PICTURE QUALITY Picture quality fell short, overall. Reproduction of fine image detail was excellent. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Contrast was poor in dark scenes, so images looked flat with no sense of depth. Black levels were overly bright, unfortunately, worse than most TVs. Image brightness was moderately low, dimmer than most even with the brightness at max—OK for a dark room but not the best choice for a bright room. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content for "up-converted" HD-to-UHD images was generally excellent and free of "jaggies" (jagged edges). Deinterlacing of 1080i video was excellent. Its frame-rate compensation for 1080i film-based content was excellent.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE HDR performance was ineffective. In our tests, the display did not have the peak brightness capability necessary (by HDR standards) to reproduce the extended contrast on our HDR content.
VIEWING ANGLE This Vizio model has a wide viewing angle overall. It should provide fairly consistent picture quality for typical viewing setups—say, if seated in a chair off to one side. Our examination at various angles saw reasonably good consistency. In our tests, the picture did show some slight dimming from the sides, but not to a distracting degree. Viewing from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on our vertical position. This issue became even more apparent when seated on the floor looking upward, where black levels brightened significantly. When we viewed the TV from the sides the image had some loss of quality. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and saw excellent vertical viewing angle performance, with no significant changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Vizio LCD (LED) had good motion performance, with some blurring.
SOUND QUALITY We got sub-par sound quality, with below average performance. It could be acceptable for typical programming, but its shortcomings would be obvious with movie soundtracks and music. In our listening evaluations, we found the bass (low frequency sound) to be adequate but a bit weak and lacking some definition. Treble (high frequency sound) lacked detail. The treble was neutral though a bit bright, closed in. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a good volume level. Our bass-heavy music track revealed a slight buzz. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 53 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. The remote controls doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. The remote has a microphone use to issue voice commands.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides internet functionality with access to limited library of applications. Movie streaming services that can be downloaded to this TV, or are built-in, include Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV+, BET+, Disney Plus, Fubo TV, Hulu, Max/HBO Max, Netflix, Paramount+, Peacock, Pluto TV, Sling TV, Starz, Tubi, YouTube, YouTube TV.
CONNECTIONS This model has 3 HDMI inputs one USB port, and an optical digital audio out, 802.11ax/WiFi 6 wireless networking, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A remote control.
