Illustration by Shane McGowan.
I don’t envy anyone shopping for a TV these days. Is there confusion? No doubt. Heck, I’m sometimes confused, and I write about this stuff. But I most pity TV buyers today because of the poor presentation in the stores.
Here I was looking for a new TV for my new home office, which will double as a guest suite. Therefore, it would be hospitable to equip it with a good HDTV, right? And I admit it: This will be the place I’ll go to watch a ballgame or a movie while the family room system is being monopolized, which is most every night.
Do I want a plasma? No loud, hot flat panels for me, thanks. In fact, I had ruled out flat panels altogether because I also have not been a fan of LCD. I could always see the “screen-door effect” of the pixels and some image smear during fast sports scenes. But recently I remembered that the highest-resolution 1080p LCD displays and faster response times eliminated these artifacts for my discerning eye. And I said, Hmmmm, I’ll have to go down to the local electronics store and see if I can really live with LCD.
That was my mission as I entered… oh, let’s just call it Silly City, which I normally avoid like anthrax. But here I was.
And there they were: the huge bank of Nearly Every TV imaginable. A quick scan would eliminate any plasmas, microdisplays or 720p sets, because it’s 1080p or bust. Then I’d situate myself in a spot about the seating distance in my home office and see if I can learn to love LCD. Only what’s this? They’re showing an animated movie on every screen?
Oh, this dismays me—and not because I already ingest a diet heavy in Sponge Bob and The Incredibles. But how can a reasonable, sane person discern which TVs offer clearer, crisper and more responsive images if everything visible contains the highly saturated colors of computerized animation? This is impossible, unless you are an 8-year-old.
I found another row of TVs displaying live action clips and the like, but this was disappointing as well because the colors on the lone 1080p set were so bright and saturated that the nearby 720p sets actually looked better. I reasoned this had something to do with the higher resolution of the 1080p, combined the ridiculous color settings stores use to entice shoppers. Yikes.
A friendly salesman offered to answer any technical questions—they know people are confused—and I thought I should tell him that they’re setting the colors way too “warm” on the 1080p sets—and to change the channel, and to turn off the infernal animation on the other bank of sets. But I couldn’t be bothered, because I certainly was not going to buy a TV from Silly City. Besides, I was just judging if I could really live with an LCD. And I determined I could, just not this one, or any other one from this store.
On the way out I spotted the home theater demo room, which was really just a sofa in front of two 60-inch TVs and piddly speakers, all situated in the middle of the display floor—no walls, the usual 20-foot ceilings, harsh lighting. Attention shoppers: Good luck.

Weak Article
Whoa - Steven! You sure got your head handed to you on a platter!!!
Actually, I thought the article was interesting for what it said - that the Big Box stores don’t get it at all. And, in reference to not asking a sales person for help - why take up their time if you are not buying anything from them anyway? Time is money on a sales floor.
I am shocked that you got such negative comments - it’s an opinion, folks!
Thanks.
As a custom installer, I find the biggest problem with retail stores is they sell products not based on quality, but product margins and vendor negotiations. I try not to get into a debate with clients on which technology is better: LCD; Plasma; DLP; LCoS; or projection. Each technology has its pros and cons and what’s most important is where you are placing the display.
I believe the problem with big box retailers is the lack of focus on customer needs in selling the products. With so many different display sets on the wall from a dozen or more manufactures, how can a salesperson effectively do their job? Large retailers should help consumers by making decisions on which brands and technologies to sell based on their quality and the price point to consumers. When spending thousands of dollars on a new display set, there is a minimum level of performance that must be met. The fact that displays are simply taken out of the box and hung on the wall, can very misleading. Each brand of display has a unique picture “stamp” to it. Settings come from the manufacturer, but in reality every display set should look exactly the same. A producer produces a movie, which looks a certain way when the film was shot, right? Well, that picture should look the same way when it displays in your home. Every display set should be calibrated, whether it’s a quick 15 minute calibration using a $15 DVD or done by a professional. Not only will it provide you with the best picture but it will extend the life of your display.
Steven,
Contrary to the implications in your article, several manufacturers (Samsung, Pioneer, Panasonic, etc) do offer 1080p plasmas.
Given the deeper blacks, the wider viewing angles, and the lack of motion blur, modern plasmas are still a very attractive option.
This JVC projector offers more onscreen pixels than most, and a THX mode.
DPI, Sunfire and SnapAV deliver high performance at a reasonable price.
Sayonara, set-top box? Or will it just take an energy-saving nap?
It’s hard to imagine life without remote controls, but it’s been a long, strange path to the modern incarnation we know and love today.
bought 42” plasma. color is perfect. sound is good. have regular cable although tv is hdtv. does my set need to be callibrated. cost is 275.oo to set callibrated. do not have hdtv through my cable co. that would be extra 60.00 per month and i am perfectly satsfied with tv the way it is? what should i do?