Brand names mean almost nothing as far as quality goes.
Unless you are getting one of the top models, they are all made by the same dozen or so contract manufacturers.
I can agree with this.
Another problem I have is that no TV comes correct out of the box...and stores have no problem with setting up certain sets to look "better" than others.
I used to be on the bleeding edge of the TV market...always reading professional reviews on performance specs, pre/post calibration IRE performance, color temps, contrast ratio...bla, bla, bla...
I got burn out on it.
You know what sold me on ly 2008 LG LCD? LOL...the fucking sound quality. It sounded far better than any other display they had (which was damn near all of them). That TV lased over 7 years in my living room...displaying everything from 480 shit cable, to video games, to HD content. I never found myself picking it apart performance wise. Here's a review of my (actually 2007 model):
http://www.cnet.com/products/lg-lb5d/
Lots o complaints...3 out of 5 score...bla, bla, bla. Right out of the box, it outperformed my (previously) top of the line, and ISF calibrated, Hitachi Ultravision HD RP set that ran me $2500+ in 2002. It creamed it in nearly every way picture quality wise (save sound...that Hitiachi kicked serious ass in that dept).
It's funny, here we are again...I look up the set I have now and find this:
http://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/by-brand/lg/uf7600
So a 6.9 out of 10. LOL...this set makes my 2007 look like total crap, in every way. The PQ difference is staggering. It also set me back $400 less than the Samsung CNET said to buy instead, which happens to be this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00U9U96CY?tag=rtings-tv-bs11a-20&ie=UTF8
Go ahead...read the negative reviews on the thing. Once again...buggy sets with all kinds of gremlins (and hit and miss), crap places like CNET do not address.
In the end, I decided $897 -vs- $1297 wasn't worth the extra $$. Time will tell I guess...