IF you’ve snapped up an Amazon Fire TV in the last few years, there’s a game-changing movie setting you’ll want to check.
It’s designed to make films look much better, but it’s easy enough to miss.
Amazon has built special Picture Modes into its Fire TV models.
Image settings can be complicated, and tuning them right for each piece of content requires a bit of technical know-how.
So Amazon has created special picture modes that give you the best settings for specific types of telly.
You’re not stuck with them forever: if you decide you don’t like the changes, simply go back to how it was before.
There are typically at least four picture modes on an Amazon Fire TV:
Try one of the movie modes next time you’re going to sit down for a film night.
It could revolutionise your Christmas Day movie marathon, but it’s handy at any time of the year.
First, boot up your Fire TV and grab your remote control.
Then press and hold the Home button (a house icon) or the Settings button (a cogwheel icon) on the remote.
That should pull up the Quick Setting menu for your Fire TV.
Then go to Picture > Picture Mode to find the list of available image presets.
You can then toggle between them to see how you like it.
Amazon also recommends: “Try different individual picture settings to see their effect on the image.
“Picture Reset always returns the settings to their starting point for that picture mode.”
Another handy trick if you’re hoping to watch some movies this festive season is unlocking Amazon’s treasure trove of free TV.
It’s easy to think that you need subscriptions to Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, and Apple TV+ to get the most from your television.
But there’s an almost endless library of free content available from ad-supported apps.
Here’s a money-saving trick from Sean Keach, The Sun’s Head of Technology and Science…
It’s no secret that TV streaming apps are costing more and more.
Not only are prices shooting up, but we find ourselves asked to pay for an increasing number of apps and services.
And when you combine those TV bills with your music streaming, mobile and internet fees, and every other drain on your bank account, it all starts to get a bit much.
One of the best ways to cut your TV bills is to simply cancel all of your streaming subscriptions and only sign up to one per month.
Pick an app like Netflix, Disney+, or Apple TV+ and smash through all of the content you want to watch on that app.
Then the next month, swap to something else.
And once you’ve done them all, you can cycle back to the start again.
It’s an easy way to avoid forking out for a rolling library of streaming apps with more content than you could possibly watch.
Also don’t forget that paid-for streaming isn’t the only game in town.
There are loads of apps that don’t cost a penny to enjoy, and downloading a few will unlock thousands of live TV channels plus tens of thousands of movies and shows.
Try apps like Tubi, Amazon Freevee, The Roku Channel, Plex, and Pluto TV to get some ad-supported television without having to pay any monthly fees.
Try downloading some of the following:
You’ll have to sit through commercials, but you’ll be able to watch TV shows, movies, and even hundreds of live channels without paying a penny.
