HD PICTURE QUALITY HD picture quality was Very Good, overall. Reproduction of fine HD image detail was Excellent, though the image detail was very exaggerated and made images appear less natural, despite our attempts to minimize this with the sharpness control. Color accuracy was Very Good, with flesh tones in particular, looking natural. Very Good contrast—the difference between the darkest blacks and brightest whites—gave images convincing depth and dimension. Image brightness was Very Good (with the backlight control turned up), so the picture was well suited for a brighter room—a lower setting is recommended for a dimmer viewing environment. Its reproduction of smooth edges on image content was Very Good with minimal "jaggies" (jagged edges) when "up-converting" HD-to-UHD images. It was Excellent when deinterlacing 1080i video, and when detecting the film mode of 1080i film-based content. However, the black levels were merely OK—they maintained some contrast in darker scenes, but fell short of the better TVs. The quality appeared worse as we viewed from the sides—see our Viewing Angle results, below. There was slight display non-uniformity in our test sample—it appeared as brighter cloudy areas which were most noticeable on very dark scenes (or in the black bars of a letterboxed movie)—the severity can vary from model to model.
4K UHD PICTURE QUALITY Overall 4K UHD picture quality was Very Good, overall. In our UHD testing, we played native-4K movies and test videos (non HDR) thru the TV's HDMI input, and found their image detail was all there. For color, contrast and black level, the TV performed similarly to its HD picture quality.
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 narrow viewing angle overall, below-average performance among TVs. Only those seated directly in front of the screen will see the best picture quality. We examined the image quality at various viewing angles—its image quality notably decreased as we moved away from the center position. In our tests, the picture did show some slight dimming from the sides, but not to a distracting degree. But the image quality in general degraded significantly. The picture showed a moderate loss of color, so flesh tones looked a bit washed out. Black levels visibly brightened, and reduced the contrast especially on dark scenes. Lastly, we viewed the image from above and below center screen, and noticed Good vertical viewing angle performance, with only slight changes in color, contrast, and black level.
MOTION BLUR In our motion tests, this Vizio TV had Good motion performance, with some blurring. Though this model includes Vizio's "Clear Action," a feature designed to reduce motion blur, we found it noticeably dimmed the display, so we switched that feature off.
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 frequencies) to be adequate but lacking a sense of fullness and some definition, and had a slight amount of rattle or buzzing during our bass-heavy sound clip. Treble (high frequencies) was satisfactory. The overall sound was on the bright side, and a bit thin. This TV should be OK if the room isn't too noisy—we found the speakers could produce a Good volume level and without obvious distortion. Overall, though imperfect, most people would find this sound quality acceptable.
EASE OF USE Consider the TV's stand is 51 inches wide when choosing a table top to place it on. The remote controls the TV via an RF signal and doesn't need to be pointed at the TV. It has a simplified design with a reduced set of buttons. It includes many of the typical buttons, like mute and source-input buttons. But annoyingly it lacks the channel-up/down buttons. The remote has a microphone for accessing a external voice assistant feature. It also has dedicated buttons for streaming Disney+, iHeart Radio, Netflix, Pluto TV, Amazon Prime Video, Tubi, and Watchfree+.
INTERNET FEATURES This TV provides certain access to the internet, and access to a limited library of applications. Its movie streaming services include Netflix, YouTube, Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, Disney, Apple TV and HBO Max—and these can be streamed in HD or 4K UHD. Claimed support for external voice assistants (not built in to the TV) include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and Apple Siri HomeKit.
CONNECTIONS This model has three HDMI inputs. It also has one USB port, an optical digital audio out, an Ethernet port, WiFi wireless networking, and AirPlay—for sharing videos, photos, music, and more from Apple devices to the TV.
WHAT'S INCLUDED A quick start guide, an electronic user guide via the TV's menu, and a remote control with batteries. No printed manual is included.
ABOUT UHD TESTING Ultra-high definition "UHD" can refer to both the TV and program content. While the UHD industry standard includes 4K and 8K, most UHD TVs and UHD content at this time are 4K. A 4K UHD image is presented as 3840 x 2160 pixels—four times the pixel-count of HD. We test UHD TV picture quality using 4K UHD movies, videos, photos, and test patterns to confirm these displays deliver performance to this format's full potential. We examine the TV's ability to reproduce 4K UHD image detail, as well as high dynamic range (HDR)—for TVs that support this capability. Image quality is tested using a UHD movie player connected to the TV's HDMI input, and from files stored on USB flash drive. 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.
