Is it REALLY good or am I just imagining it? Bravia

Last I read, Sony's LCDs are manufactured by Samsung...

I will admit, I have always liked Sony TVs in the past... something about the picture is well filtered/composed/whatever. However, also note that in the store, they often turn the contrast WAY up, to make it "look" better. People tend to like brighter displays, even if they are actually of a lower (technically speaking) quality. Also, the TV areas in the store are often underlit on purpose, to better showcase the screen... is your TV room setup that way?

Sony has typically used "better" processing for their signals, which can lead to a "better" picture. That's basically the main difference between most TVs these days anyway - the displays are pretty much the same, but the pre-processing is what makes the pictures look so different (comb filters, noise reductions, color balance, etc).

For this reason, I always say - go buy what looks good to YOU. Video (and audio, too) are very subjective. If you like what you see, then specsmanship is just for bragging rights... so who cares?

Certainly play around with the color balance and such on the TVs you like/don't like, and see if you can get the picture "where you want it". In theory, you should be able to get two TVs to look alike, if you fix the balance and such as you desire. Obviously, there are limits to this adjustment, which is why you should try it out and see what works best for you.

Lastly, remember, when the TV is at home... you won't have other TVs next to it to compare to, so you won't be "second guessing" yourself because of another one sitting next to it!

It's kinda hard for an owner to compare it to a Samsung or Philips... because they already bought the Bravia (ie, they didn't buy the Sammy or Philips to compare it to!)

As for "tweaking" in the store, take a look at their color settings and see what they have it setup for. Usually, they don't do anything "inside" to make it look better, as this is a sellable unit. Yes, they may tweak the consumer-accessible settings, but that's about it. So, by looking at them, you can see how they have it set. For that matter, set it to "default" and see if that makes a big difference.

Lastly, most stores will allow you to return it... so give it a try and see how it fares in your home.