Stores don't display TV's well these days

[Chad Hauris]

Went to Best Buy last night to look for some DVD's and we went to the TV section and the sets did not look very good...some had a weak antenna signal leading to snowy pictures, some did not have the brightness and color adjusted right so the pictures looked bad.

Have seen the same kind of thing at Target and other stores. If they are selling a $2000 plasma TV why don't they have a good quality video signal going in to it and have it set up right? Doesn't make me want to buy one...

[Celt]

A friend of mine said the same thing to me on the phone this morning. He was buying a replacement TV for his son and said that no matter where he looked (Beast Buy-Wally Mart-Sears-Short Circuit City) that all sets either had unusable signals going to them, or were so poorly set up that the color balance was overly saturated, brightness and contrast levels were set to either extremes of the spectrum. He said one salesman got irritated with him because he wanted to go into the menus of the sets to try and correct the settings so he could see what their pictures really looked like. You'd think they'd have a clue wouldn't you?

[andy]

They usually display sets at the factory default settings (maximum contrast and way too much color). I think things are this way because when two sets are side by side, the one with a brighter, more vivid picture looks better to most people. It's similar to how people think louder speakers sound better. Of course, we see an over satured picture thats blooming and defocusing from excessive contrast. Don't get me started on the evils of scan velocity modulation which is a feature to make TVs look sharper on the sales floor.

At least you can see all the sets running now. I assume they didn't have all the sets running constantly in the 50's and 60's. I can't imagine they would have lasted long under 12 hour a day use.

One thing I've noticed on newer TVs (like a few weeks ago while at Best Buy) is a lot of those sets are way too blue on the grey scale, to make it look "brighter." It makes everything look like crap.

I don't know why people like that 9300+K color temp. I hate it. On our (somewhat) newer TVs, my 1990 Sears/Sanyo TV (my first TV) and my parent's 1992 Panasonic 31" console have a natural 6500K greyscale as is. Seems like after the early 90s, they started doing that. My 1996 GE/Thomson had a way overly blue greyscale, with no consumer adjustment for it. Once I learned of the service menu, it has been readjusted. All my computer monitors have been readjusted for 6500K.

[andy]

There's a whole industry devoted to properly adjusting TVs for 'videophiles'. Some people will pay a lot to have the grayscale, convergence and geometry adjusted. It's the first thing I do when I get a TV.

I've also read that color decoders are instentionally desinged to make certain colors brighter (eg. make the grass look greener).

[colortrakker]

It's not only the decoders that skew colors, but the phosphors too. Goes back to the late '50s with the turn to a more orange red. Then the greens got more yellow. Brighter, yes, but far less accurate colors than, say, a 15GP22 would give you.

I remember hearing in the late '80s or so that American and European makers (back when there were such things) tuned their sets toward a warmer color temperature, and the Asians tuned theirs cooler. even now with the 3-position adjustable color temperatures they still don't track gray right without a real calibration.

Here's the company Andy was talking about: www.imagingscience.com

PS: calibration's not for the faint of heart, or cheap of wallet - it normally costs about $200 for a typical NTSC set. HDTV and multiple inputs will cost you more.

[Sandy G]

Another thing- No offense, but I get the distinct impression I know more about TV most of the time than the salesman does. Some of 'em know what color temperature is, but more than a few had to go ask the manager. Sometimes even HE don't know-how could these poor kids be expected to really know how to set up & properly display their TVs ?!? I get the feeling a lot of these guys are making the first step out of working at McDonald's....-Sandy G.

[SPL db]

When I was an electronics tech, my manager told me he used to work for
a place that when they sold a TV, the buyer had to wait a day or two for
their new set because they would take it in back and give it a full alignment.

All the sets were sold this way - he claimed that the sets were just set up
with "ballpark" settings from the factory.

You just don't see that anymore!

Scott

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by Sandy G

Another thing- No offense, but I get the distinct impression I know more about TV most of the time than the salesman does. I get the feeling a lot of these guys are making the first step out of working at McDonald's.... -Sandy G.

It's a sure bet. If they actually knew something, they'd be in better paying jobs than sales at Wal Mart. They just want to move "crates of bananas" for all they care.


Also be aware that sets that didn't yield as much commission as other brands would be badly adjusted. To push people to the more profitable to sell sets...

[frenchy]

Maybe they purposely set the sets that are already selling well to look lousy, and set up the sets they are trying to unload to look better in comparison. Besides most people who are spending 3000 bucks on a set are already smart enough to know that the sets will look great when set up right with HD etc., and know that the stores have lousy setups, antennas, employees etc.

[andy]

If you can find a properly set up Tv at Best Buy, I'll buy one for everyone on AK!

[ProAc_Fan]

Sort of on topic but if proper color calibration is important for your monitor then visit http://www.easyRGB.com and try their free calibration tool. This is really handy if you do photo processing work on your PC. Oh yeah and if you use the 9300K color setting on your monitor change that to a more neutral 6500K right away.

Mike