The Best Art Mode Settings for Your Frame TV

October 16, 2026

The same artwork can look flat and bright on one TV and soft and rich on another. Most of the difference is in a few settings. This guide covers the ones that matter. The menu names change between TV makers and between years, so look for the idea, not the exact word.

1. Choose no mat, so the art fills the screen

Many TVs with an art mode can add a mat: a border around the picture, like the cardboard mount in a picture frame. Some apps call it a matte. A mat is nice for some art, but our files are made to fill the whole 16:9 screen. With a mat, the picture gets smaller and the border takes a part of your art.

When your app asks for a mat or a frame style, choose none. The art then goes from edge to edge.

Do not mix this up with the matte finish of the screen itself. That is a different thing, and we explain it further down.

2. Lower the brightness in the evening

A picture on a wall does not glow. It reflects the light in the room. A TV does the opposite: it makes its own light. In a dim room, a bright screen looks like a lamp, not like a picture.

During the day, a higher brightness helps the art stand out from window light.
In the evening, turn the brightness down until the picture looks like part of the room.

If your TV has a brightness sensor or an automatic brightness setting, switch it on. It follows the light in your room for you.

3. Pick a warm color tone

Color tone is how warm (yellow) or cool (blue) the white parts of the picture look. Cool tones are crisp, but they can look harsh for art. A warm tone looks closer to paper or canvas and goes well with lamps in the evening.

Try one step warmer than the standard. Look at the art for a day before you change it again. Your eyes need a little time to get used to it.

4. Use the sensors and timers

TVs with an art mode usually have a motion sensor. Some also have a timer for the screen.

Motion sensor: the art turns off when nobody is in the room and comes back when you walk in. This saves energy.
Timer: the TV turns the screen off after a number of hours. Set it to match your day, for example from the morning until you go to bed.

If the art switches off too soon, lower the sensitivity of the sensor, or set a longer time.

5. Know your screen: matte or glossy

Some TVs made for art mode have a matte screen. A matte screen spreads the light from windows and lamps, so you see fewer reflections. Art often looks softer on it. A glossy screen shows deeper blacks, but it reflects more.

If your screen is glossy, try to keep it out of direct window light. A small change in the position of the TV or the curtains can help more than any setting.

6. If the TV is not in art mode

On a TV without an art mode, you show a picture from a USB stick or a photo app. In that case, the normal picture settings apply.

Choose a calm picture mode, such as Movie, Filmmaker or Natural, if your TV has one. Avoid Vivid or Dynamic. They push the colors and the contrast too far for art.
Keep the color tone on warm.
Turn on the screen saver or a power saving timer, so the same picture does not stay on all day.

Our guide How to Add Your Own Art to a Frame TV has the steps for both ways.

A note on OLED screens

An OLED screen lights every pixel itself. If one still picture stays on for many hours a day, for many months, it can leave a faint mark. If you have an OLED TV, show the art for a few hours at a time, use a slideshow of several pictures, and follow the advice in your TV's manual. A TV made for art mode is built to show still pictures, so this note is mostly for other TVs.

Colors look a little different on every TV

Even with the best settings, one file looks a little different on each screen. That is normal. The room photos in our shop are examples, and your phone or computer shows colors in its own way too. Frame TV Art Size and Resolution tells you more about this.