The most difficult thing to judge when shopping for a TV is how good the picture looks. “Good” is a subjective term, so relying on the judgment of reviewers (such as CNET) may not get you exactly what you want. Then again, many reviewers scoff at the kinds of pictures that impress TV shoppers in the store. Here are some tips on becoming a more discerning viewer and what separates good pictures from the rest.

The wall of tubes
Most electronics stores show their televisions on a big wall, fed by the same video signal split a hundred times. Here are a few suggestions for judging HDTV picture quality in a store:

Don’t fall for brightness: Almost every television on the sales floor is set to the brightest picture settings, so try to get the salesperson to reduce the controls of the TVs you’re comparing. You want the pictures--not necessarily the controls--to be roughly equal in brightness, contrast, and color.

Dim the lights: Few living rooms are as well-lit as the sales floor, so see if the salesperson can reduce the amount of light shining on the picture. If nothing else, try to shade the screen if light is shining directly on it.

BYO DVD: If you have a DVD you’re familiar with, see if you can use it instead of the TV signal that’s normally shown. Aside from HDTV, which isn’t very portable at the moment, DVD provides the best picture a television can display, so it makes for a good reference from which to judge.

Try different picture modes: Many sets come with numerous picture presets, such as Movie and Sports, which radically affect how the image appears. After you peruse the manually adjusted pictures, try the different presets and modes to see which ones look best.