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. This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the brightness at max), so the picture was well suited for a very sunny room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. 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 had very limited effectiveness. In our tests, the display's lack of high peak brightness capability (by HDR standards) limited its ability to show the benefits of our HDR 4K content. It could not reveal much contrast between the moderately bright and very bright highlights —while the brightness levels in the mid-to-lower tones, like those in an indoor scene, were preserved. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail, from black to white, with no obvious banding within the gradually shaded areas. We noted some loss of detail within the highlights of the brightest areas.
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 moderate dimming from the sides. 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 very good motion performance, with minimal blurring.
SOUND QUALITY We got good sound quality, about average among the models we've tested. When watching a blockbuster movie, a concert, or TV show, it can deliver decent performance but just not like the better performers. 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) was very good. 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. Overall, though imperfect, most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 54 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+, Disney Plus, Hulu, Max/HBO Max, Netflix, YouTube.
CONNECTIONS This model has 4 HDMI inputs one USB port, and an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, 802.11ax/WiFi 6E wireless networking, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A remote control.
