VIZIO E470i-A0 47-inch 1080p 120Hz LED Smart HDTV

Best 60 inch LED for the price, October 14, 2012

I had been patiently waiting for this TV to become available via Amazon, mainly because of the unbelievably low price and good review given on CNET, but got tired of waiting and ended up purchasing this TV on 10/13 from Costco. They had just gotten a shipment in that day and once I saw it in the store, I knew I needed to get it. CNET had mentioned that the off angle viewing was not as good on this set when compared to LEDs from other manufacturers, but I haven’t had any problems viewing this TV even from extreme angles. The TV was not quite as bright as the LG next to it at the store, but I believe this was mainly due to the matte finish of the screen. The LG had a glossy screen which made the picture very bright, but it also reflected literally everything behind it. My TV is now set up in a very sunny living room and the glare is minimal. Much better than the 37 inch Sharp LCD it replaced. For those looking for a basement TV, a glossy TV or a plasma might be the way to go, but for me, the matte finish was the best option. The TV has an extremely thin bezel which I really appreciated because it allowed me to get a 60 inch screen size out of a TV that takes up the same space as many 55 inch units. Out of the box, the colors were pretty good, but I am still hoping to find detailed color settings posted by CNET or elsewhere. If anyone has a good link, please share 🙂 The smart features work reasonably well. Amazon Prime and Netflix both ran just fine. My only complaint so far is with the Amazon Prime interface. It is very paired down when compared to the version offered over my PS3 and it took a long time to browse titles. If you know what movie you want though, you can simply use the search function. So far, I am completely satisfied with this set and for anyone debating between a $1000 LG or Samsung 55 inch and this 60 inch Vizio, I would highly suggest getting the Vizio. I was really surprised at how much larger the screen size was when compared to the 55s next to it at the store and the sharpness and clarity of the picture was comparable to the LGs and Samsungs costing several hundred more. Costco is currently selling this set for $979, so hopefully Amazon will price match once it gets in stock.

***Update***

I found detailed picture settings for this TV posted by katzmaier on CNET and thought would I pass it along for others to try. Shutting off the back light control and ambient light sensor features definitely brightened up the picture.

—Picture settings menu—
Picture Mode: Movie
Backlight: 53
Brightness: 50
Contrast: 75
Color: 51
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 0

—Size & Position submenu—
[no change]

—Color Temperature submenu—
Colour temperature: Normal
Red Gain: 104
Green Gain: 115
Blue gain: 130
Red offset: 129
Green offset: 130
Blue offset: 132

–Advanced Picture submenu—
Smooth motion effect: Off
Real Cinema Mode: Smooth [grayed out]
Noise Reduction: Off
MPEG NR: Off
Color Enhancement: Off
Adaptive Luma: Off
Film Mode: Auto
Backlight Control: Off
Ambient Light sensor: Off

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 Comments (35)

Stellar Performance, February 20, 2013

By 

Anthony V. Mumolo (U.S.A) –

  

I’ve had my Vizio E701i-A3 for about a month and I have been tweaking various settings the entire time to arrive at what I consider the best picture. I used two blu ray calibration discs; Digital Video Essentials and Spears and Munsil. The end result image with a high quality input source is jaw dropping. Colors are rich and beautifully rendered; clarity and detail are exactly what I would expect from a world class display. Even watching movies I’ve seen before is a revelation and a totally new experience.
Just a few years ago I would have expected to pay as much as $3000.00 or more to get this kind of performance. To say I’m happy with this TV is an understatement. I’ve been a home theater enthusiast for over sixteen years and this set is the end point of my home theater evolution. With this display I feel I have the best theater experience I’ve ever had and it beats every walk in theater presentation I’ve seen. If anyone has not taken the time to properly calibrate ANY HDTV they should not be posting opinions on the quality of the display since NO display set at factory defaults will render the best visual experience in a home environment setting. It takes a willingness to invest some time and effort if you really want to see what the display is capable of. I can’t comment on the audio aspect of this set because I run all my sound all the time through my surround speaker system. BTW, It is not possible to evaluate a display in a very bright store environment alongside other displays because you have no idea how each display is set up. A display can look like crap in the store and look absolutely beautiful when properly calibrated in your home. In a store they are set to stand out and get your attention not to be accurate and they are almost always using a split source so the same signal is not reaching every display equally; this can mislead you into thinking one display looks better than the others. About the only thing you can evaluate accurately in a store is viewing angle.
For what it’s worth I’m including my calibrated settings although as always they may differ from other set ups depending on room environment and personal taste. I started with contrast at 75 and sharpness set at “1” but after repeated critical viewing I found I actually got a better picture with my current settings. I also found Adaptive Luma set at medium created a better picture than set to off. Personal preference comes into play on this setting and the sharpness setting as well. I spent a lot of time watching the same demonstration material over and over again to be certain I was getting exactly the picture I wanted. In my opinion this is a great HDTV and a great VALUE.
So here are my E70 settings and my system components.
Yamaha RX-V465 Receiver
Oppo BD-P83 Blu Ray Universal player
Infinity RS3 Front speakers and Infinity center channel speaker
Bose surround speakers

Picture Mode: Movie
Backlight 60
Brightness 50
Contrast 72
Color: 49
tint 0
Sharpness +2
Color temperature Normal
Red Gain: 106
Green gain: 107
Blue gain: 116
Red offset: 128
Green offset: 128
Blue offset: 128
Smooth motion effect: Low
Real cinema mode: Smooth
Noise reduction: off
mpeg fr: off
Color enhancement: off
Adaptive Luma: Medium
Film mode: auto
Backlight control: off
Ambient Light sensor: off

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 Comments (15)

Great value, January 19, 2013

By 

Hornmann (Kentucky) –

  

This is an excellent no-frills smart TV. the picture is excellent and the sound is surprisingly good. While it is missing some features and has fairly limited menu options the excellent picture quality and built in apps make this well worth the low price.

After living with the TV for less than a week my main complaints are:
– can’t rename channels
– no channel favorites
– firmware updates seemed to wipe out most of the customization I’d done to the apps and widget dock
– cheap remote without lighted buttons

Pros
– great picture
– decent sound (I had assumed I’d immediately need a sound bar but have decided I can wait for now)
– built in Netflix, Amazon, etc.
– attractive design with very thin bezel around the screen
– large screen size for a low price

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