It seems like everything was really bright and unnatural. Shouldn't they tone it down a bit?

Factory settings on tvs have unnatural color for them to stand out from line.

Yep, most lcd's are too bright anyway. Add to that the fact that people are drawn instantly to overly bright displays and will choose this appearance over another display that is less bright but has better PQ. Manufacturer's are aware of this and send thier tv's out on the vivid mode which has unnaturally bright colors, and brightness controls that are too high making for an image that is washed out sometimes.