[obscura]

> The vast majority of consumers don't care about this.

You may be right, but how exactly is someone meant to make an informed decision when they don't know what their TV is doing? It's unreasonable to expect the average person on the street to be an expert on the subject and to have fully researched everything before walking into a store, so if the TV's packaging doesn't say anything about the subject, how do they learn?

> However, to remain price competitive with the other TVs on the shelf in WalMart, they need to rely on ad revenue.

Which other TVs are you referring to? And is this really the case or are you speculating? Surely a company the size of Samsung can be competitive without having to resort to this sort of activity?

[JohnBooty]

    It's unreasonable to expect the average person 
    on the street to be an expert on the subject and 
    to have fully researched everything before walking 
    into a store, so if the TV's packaging doesn't say 
    anything about the subject, how do they learn?

I 100% agree with you that the current solution stinks and is unfair.

The solution depends on who you ask.

Some would say that it's up to the consumer to be educated. Like you, I don't think this is realistic. It's not realistic to expect every consumer to become an expert in the nuances of every single thing they might buy.

Others would say that if it's really important to customers, we'll vote with our dollars and demand alternatives to the current situation.

Some would say that the government should ban the practice or at least require some sort of very clear disclosure.

What would you like to see?