Brand Vs. Generic: Which LCD TV to Buy?

I remember vividly the first time I saw a LCD TV. I was in the company of my older brother. We were looking for a new TV to replace our 20 year-old tube. We apparently found what we wanted in the form of a LCD TV.

The liquid-crystal-display set was a thing of beauty. We spent almost a minute in awe of its lightness and portable design. The demo displayed on the screen was impeccable; we just knew that this was the one. Without much thought, we decided to purchase the hi-tech TV even at a relatively steep price.

But as soon as we brought the TV set home, we came to realize that our purchase was not the wisest of decisions. The LCD TV performed exceedingly well in displaying static images of exotic locations and flowery fields. But when the images were in full motion, our new tube did not fare very well. In fact, the picture quality was three times worse than that of our old TV. We were very disappointed with the poor quality. The only silver lining was the fact that the local electronic retailer was generous enough to allow us to exchange the TV for an old fashioned CTR TV.

Fast-forward to 2009, a lot have changed through the years. LCD TVs have now become the standard TV of the current age. In fact, they have replaced plasma TVs as the most produced and distributed tubes in the market. The infamous blurring and poor-contrast problems, which previously plagued LCD TVs, have been largely solved. Manufacturers were able to reduce the motion blur by increasing processing power and employing glorious engineering tricks. Additionally, LCD TVs are now available in most sizes.

Advancement in LCD technology has allowed the conversation to shift from picture quality to prices. Top electronic makers such as Sony, Samsung, Sharp, and Panasonic are facing stiff competitions from lesser known manufacturers such as Vizio and Westinghouse. The main selling point of generic LCD TVs is their highly competitive price. Television sets produced by the likes of Vizio and Westinghouse are ridiculously cheap. You can buy a 32-inch Vizio LCD TV (full 1080pi) for less than $500; you would have to pay an additional $300 for a 32-inch Samsung TV. Brand-name LCD TV makers are under enormous pressure to cut prices in response and many of them are doing just that.

However, cutting prices is not a sustainable strategy. Due to low production costs, lesser-known manufacturers have the freedom to cut prices to their heart content and still remain profitable. Sales of brand-name TVs remain dismal despite the fact that some are being sold at a loss. The reason why consumers still opt for generic LCD TVs over brand-name ones, even though the latter are not as expensive as previously, is the fact that nearly all TV sets currently being sold pass the quality threshold. Brand-name TVs have much better picture quality, but generic TVs perform adequate enough that the consumers view them indiscriminately from the other TVs. As a result, prices are once again what drive the consumer's purchasing decision.

Due to this very reason, some big electronic makers have decided to focus more in increasing picture quality and adding advanced features rather than cutting prices. In short, they are targeting high-end consumers whom they hope still put some premium on quality. As of September 2009, generic-brand Vizio remains the best selling LCD TV brand in the US. Will the new strategy of shifting focus back to quality help increase sales of brand-name LCD TVs? I guess only time will tell.