PICTURE QUALITY. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones and other image content looking natural. Very good contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images convincing depth and dimension. The brightness level was good, making it a suitable choice for most rooms. Black levels are excellent, with help from Vizio's "Active LED Zones", a local dimming feature, delivering very deep blacks that enhances contrast in dark 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.
VIEWING ANGLE. This Vizio has a narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs for this attribute. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. When we viewed the TV from the sides image quality degraded significantly. The picture showed a strong loss of color, so flesh tones looked very washed out, along with a slight color shift. Black levels visibly brightened, reducing contrast especially on dark scenes. When viewing the image from above or below eye level to the screen, the vertical viewing angle was very good. The picture showed minimal change in color, contrast, and black level.
ULTRA HD PERFORMANCE. Overall, very good. This Vizio UHD TV delivers full 4K picture detail, along with very good HD-to-UHD upconversion. All native 4K content we played on this model, including movies and test videos was presented in full detail with excellent image fidelity when played back via the TV's HDMI input. The TV supports the play back of content with HDR (high dynamic range) but only in the Dolby Vision format, not HDR10, the format currently supported in 4K Bluray players. The display's high brightness enhances the effectiveness of HDR content as confirmed with Dolby Vision video clips played via the TV's USB port. We couldn't test Dolby Vision though HDMI due to a lack of playback devices. This model does support video streaming of 4K programs via both Netflix and YouTube (among other sources), and images were finely detailed and free of image enhancements that generally degrade image quality. Using the TV's USB port, we were not able to play our 4K test videos in the HEVC, VP9, and MP4 file formats, stored on a flash drive, nor could we play back photos of any resolution, which was disappointing. With regular HD content, the TV's HD-to-UHD up-conversion processing was very good, with edges along diagonals of image content showing slight jaggies, just short of the best we've seen. All five of the TV's HDMI inputs comply with the latest HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 specifications that support play back for 4K video at 60Hz, and copy protection, a requirement for compatibility with 4K movie play back devices such as a 4K Blu-ray player.
MOTION BLUR. This Vizio monitor has good motion performance, with some blurring on our motion tests. Though this model includes Vizio's "Reduce Motion Blur", a feature designed to reduce motion blur, we found it was ineffective. Invoking the secondary "Clear Action" feature helped, but it dimmed the image too much so we left this feature off as well.
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. The screen is dark so it does a good job reducing glare from ambient light and maintains contrast even in a bright room.
SOUND QUALITY. This model has fair sound quality with below average performance. It's acceptable for typical programming, but shortcomings become obvious with movie soundtracks and music. With movies, dialog was generally clear, though a bit thin and harsh, and background music and other sounds were slightly recessed. Bass was decent, which added some fullness to the sound, and treble was nicely detailed, while the overall sound was on the bright side and a bit closed in. The speakers produced a good volume—so this model should play sufficiently loud in typical room environments, though sound quality degraded at the highest volume settings. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting, but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which was distracting on some audio content. If sound quality matters to you, you might want to add a soundbar or other external speaker system.
EASE OF USE. This Vizio forgoes the traditional remote for a 6" Android tablet. Whether you prefer this type of interface or the traditional button remote is a matter of personal preference, but the user experience between the two is very different in every day use. To control and navigate TV functions you have to turn on the tablet and activate the Vizio app. All interactions with the TV, including surfing Netflix selections, or browsing the web, are done via the tablet, not on the big screen. The virtual buttons displayed on tablet surface have no tactile feel so the user must look at the tablet when making viewing selections or picture adjustments. We also found the interface to be "buggy" at times when making picture adjustments, with certain options showing up under the wrong categories. On first power up there is an on-screen guide that helps you through setting up the TV. The remote uses Bluetooth, so it doesn't need to be pointed at the TV to operate it. Besides the full-featured tablet, also included is a smaller, simpler remote for volume adjustment and input source selection.
STAND ASSEMBLY. The monitor's base does not come pre-attached, so some assembly is required. Mounting the support stand to the TV is straightforward, though the stand requires the assembly of one part before mounting. The TV's stand extends to the far ends of the display, which means the table top you'll be setting the TV on will need to be at least as wide as the display itself.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides advanced Internet capabilities via its "Android OS" based tablet. Movie streaming services include: Netflix, Hulu Plus, Vudu, YouTube, HBO Go.
CONNECTIONS. This model has five HDMI inputs—one supports MHL (Mobile High-definition Link), one component input, no composite input. It also has two USB ports, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port. WiFi wireless networking. Casting, to control the TV from a smartphone that has the suitable app installed. 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. Two remote controls with batteries. HDMI cable. 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.
