I need help calibrating my TV

[SickBeast]

Thank you Ocre, that is a very well thought out post.

You know, I will agree with you to a large extent actually.  What happened with me was I spent $2000 on a high end Sharp TV many years ago.  Watching the prices drop on them was horrible.  After that purchase I vowed to never spend that much on a TV again.  I was so frustrated by it that I considered off-brands like Hisense.  When Greg recommended it and there was one on sale where I live I jumped on it.  Do I regret the purchase?  No.  Is the TV perfect?  No.  There are some minor uniformity issues when I watch hockey and last week the TV developed a "hot pixel"; it's basically a tiny spot that is slightly brighter than the rest of the picture.  During normal viewing it is not noticeable however it is there if you look for it on a white background.  Would a better brand like Samsung have these issues?  Maybe.  My TV has no dead pixels and everything else is perfect.  For what I paid I am very happy with it.  All of that being said, I think for my next purchase I'm going to look for more of a balance.  I'm not saying that I don't like Hisense; I'm just saying that next time I would like to find a good deal on a TV from a more well known and reputable brand.  Actually I really like my dad's new Toshiba TV.  It is direct lit.  If any of you guys are hockey fans or if you're bothered by uniformity issues I highly recommend looking into direct lit LED TVs.  It makes a big difference.

Sadly, wise people like you have to be a minority so that new technology can reach critical mass in sales.

There will always be people with lots of money to drive new technologies. I bought that $2000 TV before I had kids when I had some extra cash to spare (or so I thought). I was clueless before I had kids. I had no idea how much daycare costs, let alone diapers and everything else. I nearly went broke when my son was born. We are OK now but that $2000 TV was a painful lesson to me, almost as painful as the car I bought back then (that was an even bigger waste of money).

You know what though? We all learn from our mistakes. I'm just thankful that I was able to recover.