Lighting and Consumers
Every electronics store model the marketing of their products in very similar forms. If you are looking for a television set, chances are you will go to the electronics section of the store only to find a whole wall full of mounted sets in different sizes; from their smallest to their largest sets. If there are not arranged on a wall, they are usually arranged by size on isles of shelves. All of the television sets are usually turned on with a continuous video feed usually promoting the store or a highly graphical movie. Such was the case I encountered when my husband and I went on a hunt for a television set for our room. After we decided what size screen we wanted, we set out to find the appliance that would suit our needs. I must admit that, like any other consumer, we were looking for the best quality picture at a reasonable (cheap) price. So, after careful consideration and visiting countless stores, we decided to purchase a 32-inch flat screen television sold at Sam’s Club.
Out of all the other sets, we saw the quality of the picture and the price was quite reasonable. The particular shelf the model was sitting on was not crowded with different television sizes. In fact, there were only about 4 sets on display and the shelf was probably capable of displaying about double that amount. Every set was spread out evenly. There was a lot of lighting in the area and yet it was not reflecting so that we were able to see the picture quality on each screen. Not knowing anything about televisions, my husband and I were looking for the set which had the sharpest most realistic image. We sort of followed Mr. Huxley’s method of achieving clear vision. His formula for seeing clearly involved “sensing plus selecting plus perceiving equals seeing” (pg. 4).
Obviously, had the lighting in the store reflected on the screens, we probably would not have been able to see the picture quality. Which brings me to the second element in Huxley’s equation for seeing: selecting. We did encounter occasional glaring at other stores. Honestly, this is what probably turned us off from buying in the first place. Another thing that made it difficult for us to choose was that some of the sets at other stores were either turned off, or the walls were just too crowded with other sets overloading our visual stimuli tolerance. I describe what let us to finally select the product we wanted as Huxley’s third element of his equation for seeing: perception. After carefully looking at countless of screens, we purchased a television set that to me seems to have the clearer picture and the price was quite reasonable. There were other television sets which were less expensive as the one that we bought. However, to us, their picture quality was quite dull compared to the set we purchased.
Looking back, the different picture qualities we saw were probably an optical illusion. I’m told that certain stores would probably dull up the screen of certain sets in favor of selling the most expensive version. So we decided to follow what I know now as Huxley’s motto that “the more you know, the more you see. (pg. 11). We decided to do more research into the difference between LCD screens and LED screens. Based on the information we received from reputable sources, and the more we confirmed their observations the more convinced we were and we opted to buy what we felt to be the best television set for the price.

References
Lester, P. M. (2011). Chapter 1: Visual communication. In Visual communication: Images with messages (5th ed., pp. 11-12). Boston, MA.: Wadsworth.