confused about contrast ratios

On Sun, 6 Jan 2008 06:20:00 -0800 (PST), widgitt
wrote:


Yes, but does anybody know of a decent showroom that will adjust all
it's displayed models such that they are optimized along the lines of my
post of about two days ago.

In the 'normal' showrooms nobody really knows what they're looking at,
which is fine for the average punter but for someone who is
knowledgeable enough to know what they're looking for it's a minefield.

If you're going to quote my posts it would be polite to attribute them
to me :-)

--
Alan White
Mozilla Firefox and Forte Agent.
Twenty-eight miles NW of Glasgow, overlooking Lochs Long and Goil in Argyll, Scotland.
Webcam and weather:- http://windycroft.gt-britain.co.uk/weather

On 6 Jan, 14:20, widgitt wrote:
Yes, but does anybody know of a decent showroom that will adjust all
it's displayed models such that they are optimized along the lines of my
post of about two days ago.

In the 'normal' showrooms nobody really knows what they're looking at,
which is fine for the average punter but for someone who is
knowledgeable enough to know what they're looking for it's a minefield.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I have just got to say it, at this point...........

The reason that these problems exist and the reason that there ase so
many people who are watching utter crap is that they patronise the
very stores and showrooms that they spend all the time complaining
about. The ones which employ or are owned by people who know what they
are talking about have only disappeared because the discount stores
have beaten them on price. They are essentially cheaper because they
do not offer full demo facilities and they employ cheap staff
(apparently no staff quite often).

I know, as soon as I say this there will be a barrage of comments
saying "we have heard it all before" and "we can find it all out on
the internet and then buy cheaply on the internet" but if this were
the full answer the dozens of pleas for help and complaints about
service etc would not be all over the forums.

There are good, independent shops out there, still. They will not
necessarily be large and flashy. They will not necessarily keep a huge
range of options like the chain stores, but just think why...

A large store will not be staffed by a team of fully committed
enthusiasts. Even a small independent store will have difficulty
finding even one or two staff with real interest and full knowlege of
the product. Two really technical staff is probably as good as it
would ever get in one area.

A small store will not keep a huge range for reasons rather different
than you might expect:
Generally a smaller specialist will keep keep 3 levels:
1) Lower price but good and would be happy with, at the price
2) Mid price, good sellers and our choice of very best value for
money. Competetive with chain store prices due to a reasonably large
turnover within the particular brand. (These have to be very good if
customers are to be happy and come back to us again)
3) Up market models. As a smaller dealer we can satisfy the needs of
the really dedicated customer who has particular needs and interests
and who is prepared to pay the extra for a piece of specialised
equipment, knowing that he will receive good advice and can arrange a
full and complete installation.

It is the middle range that is important to consider.:

If we kept a huge range of brands and models and gave good advice and
demos, we would only actually sell a few of these because the ones
which we now are poor and the ones which are obviously poor when
demonstrated would never sell ! Its quite obvious really.
It is not in the interests of the large stores to give accurate and
comprehensive demos as they would only actually manage to sell the
better performing sets and they would be stuck with all the lemons

Some of the buyers dont care....fine...let them buy in the
supermarkets by price alone.
Some of the buyers dont know what they are looking for or how to judge
performance....(this is where this all started!)
Some of the buyers have "a son who knows about these things because
he is in IT" or "a grandchild who is an expert because they have a
Playstation and is good with buttons" or they, themselves are good
with figures so can play around with the specifications.

It is usually the last group that come the biggest cropper as, in the
end what they tend to buy has absolutely no connection with what they
really need and many of the specification are nothing to do with the
facilities which they actually need. It is in these households that I
see the worst performing equipment and the worst choices of equipment.

Many buyers with a real interest will treat the buying exercise as a
sort of sporting activity. There is nothing wrong with this, and I
suppose I do it myself to some extent if I know what I am doing, but
at other times we just have to find the right person to ask for
advice.

The last point to make is that anyone who sets themselves up to be any
sort of specialist has a problem in that there will be customers who
buy and are very happy. They will then tell their friends one of two
things: Hopefully to come to us as a new customer...Great!
OR...to go and find the same item in the chain store or on the
internet for less money and make free use of the advice.
It is very satisfying to be told at a later date that their friend
doesnt seem to be able to get the same performance out of their item.
This is almost always because they are trying to set it up themselves
rather than having had it fully installed free as would have been the
case when buying from many of the more specialised smaller traders.