meta: I'm somewhat surprised neither site has gained any traction as a submission over all these years; do we care so little about the quality/calibration of the primary interface to our PCs? It was actually only after discovering that second website that I realized my graphics card had been set to limited RGB (the default for Nvidia HDMI output!) the entire time, which outputs values between 16 and 235 (what most TVs can handle) and had obliterated the contrast ratio of my monitors.
Surprising how well I can see the image even after putting the separation to 64. The image is just a few thin strips yet I can easily see the whole thing if I follow the scrolling, really cool.
Friends/family would ask me for suggestions on TVs. I used to point out all of the things, and then they would comment about the same as you just did. Once they knew it was there, they couldn't NOT see it anymore.
Now, I just tell people to get a TV that they can afford and they like the picture on when they look at them. After that, if they are happy with it and someone else comes over and points out things to them, tell that person to shove off and don't let the door hit them on the way out. You come over to my place and complain, feel free to buy me what would make you happy. Otherwise STFU!
There's also this very comprehensive site for calibrating and testing LCDs, http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/
meta: I'm somewhat surprised neither site has gained any traction as a submission over all these years; do we care so little about the quality/calibration of the primary interface to our PCs? It was actually only after discovering that second website that I realized my graphics card had been set to limited RGB (the default for Nvidia HDMI output!) the entire time, which outputs values between 16 and 235 (what most TVs can handle) and had obliterated the contrast ratio of my monitors.