HD Guru has an outstanding article on how many retailers are using lighting to confuse the customer, leading to purchase the TV that they want to sell you. Click through on the link in the title for this article to see their write up.
And this is not just for high end sets, no, many low priced units actually have higher profit margins for the store, so the may use really bright lights to minimize the differences in black levels between sets.
Obviously the best place to try out a TV is in your own room, where it’s going to be. But… that’s probably not going to happen. So what do you do?
Go online. Use the user reviews. No I’m certainly not necessarily recommending you buy online site unseen but you need to be informed before you get in front of a store sales rep.
If you can, check out the models at the store you want to buy from, get the specific model numbers and Google them. Look for real user reviews in addition to what the professional independent reviewers think.
Lastly make sure there is an in home trial period before you buy. Sure it sucks to have to card a large heavy TV and all that packaging back to the store, but make sure you have an “out” if what really is a major purchase these days just doesn’t live up to your expectations.
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amazon.com: Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ800U 46-Inch 1080p Plasma HDTV
