Are they dumbing down certain makes of TV in Currys.

[ethan]

I looked at a row of Samsung televisions next to a Sony and all of the Samsungs were "washed out" compared to the Sony until a 4k UHD source appeared on the screen, where you were unable to tell the difference.

 

[hyperseven]

they should all be using some sort of 'store' or 'demo' mode.

Depends on how they are setup/calibrated.

Maybe the Sony was using more expensive cables

 

[Steampunk]

Curry's don't usually set up or feed their display TVs very well. If you then put a blu-ray into a directly connected player, then I would expect to see a big difference in image quality.

 

[Rroff]

The Sony ones might have the Bravia engine running on the lower resolution content which can do quite a good job of boosting the perceived image quality and contrast.

Also Samsung settings out the box tend to be significantly sub optimal and most stores don't bother setting them up to look good.

 

[ethan]

Their sales staff have a habit of going around describing the Samsungs as washed out and inferior but as soon as they used a uhd source they looked amazing.

 

[Steampunk]

You've also got to take into account a lot of TVs have a shop display mode that makes the colours and saturation all wrong since someone figured out that vibrant colours attract people more.

 

[jpaul]

(not enough cynicism ...)
is it part of a sales strategy; do curry's have bigger margins/bonuses on market leader Samsung (40% of 4k market, Sony 10%)
maybe if they make samsung look particularly good on 4k (even though available content might be limited) they sell more of them.
Panasonic always used to have a special area in our local Curry's which was presumably something Panasonic purchased, just like shelf positioning in the supermarket for heinz beans say.

Similarly for google, JL, RS, hdtvtest ,... how impartial are they ?

 

[Rannoch]

they should all be using some sort of 'store' or 'demo' mode.

Depends on how they are setup/calibrated.

Maybe the Sony was using more expensive cables

Yep, those monster gold plated diamond edged platinum wired 4K/8K/2D/3D HDMI make all the difference. A bargain at £100