I was a pc richards yesterday and my wife was with me. I mentioned that we should check out the flat panels. (I've begun my research and settled on 1080p lcd since I wanted hidef and wanted to avoid the glare issues with plasma.

She immediately liked the sony (which just happened to be more expensive) but when compared side by side to the samsung it looked much better. While the salesman was regurgitating his sales babel to her, i realized that the contrast or sharpness has most likely been adjusted. Seeing how there weren't any buttons or remotes nearby, there was no way to adjust these or see what was adjusted.

Leading to my question.....

What is the best way to compare tv's in the store?

On the positive side, I don't think I could go wrong with a 40" 1080p sony lcd :) (maybe I could sneak in a 46" and she wouldn't realize that it is slightly bigger :D )


Jeff

It is very difficult to do a valid side-by-side test in a store. Signal integrity, adjustments, signal source make the whole process a challenge because everything is a moving target. And, what you see at the store may never look that way at home.

On the brightside, the mind has a horrible memory for visual things. Once you get the set home, judge it for its own merits, in your house with all of your equipment, showing the things you like to look at the way you look at them. It it pleases you, your done. It it bugs you, get your money back and exchange it for a different brand.

What is the best way to compare tv's in the store?Ask the sales person to let you use the remote(s) for the TVs you are interested in comparing. If they cannot accommodate your request tell them no sale. Generally the better A/V stores, BB, CC, Tweeters, Magnolia and local high-end retailers will do a better job with the connections/content being displayed on their floor models. Try to compare apples to apples (e.g. the same content w/same connections to each device).

Thanks for the input! Jeff

If you're planning on still watching a lot of standard definition stuff, I'd compare how that looks on each set, too.