Optimizing your television’s video quality for the right mix of color and brightness can be complicated and time-consuming — and may not even work depending on if you’re watching an NFL game vs. John Wick 4. Roku said it has a fix for its televisions coming in the spring.
The company on Wednesday teased a feature called Smart Picture, which will arrive on any television running the Roku OS, including its just-announced Pro Series TVs. The software uses machine learning and artificial intelligence to figure out what you’re watching, and automatically adjust picture settings of the television to give you the best viewing experience.
Smart Picture solves a potential headache that comes from trying to figure out which settings work best for which type of content. It’s so complicated that 90% of customers don’t even bother with it, according to Erwin Bellers, director of picture quality for Roku.
“No one is actually doing this,” Bellers said on a media call late last month.
Roku only said the feature would come in the spring, but didn’t provide a more specific date. Roku TVs and Roku OS-powered TVs made by partners like TCL and Hisense will get the feature, although those with Roku streaming players are out of luck.
Roku has over the last year focused on ramping up the number of Roku televisions on the market, including launching its own line back in March. The Smart Picture announcement came alongside the news of the Pro Series, which sits along its Roku Select and Roku Plus Series of televisions.