You may remember Vizio's
47-inch SV470XVT from CES, but given the barrage of releases since then, we're betting not. In order to refresh your memory, we're pointing you to a
CNET review that finds the set decent for the price, though not nearly good enough for true videophiles. Granted, that's exactly what we'd expect to hear about a "bargain" set, but we digress. On the plus side, the color was deemed "highly accurate," and the gracious amount of picture adjustments / ports were swooned over. The only digs were its less-than-stellar black level performance, poor off-angle viewing and "somewhat pedestrian design," though we'd argue that last tidbit is mighty subjective. All in all, the HDTV managed a 7.3 out of 10, suggesting that it's probably just right for those not looking for the Grand Poobah.
posted Aug 23rd 2008 6:50PM
Been waiting for a review of this set b/c of the advertised contrast ratio- of course one of the only items not improved on was black levels.
btw, that picture is of the XVT Series 50" Plasma, not the 47"LCD.
Unless you are using a flat panel as the center piece of a theater, with controlled ambient lighting and all then it seems a little unreasonable to expect black level performance from any device that makes black by blocking light generated 100% of the time.
Also, the common implementation of flat panels are in environments with plenty of ambient lighting, for which very little of any real contrast ratio will be realized or observed. I single candle in an otherwise black room is enough to impact the black level performance of any device, include CRT projection.
And finally it is a common joke that you cannot trust marketed contrast ratio figures as they are typically off by a factor of 10-1000. And why shouldn't they be since no cowsumer protection on this front exists. Thus, society accepts the lies of the manufacturers with open hands.
Buy, cowsumer, buy! :)
Vizio's stuff has been pretty interesting. I think for the price, it's good enough for the average HDTV watcher. If you are a hardcore A/V guy, it probably isn't what you're looking for.
http://www.youreviewelectronics.com/reviews/lcd-tv-reviews/vizio-sv470xvt-review/