IdeaWell

Project ideas from Hacker News discussions.

Stranger Things creator says turn off “garbage” settings

Original Article

Hacker News Discussion

📝 Discussion Summary (Click to expand)

1. TV Processing Settings Ruin Picture Quality

Users widely criticize default TV modes like motion smoothing ("soap opera effect") and vivid settings for distorting content. "The soap opera effect is real, I don't enjoy it." - ycombinatrix. "Televisions come full of truly destructive settings... The only way to stand out is to push the limits of over-enhancement." - robomartin. Recommendations include Filmmaker Mode™: "you want to make sure that the setting is spelled FILMMAKER MODE (in all caps) with a (TM) symbol." - Uehreka.

2. Filmmaker Intent vs. Viewer Preference

Debate rages over disabling features for "as intended" viewing versus personal tweaks for brightness/contrast. "Why should I change my style? Modern TVs are the ones that suck." - ycombinatrix. "I don’t really care what the creator thinks, it looks better to me so it’s better for me." - einsteinx2. Counter: "creators / artists do and should care about this stuff... awareness is good." - Quarrel.

3. Modern Shows Too Dark and Dialogue Inaudible

Complaints about overly dark scenes and muddy audio, often requiring tweaks or captions. "not filming entire show in darkness... filming it in a way that it will look ok on modern televisions." - tguvot. "The fact that I have to turn on closed captioning to understand anything tells me these producers have no idea." - pupppet. "Flatscreen TVs have terrible speakers, especially for speech." - throw-12-16.

🚀 Project Ideas

AudioNormalizer: The "Living Room" Downmixer

Summary

  • Solve the "loud explosions, quiet dialogue" problem by creating a software-based real-time audio processor.
  • It acts as an intelligent intermediary that applies multi-band compression and boosts the center-channel (dialogue) frequencies specifically for 2.0/stereo output.
  • Core Value: Eliminates "volume button riding" and the need for subtitles in apartments or night-viewing scenarios.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Apartment residents, parents watching after bedtime, and users without high-end AVRs.
Core Feature Real-time center-channel boosting and dynamic range compression for stereo downmixing.
Tech Stack Python (FFmpeg/PyAudio), C++ (JUCE), or a Plex/Kodi Plugin.
Difficulty Medium
Monetization Revenue-ready: One-time license for desktop app or a hardware "bridge" dongle.

Notes

  • Direct response to the frequent complaint: "I spend the whole movie with the remote in my hand, tuning the volume up and down between voices and explosions."
  • Unlike standard "Night Modes," this would specifically target the way 5.1/7.1 content is collapsed into 2.0, as one user noted: "Voice comes through the center channel... mixed into 2 speakers... ends up drowning out the single voice channel."

TV Spec-Checker (Calibration & Bitrate Monitor)

Summary

  • A tool (mobile app or browser extension) that verifies the actual quality of a stream and helps users disable "hidden" TV processing.
  • It guides users through an "anti-showroom" setup to disable motion smoothing and vivid modes while monitoring real-time bitrates to see if a service is "bitstarving" the content.
  • Core Value: Ensures the user is actually getting the 4K/HDR quality they pay for without "soap opera" artifacts.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Home cinema enthusiasts and "nerds" frustrated by over-compressed streaming quality.
Core Feature Manual calibration guide + Bitrate/Codec overlay for streaming apps.
Tech Stack React Native (Mobile), WebRTC (for display testing), or Chrome Extension.
Difficulty Low
Monetization Hobby (Free tool with affiliate links to recommended hardware/cables).

Notes

  • HN users expressed deep frustration with compressed Netflix streams: "Anything that comes from Netflix is bitstarved to death... twice the size on other services."
  • It addresses the "Filmmaker Mode" confusion by providing a brand-specific guide to turning off "destructive settings" like motion smoothing that "destroy picture quality universally."

FanEdit AI: The "Machete Cut" Workspace

Summary

  • A specialized video editing suite designed specifically for "Fan Edits" of movies and series (e.g., Star Wars, Game of Thrones, Stranger Things).
  • Uses AI to demux audio into stems (Voices/SFX/Music) and automate lip-syncing for script changes or "filler" removal.
  • Core Value: Empowers the community to "fix" disappointing finales or pacing issues by making high-quality editing accessible to non-professionals.

Details

Key Value
Target Audience Content creators, "Fan Edit" communities, and frustrated viewers of serialized shows.
Core Feature AI Audio Demuxing (separating dialogue from music) and automated scene-pacing detection.
Tech Stack Python (Spleeter/Demucs for audio), Electron (UI), PyTorch (Video processing).
Difficulty High
Monetization Hobby (Open-source project with a "Pro" cloud-rendering tier).

Notes

  • Inspired by the discussion on "fixing" later seasons: "I want to have an LLM rewrite season 5... I hope someone tries that out once we get the final episode."
  • Users noted that modern AI tools for voice cloning and lip-sync are now better than professional ones used a year ago, making "better fan edits" a viable community-driven goal.

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