High definition (HD) displays are not optimized for in-home viewing when they come 'out of the box'.

The human eye/brain is a very adaptive system. Many viewers are content to watch inaccurate images from un-calibrated equipment. They don't realize that the picture is not scientifically adjusted to industry standards.

How can this be?

Retail HDTV manufactures adjust their products to compete successfully in-store with other manufacture's products. Marketing & selling product is the most important consideration. Getting the product into the consumer's home is the number one priority.

This results in most products displaying pictures with excessive 'pop' and 'brightness'. The whites are 'too blue' (think laundry detergent with blue crystals) and greens are 'over-saturated' and not natural looking (think neon-florescent/cartoon-like).

Once the product is in the customer's viewing environment, many variables impact picture quality including: ambient light, wall colors, lighting, window reflections, etc. The manufacturer can't anticipate these variables; so the product's view modes/presets are just guesses.

Additionally, the above mentioned 'marketing features' continue to fundamentally alter the picture quality. Even with the best available viewing mode/preset selected.

Do you have a dedicated home theater with controlled/dim lighting?

Do you watch HDTV in a brightly lit room?