Why are the model names of TVs and other home tech so cryptic?
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Because if LG called their 50″ television “Television-50″ and Samsung called their 50” television “Television-50″ and Sony called their 50” television “Television-50″ you’d have a hell of a time finding parts, first – and that’s assuming they only ever make one 50” television each, ever, and never change it. Now, of course, we could go with “LG-Television-50” and “Samsung-Television-50”, and then we’d at least be able to keep brands separate. But then the issue of different models.
So, we could perhaps have an “LG-Television-50-1080p” model. But, there’s plenty of various models, and they have plenty of features. So now we might have a “LG-LED-Television-50-1080p-3HDMI”. Now, that’s pretty good at describing what it is and separating generations, but that’s getting pretty dang long! Gonna be hard to put that on every relevant sticker and documentation. Maybe we could shorten it? We could call it the “LG 50L3H10”. Now when someone says they need parts for their TV, we can just use that short number to quickly understand it is a 50″ TV, LED backlit LCD panel, 3-HDMI-option mainboard, 1080P resolution. Much simpler for the company to refer to models, and the people that need to decipher the model and features quickly can. Plus, that’s pretty unique.
This number is entirely made up as an example of course, but it’s usually similar concepts for various devices.
It’s because the name acts as a product description in addition to being a model name. For example, a random Samsung TV I found on Walmart: UN65TU7000
U: The pixel type, LED
N: North America market
65: The TV size, in inches
T: 2020 design year
U: UHD (4k) resolution
7000: The model number
It might not sound good out loud, but UN65TU7000 is a much cleaner model name than “65 inch 4k Samsung 7000 series LED TV designed in 2020 for North America”
Samsung specifically has a site you can use to “decode” their model numbers. Dunno about other manufacturers. https://www.samsung.com/us/support/answer/ANS00087664/
Every country has its own codes due to different water/gas pressures, voltages, frequencys, safety standards, energy efficiency standards, features, functions, sizes, regulatory approvals, etc etc.
It helps narrow down the exact parts within the machine for service and warranty purposes. It also helps prevent grey market imports from being sold at retailers.
Ie. I used to have a Samsung dishwasher, the model number ment that it was Thailand stock, but it was being sold by a factory seconds in Australia. I had a lot of trouble finding replacement parts.
Mostly because each model has a lot of submodels, separated by size, color, function, socket type and other details.
You really want to be able to tell those apart internally.
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