Ben, yea, Sony sucks, you don't know what your talking about. We sell Sony TV's and are one of the only High End dealers here in the area. A Vizio couldn't even keep up with a Blue Ray disc. The new XBR5 almost has the same black levels as the new Pioneer ELITE plasma. Where did you go to compare your TV's? Probally a really old Sony model.
Sony has the decoder in it too for cable, most of the TV's do. Hell I can even get some free pay per view channels on mine.
Samsung does make a nice TV, They just don't make a high end model.
Ben, tell me why the Sony XBR series sucks?