HD PICTURE QUALITY. HD picture quality was excellent. It did an excellent job displaying the finest detail of HD content. Color accuracy was very good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Color temperature was slightly on the warm side, lending images a reddish tone. Contrast--the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites--was good, so images had depth and dimension. Black levels are very good, with help from Vizio's full array "Xtreme Black Engine Pro" feature, delivering fairly deep blacks that help contrast in darker scenes (quality does degrade as you move to the sides - see viewing angle). This was among the brightest models we've tested (with the backlight control turned up), so the picture is well suited for a very sunny room. A lower backlight setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. 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. 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 moderate viewing angle overall, decent, but not quite as good as the better-performing TVs we've tested. The optimal seating position for best picture quality is directly in front of this model. When we viewed the TV from the sides, image quality got worse. The picture showed a slight loss of color. Black levels visibly brightened, reducing contrast especially on dark scenes. Some negative effects of the "local brightening" feature also became more apparent on darker scenes, where objects in the scene had an added glow. 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 UHD performance is excellent, as is 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. Via the USB port, high-resolution photos were unfortunately downscaled to a lower 1080p resolution, not taking advantage of the display's detail potential. With regular HD content, the TV's HD-to-UHD up-conversion processing was generally excellent with the edges along diagonals of image content looking very smooth with minimal jaggies.
HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE (HDR) PERFORMANCE. HDR performance is very effective. The display's very high peak brightness capability helped enhance the realism of our 4K HDR test videos, while revealing excellent contrast between moderately bright and very bright highlights within a scene. In HDR mode this TV only allows the optimization of the Backlight, Brightness, Contrast, Color, and Xtreme Black Engine Pro picture settings. All other settings are carried over from the HD picture settings. Though it did a good job reproducing a greater range of nuanced shadow detail from black to white, we found dark areas of the image to be overly dark. There was no obvious banding on areas of the image that have subtle shade variations. There was no significant loss of near-white shadow detail in the brightest areas. Brighter colored objects remained nicely saturated.
MOTION BLUR. This Vizio TV has excellent motion performance, with no visible blurring on our motion tests, thanks to Vizio's "Motion Control". This feature is designed to reduce motion blur, a shortcoming of most displays. This TV includes a "Clear Action" setting that was slightly effective at reducing motion blur, so we left the feature on.
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 blockbuster movie, 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 but was lacking in definition a bit, 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. Also, at higher volume, dynamic compression kept the sound from distorting but also limited the clarity of peaks in loudness, which can be a bit distracting on some audio content. 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, with number keypad, for control of basic functions. Also included are buttons that provide direct access to Netflix, Vudu, Amazon, Xumo, Crackle, and iHeart Radio streaming services. Consider the TV's stand is 52 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on.
INTERNET FEATURES. This TV provides basic Internet functionality with a selection of applications via its "Vizio SmartCast w/ Chromecast" portal. Access to these apps, including HBO, requires the use of a separate mobile device. Movie streaming services include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video and Hulu. Also provides support for Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.
CONNECTIONS. This model has five HDMI inputs-- one supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), one "component/composite shared" input (which means you can only use one type or the other at a time). It also has one USB port, 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.
INCLUDED IN THE BOX. A quick start guide. An electronic manual in the TV's menu. A remote control with batteries. A detachable power cord. 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 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.
