Thanks for the great explanation of Sample and Hold Effect. That was a well written article for me.
Just a note to be careful when viewing in big box stores like Future Shop. Many such stores will tweak TV settings in order to push a certain model out the door faster. Even if they don't know how to calibrate properly, just cranking the brightness can get your attention over another set.
Ask if you can play with the settings and remember that setting contrast and other items to identical numbers on two different sets, doesn't necessarily mean the same thing. All you can do, if they will let you, is spend a little time making each one looks as best as you think they can, then stand back and compare.
If you really want to get dirty with it, you can find the suggested 'optimal' config settings for some makes and models on the Internet.
