to say "hurry up the show is about to start" again.
@caffeine_dude It is vital to delay watching a show 15 for every hour in length. Done properly, you end up live just as the show is ending after zapping through the commercials. Allowing more delay for sports, you can watch a basketball game in well under an hour and not miss a play.
@Tsaritzky The exact number is actually 16 minutes per hour, but totally agree. My windows media center box is setup to automatically flag commercials. It's so nice to be able to jump in later and have zero exposure to commercials!
@sydlexius Every show is different. Do not forget you skip unnecessarily long intro, the ending credits.
@caffeine_dude End credits have zero impact on skip strategies. Odd start times (say, 8:02PM vs 8PM) might. As for intro length, modern shows don't often resort to lengthy ones (supposedly out of a fear of losing habitual channel changers), and almost all shows use intros and "previously on" segments in lieu of actual content. It's often the case that season and series finales skip out on these to cram more content, but we've now totally went off the rails of the topic. Hopefully the popularity of streaming content will have a positive impact on media consumption via "TV"; I'd settle for them supplanting it.
@sydlexius It does seem like most shows have short intros - and some even have an extra short version of their short intro. But Tyrant (on FX, and yes, I know it's ridiculous) has a LONG intro. All slow and atmospheric. It's almost like a fuck you to the time slot, letting you know right away they're going to run long.
What the funk?
I fucking hate it when they dub out the profanity. This was almost cause enough to abandon BSG. And maybe we should have.
On the other hand, sometimes the dubbing is so bad, it's good, gods damnit.
@joelmw Watch your mouth, you filthy slug in a ditch! :)
@joelmw Mother loving
A single dead pixel. I'll stare at it for the entire time the screen is on.
I hate it when I am watching what seems to be a good movie and all of a sudden, The Rock shows up. Just ruins the experience for me.
@dnash
@dnash
@dnash Bite your tongue; Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of (if not the) best action actors of contemporary cinema and you'd do well to show him a little respect.
@dnash @JonT I was really excited about the Criterion Collection blu-ray set of The Rock's Tooth Fairy movie.
@Starblind
@JonT I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have nightmares featuring that image. Thanks.
@joelmw I agree. Sexy, sexy nightmares.
@medz And people say I have a foul mouth.
I hate those little ads that are parked in the corner of just about every TV show in the world. The networks do it, the local channels do it, and even channels like HBO sometimes do it. On some channels it’s so bad each of the 4 corners has some kind of ad in it. I have come to the conclusion that local channels are trying to burn their logo into everyone’s LED TVs.
@Teripie current LED TVs should be fine. Plasma used to be really bad about this. I agree though, those advertisements are getting huge these days and taking up too much screen space.
I've deliberately not watched certain series because of their intrusion into other TV shows. I think it was TBS that was going so far as to pause what you were watching and have the character in the ad talk to you.
I also hate hashtags in the corner. If I wanna tweet about your damn show, I will. But don't grovel for tweets.
@bluedyn "it demeans us both"
I can't stand those ads for other shows that pop up when you're watching something and cover the bottom part of the screen. Not only distracting, many times they obliterate a vital part of the picture.
@KDemo See my comment above.
@Teripie We were typing at the same time :-) You win!
@KDemo I forgot about that!
When someone bumps the remote and accidentally changes the picture mode, and I forget what setting it was before, making me extremely paranoid for several days that the colors are not exactly the way they were.
I hate when I'm watching TV and suddenly the sound gets low and rumbly and there's static and blood starts dripping from the edges of the screen and the characters stop in place and start talking directly to me about how they can see me and they know all my secrets and there's no way to hide or fight back and the TV itself starts shaking and the screen ripples and bulges out and there's a demonic cackle and a loud chanting in a language I've never heard before that gets faster and louder while the walls and floor convulse violently.
2nd place is those GEICO ads. Save money blah blah blah whatever it's shit, who cares.
@Starblind
@JonT I watched this about five times before I realized that this was hitgirl and not padme.
@Starblind That's what you get when you order TVs off of silkroad.
@marklog and here I thought it was little miss sunshine.
I can deal with technical glitches, I dislike all of the clutter that stations insist on adding to the screen (logos, hashtags, screen crawls) - but what I really hate? The person who walks in in the middle of a movie, watches for a few seconds, then says: "Oh, I've seen that! You know that Joe dies at the end, right?"
@rockblossom My friend did this to me once and I still haven't let him live it down. He walked in and says "hey is this the movie where everyone gets Alzheimer's?" ……goddamnit.
When I have something set to record and my DVR records golf instead.
@hollboll Yes! How is that machine not yet smart enough to know when a show has been delayed? This is the future!
@bluedyn seriously! It's the worst.
Another one is networks deliberately screwing with DVR users by having shows end (and occasionally start) at :01 or :02 pm. It's just enough to make you miss the last scene, and the preview. If you need to tape other things, you then need to sacrifice a recording slot to get that couple of minutes.
Digital darkness! When whatever you're streaming doesn't quite make it to HD level, and all dark areas become fuzzy little digital blocks. Everything else appears pretty clear, but it ruins the darkness!
When the sound is out of sync with the video!!! Grr...