As far as the samsung's, you can get an idea because it says what series it's in in the code. LN40B500 = LN is for LCD, 40 is screen size, and 500 means it's a 5 series. There's also a 530 and a 550 in the 5 series but they should all have most of the traits for what Samsung lists for each series on their website. Sony is similar but is usually group based off a letter in the code like S, W, etc. Either way, you go off the second code or the one containing numbers and letters.