HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was excellent. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was excellent, so colors, especially flesh tones, looked very natural and lifelike. Contrast--the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites--was good, so images had depth and dimension, typical of most models we test. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Black levels are very good, with help from Vizio's full-array "Active LED Zones" feature, delivering fairly deep blacks that help contrast in darker scenes. In scenes with subtly shaded light-to-dark areas, such as a sky during sunset, the model did a very good job producing a smooth transition without distinct, coarse bands. There was slight display non-uniformity that created brighter cloudy areas most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie). We routinely see this issue with LCDs and severity can vary from model to model. The deinterlacing and film mode operations were excellent on HD content; there was little or no trace of jaggies on the edges of objects for video and film-based 1080i video content, such as from cable.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Vizio has a wide viewing angle overall, better than that of most TVs. It will provide the same picture quality, with fewer problems than most TVs, for typical viewing conditions -- say, if your family is seated across a long sectional or in chairs off to the sides. The picture did show some dimming from the sides but not to any point we found distracting. With dark scenes this model didn't fare quite as well. When viewed from the sides, the depth of black levels varied depending on the vertical position of the viewer's head. As we moved closer to the screen this limitation became even more apparent, especially if seated on the floor looking upward where black levels brightened significantly.
ULTRA HD PERFORMANCE. Overall UHD performance was very good and showed excellent HD-to-UHD upconversion. All native 4K content (non HDR) we played on this model, including movies and test videos, was presented in full 4K detail with excellent fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. This TV can stream 4K programs from Netflix and YouTube. Images were clean and finely detailed. Photo playback via the TV's USB port is not supported.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance had limited effectiveness. The display's lack of high brightness capability (by HDR standards) limited its ability to show the benefits of HDR to full effect on our test videos, while revealing at least some contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. It did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, with no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations, but some loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas was noted. Very bright, colored objects remained nicely saturated, and an extended range of color capability was not apparent from our test patterns.
MOTION BLUR. This Vizio monitor has very good motion performance, with minimal blurring on our motion tests, thanks to Vizio's "Motion Control", de-blur feature. This feature is designed to reduce motion blur, a shortcoming of most displays. Although this TV includes a "Clear Action" setting that was slightly effective at further reducing motion blur it limited the brightness of the image, so we left the feature off.
SCREEN REFLECTIVITY. Though not as mirror-like as on some models, this screen surface is glossy and therefore susceptible to reflections from a nearby lamp or window. It does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast in a brighter room environment.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has good sound quality; about average among the models we've tested. When watching a movie blockbuster, a concert, or TV show, it delivers decent performance but falls short of the better performers. Bass was adequate, which added some fullness to the sound, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was a bit closed in. The speakers produced a good volume range so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, but quality does degrade at the highest settings. Most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. Vizio includes a traditional IR, button keypad remote for control of basic functions. The high contrast labels on the buttons make them easier to read in a dimmer viewing environment. Although this TV is internet enabled it requires the use of a tablet device (not included with this TV) to give it access to online services such as streaming, web browsing. To access these services viewers must provide their own mobile device to download the Vizio app necessary to control the TV. All interactions with the TV including surfing Netflix selections, or browsing the web, are done via your mobile device, not on the big screen.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV does not have internet capability built-in, and requires a tablet, or mobile device (not included) in order to access the Internet. The mobile device you own will determine which apps and services can be used with the TV, though most popular streaming services such Netflix, YouTube, Hulu, HBO Go and HBO Now, are widely available.
CONNECTIONS. This model has five HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one component input, no composite input. It also has two USB ports, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking; Casting, which allows you to send streaming content from your mobile device to the TV via your home network; Screen mirroring, where the image on your smartphone or other compatible device can also appear on the TV. This model lacks an antenna/cable RF input -- so it can't tune-in off-air channels -- but not a problem if you stream content, or use a cable box, satellite box, or external tuner. The cable connections on the rear panel are recessed with side or bottom-facing ports, so wires don't protrude beyond the display's depth.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. A remote control with batteries. One HDMI. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT ULTRA HD TESTING: We test UHD picture quality using 4K movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We check the TV's ability to reproduce 4K image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR) for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a 4K movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, as well as from files stored on flash drive plugged into the TV's USB port. We also check the quality of 4K streaming from Netflix or YouTube (if the service is supported by the TV), and how well the TV can upscale HD movies to the display's higher UHD resolution while keeping artifacts such as "jaggies" along the edges of image content to a minimum. The best UHD TVs, and HDTVs, present high fidelity images that reveal the full quality of the best source content without degradation.
