can anyone tell me if the vp322 has a "no operation off" feature? being a bedroom tv, i sometimes fall asleep at the wheel and forget to set the sleep timer.

4.5.2 Sleep Timer
Press the button to highlight the Sleep Timer selection.
Press either or button to select the timer to turn-off the TV in 30, 60, 90 or 120 minutes.
Press the LAST key once to return to the previous screen or repeatedly to return to your program if task
has been completed.

i think he knows how to use the sleep timer, he just wanted to know if there was a way to have it auto-turn off if there was no input for awhile.

3> plastic channels for the wall are paintable and hide wires nicely..

4> UMMM it's 40 lbs. hanging on plaster... I would sink lag bolts into stud ( i did for an LCD tv downstairs) but that is my opinion... :rolleyes:

3) So where do I need to look for it and what's it called? I've never needed this stuff before.

4) You sir would make my father proud. You should see how he installed the ceiling fans with lag bolts.

try searching "panduit" or "wiremold"

i think he knows how to use the sleep timer, he just wanted to know if there was a way to have it auto-turn off if there was no input for awhile.

bingo. my Pioneer has a "no operation off" feature that's nice to have when you fall asleep watching a DVD. if the tv receives no commands or inputs from the user within 3 hours, the tv turns itself off. since i regularly forget to set the sleep timer when watching tv in bed, this would be a great feature. if not, i guess i'll have to learn to remember.

3) So where do I need to look for it and what's it called? I've never needed this stuff before.

4) You sir would make my father proud. You should see how he installed the ceiling fans with lag bolts.

i bought cable raceways from home depot in the electrical section. $10 gets you 5 feet i think and they're paintable.

good idea i'm going to do that

bingo. my Pioneer has a "no operation off" feature that's nice to have when you fall asleep watching a DVD. if the tv receives no commands or inputs from the user within 3 hours, the tv turns itself off. since i regularly forget to set the sleep timer when watching tv in bed, this would be a great feature. if not, i guess i'll have to learn to remember.


Sorry about my stupid response.

bingo. my Pioneer has a "no operation off" feature that's nice to have when you fall asleep watching a DVD. if the tv receives no commands or inputs from the user within 3 hours, the tv turns itself off. since i regularly forget to set the sleep timer when watching tv in bed, this would be a great feature. if not, i guess i'll have to learn to remember.

I wouldn't watch any Lord of the Rings movies then:)

hit the volume once every couple hours and you should be fine.

Here are the settings I am using.

Custom:
brightness 51
contrast 43
color 43
tint 0
sharpness 4
color temp normal

For the price this is a good bedroom set. I have had 3 different 32" lcds in the past, a Sony, Westinghouse, and Emerson. This set blows them all away, even the Sony that was $800. Viewing angles, black levels, color, no ghosting, all better than any 32" lcd you can get. The contrast ratio is listed at 30,000:1. Now, I don't know how accurate that is but I can tell you that I can see a lot of detail in the picture that I would miss out on the other lcds I had. You can make out the texture on David Lettermans suit, while on the other tvs all you would see is gray. Shadow detail is very good. Black levels are pretty decent. I also had a 42" Vizio plasma from last year and I think the black levels have improved over that, although it is still not as deep as a Panasonic or Pioneer, but you are not paying that kind of money. There is definitely some IR but it goes away after a few minutes. Hopefully this will lesson as the set gets broken in more. Sound is decent and what you would expect out of a tv like this. The actual design of the tv is really slick. Glossy black frame with a small strip at the bottom for the speakers. Much improved over the silver sets they had in the past. Picture looks good over VGA. Just watched a few 720p files last night and it looked great. I would highly recommend this as a bedroom or small living room set, especially at this price skip right over the other 32" lcds and get this Vizio if you can find it. They did not have it on display yet at a local Walmart, but I asked if they had any in the back and they had 2 and sold it to me.

Check that. I changed the color temp from normal to custom 128. The whites just looked too warm and everything was too red at the normal setting for my tastes.

did you custom all three colors (RGB) to 128? or just white?

EM3 try monoprice.com(a forum sponsor) for inexpensive mounting options.

how is it? might go pick it up tomorrow if its good!

Hey everyone, just picked up the 32" Vizio plasma, seems to be OK to decent for the price. I have only played with the settings for a little bit, but have it sitting next to my 40" Samsung LCD. Picture is better on the Samsung, with less grain on HD channels. Color seems more natural on the Vizio, and blacks seem pretty equal. I have noticed very little image retention, but I have only used the TV for a couple of hours. I will report back after some more time with the TV. I would also appreciate to see some other people's calibrations. Thanks

Check that. I changed the color temp from normal to custom 128. The whites just looked too warm and everything was too red at the normal setting for my tastes.

What StinDaWg is referring to is the TV's custom color option, with all three colors being set to 128 (Default).

I myself noticed the picture at 'Custom 128' it makes the color temperature for some reason look better.
I agree with StinDaWg as well that the TV is just a hair on the warm side of things with the preset colors.

'Custom 128' seems way more natural to me, with no red push.

Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread, but does the box have a carrying handle on it? I am assuming its small size makes it relatively easy to pick up and transport home.

Just wanted to know if I needed to drag a friend along with me to Wally World or not. Thanks.:D

Sorry if I missed it earlier in the thread, but does the box have a carrying handle on it? I am assuming its small size makes it relatively easy to pick up and transport home.

Just wanted to know if I needed to drag a friend along with me to Wally World or not. Thanks.:D

it's not that heavy and the box has a handle on each side. i was easily able to load and unload it in my truck and carry it upstairs.

oh yeah, i just bought it today! i think for the $ you can't go wrong. this is for the bedroom, so it's SD only, unless i decide to use the QAM tuner. my box only has composite and SVid, but until i can find my svid cable, i'm using comp. it's very watchable with this setup for casual viewing. overall i'm happy.

The box easily fit in my 2 door car so I don't think there will be any issues getting it home. I am not sure if I am missing anything, but two things are bothering me about the set. One is that I am unable to zoom in on dvds that are in a 2.35 to 1 ratio (I am playing them through HDMI on a philips upscaling dvd player), which means that I am still stuck with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Two, is that I am unable to turn of the lighted Vizio insignia on the front of the TV. My Samsung and Olevia let me turn off the front light. Has anyone found a way to turn this off? Thanks in advance.

Been reading this thread for a while, so i decided to go to Wal Mart to check this set out. As i was there, they were actually just setting it up so i gave them about 30 mins. Came back and they had it done. Pretty nice set. Although I'm sure they didn't tweak it, its brightness was a lot darker than all the other sets out. But still i think it blew the other 32 inch sets out of the water. The colors were more full and detail on their little "eyecandy" segment with the flowers was amazing compared to the other 32 inch sets they had out. All in all, I'm going to buy this set at the end of may for my room. Live in an apartment on campus.

I am not sure if I am missing anything, but two things are bothering me about the set. One is that I am unable to zoom in on dvds that are in a 2.35 to 1 ratio (I am playing them through HDMI on a philips upscaling dvd player), which means that I am still stuck with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.
I think someone else here said that you have to go through the menu to make this adjustment?

I think someone else here said that you have to go through the menu to make this adjustment?Yes the aspect settings have to be accessed through the setup menu, but this TV does not have a ZOOM mode which is really odd since every widescreen TV i've ever played with has a Zoom mode. This TV needs to have a Zoom mode and i can't understand why Vizio saw fit to not include it.

Just called my local Wal-Mart here in the greater Boston area, just received a new shipment in of those, their first shipment sold out in two days. Plus they honor the extended warranty as quoted online at $58. Not sure why some stores were trying to charge $118.

they tried to charge 118 and i didnt buy it. damnit

I actually bought the 2 year extended warranty as well. I believe it gives you 2 years after the manufacturers warranty, for a total of 3 years. First time I bought one, as I was more concerned with my plasma breaking than my 2 LCDs. I got Wally world to match their web price on the warranty. To me 118 is crazy, that is more than 20% of the price of the TV. In fact, I wanted to go with the 3yr warranty they had on the web for 88 bucks, but they didn't seem to have that option available at the store.

One is that I am unable to zoom in on dvds that are in a 2.35 to 1 ratio (I am playing them through HDMI on a philips upscaling dvd player), which means that I am still stuck with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen.

Dumps sewage into lake and hears.........................EVIL!

they tried to charge 118 and i didnt buy it. damnit


That is so bizarre. What I would do if anyone is looking at this set is, I would call your Wal-Mart ahead of time ask them how much they charge for their warranty and if they say $118, then do "Ship to Store" and get it that way, so you can get the online warranty price.

Yes the aspect settings have to be accessed through the setup menu, but this TV does not have a ZOOM mode which is really odd since every widescreen TV i've ever played with has a Zoom mode. This TV needs to have a Zoom mode and i can't understand why Vizio saw fit to not include it.


It is a little odd, but if you use your cable or sat. HD Box's remote than that is a moot point because, at least Comcast has it, there is aspect control on the remote, so it's really no big deal unless you are doing OTA or cable straight to TV.

The box easily fit in my 2 door car so I don't think there will be any issues getting it home. I am not sure if I am missing anything, but two things are bothering me about the set. One is that I am unable to zoom in on dvds that are in a 2.35 to 1 ratio (I am playing them through HDMI on a philips upscaling dvd player), which means that I am still stuck with black bars on the top and bottom of the screen. Two, is that I am unable to turn of the lighted Vizio insignia on the front of the TV. My Samsung and Olevia let me turn off the front light. Has anyone found a way to turn this off? Thanks in advance.



This is Vizio's explanation on the whole Zoom/Wide thing that has you bothered
By now you may be noticing a pattern, if there are bars in the picture when the TV is in WIDE mode the bars are always coming from the device sending the picture to the television. Sometimes you can do something about it and sometimes you can’t . It depends on how the bars are being introduced to the picture:

I mentioned before about ZOOM being misleading and here is why. When it comes to things of a visual nature to ZOOM is to get closer to the image. Here is an example using it in a sentence.

"Zoom in closer on the back of that car and see if you can get the license plate."

Now I don’t know why but some televisions out there actually call the act of stretching the picture to the edges of the screen ZOOM mode. Which goes against the definition of the word when you really consider it. To Zoom would be to get closer to the image, not stretch it out. There is a ZOOM mode on our televisions and it does what ZOOM should, it gets closer to the image. Problem with zooming is getting closer to the image you see it too closely and will start to see a lack of clarity in the picture and a lack of detail. If you try to ZOOM in on a picture to remove the bars all you do is get closer to a picture that still has bars in it, you will just be looking so closely at the image you won’t be able to see the bars anymore. The best way to not see bars on the screen is to take them out of the image before that image gets to the television.


I do believe their smaller units don't have the zoom mode any more. That doens't bother me, I hate going over to my friends house and he always hit's the Zoom mode on his Samsung to remove the black bars , which really aren't that bad on the the 2.35:1 and he does zoom out the black bars and it does make them look slightly stretched and it's very annoying much more anoying than the little black bars you get with 2.35:1. But he want's all his movies to fill the screen so to each his own.

To me not even close to being a deal breaker.

I do believe their smaller units don't have the zoom mode any more. That doens't bother me, I hate going over to my friends house and he always hit's the Zoom mode on his Samsung to remove the black bars , which really aren't that bad on the the 2.35:1 and he does zoom out the black bars and it does make them look slightly stretched and it's very annoying much more anoying than the little black bars you get with 2.35:1. But he want's all his movies to fill the screen so to each his own.

To me not even close to being a deal breaker.
Apprecitate the good explanation of using zoom. With my photography, I find it's difficult to explain aspect ratios', etc. to folks I'm doing prints for. It's also difficult to explain to folks that when they ask me to "blow up" (or, Zoom) the image, that the quality will suffer if it's overdone.

But with that said, I thought the primary purpose of the zoom function on plasmas was to help avoid IR? However, given that Vizio has not provided this feature, is it safe to say that IR shouldn't be an issue? Provided reasonble use, that is.

Sorry for the questions, but for those of us that are new to plasma it's sometimes hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. I really want to like this TV.

Hi Sutterman, I probably can answer the IR thing, yes there is IR on this set, I haven't broken it in fully yet, so I don't know if this will be a continuous problem. My example: the misses had soap net on for about a half hour and the channel logo left an IR mark on the TV that stayed for about an hour of regular viewing. It was very hard to see, unless the screen went to black, but somewhat annoying. I know the set has the image cleaner feature, but it did seem to subside with normal viewing. That is one of my biggest concerns with movies and my satellite broadcasting several shows in 2.35:1, I don't want to watch these shows because of the possibility of burn in, and without a zoom feature (yes I know about the distortion thing) I am hesitant to watch any of these other shows. The TV also does not seem to be able to zoom in on shows that are broadcast in 4:3 (Family Guy, Simpsons, etc.) over the QAM tuner. Has anyone found a way to do this? On my Samsung, I can force it into wide. Maybe my concerns are overblown, but I have always been an LCD guy (Have 2 LCD TVs currently) but I really wanted to give a plasma a shot. I just though I had a perfect opportunity with the smaller TV size for the bedroom. Most likely it is different with the bigger and better brand named plasma, but like I said I already have those spots filled with my other TVs. I do have 90 days to return/exchange the set, but I am hoping to keep it, as I like its physical appearance and the HD programming looks decent. For those that are wondering, standard def is pretty mediocre both over cable and satellite, but that isn't a real concern. I didn't buy the set to worry about standard broadcasting. Last question, is a slight buzz normal for plasmas? I can't hear it with the volume turned up, but when it is on mute, there is a low buzz sound. Sorry about the long read, hopefully some of my comments will be helpful, and for the answers to my questions... Thanks in advance!

That is so bizarre. What I would do if anyone is looking at this set is, I would call your Wal-Mart ahead of time ask them how much they charge for their warranty and if they say $118, then do "Ship to Store" and get it that way, so you can get the online warranty price.

better yet print up webpage, which contains the "free site to store" shipping, and the $58 EW offer.

Jaye, those are all myths about plasma dont you know?

LOL!

LCD is much less worry and fidgeting, although the picture quality may be a bit lacking to plasma.

And thus we see why LCD is beating plasma.

Here come the "myth busters!"

Escape, I agree. I could never buy my mother, or my fiance's mother a plasma, it would be to much work for them and me to make sure the TV works properly. They just want a TV to turn on and work and not have anything to worry about. I am starting to have second thoughts about this myself. I don't always want to be careful about the stuff I am watching. Not to mention, I have already decided that there is now no way I will hook up the 360 to this unit. Like I said, I will give it time to see if I can live with it. Otherwise, if there is a really good deal that comes up on Memorial Day, I will be returning this unit.

Jaye71: Thanks for the reivew of what your impressions are so far. Please keep us informed as you use it some more.

I don't mind watching something with the letter boxing. My only concern, however, would be that it could result in IR or burn-in. However, I'm hopeful that running a break-in CD might help the phosphors to settle down enough so that IR is not going to be an issue.

The fact that Walmart offers a 90 day return policy makes the purchase worth a shot, IMO.

I agree, I am running the break-in DVD that I downloaded yesterday. Hopefully it will help. Quick question. Do you hear a very slight buzzing noise from your plasma as well? It isn't very loud and may be normal operation for a plasma, but I am not sure. Also, did you pick up the warranty as well? It was the first time I had purchased a warranty, but I decided to because of the brand (vizio) and type of tv (plasma). I got them to come down to their web price, so I feel OK about that decision.

Wow, people saying they won't hook up their video games or watch letterboxed movies need to relax. Ya you will get IR from time to time but there's no need to freak out about it. The tv will be fine.

man....... we had a rental car today so i stopped by Walmart (there aren't any close to us in the city) and they didn't have the 322 out - so i asked a worker. he went back and found one (dust all over the box) and i was SO close to buying it. but i was with the woman and she talked me out of it. really we don't have enough room for a 32" in the bedroom right now, plus i should pay off my Pio first. ;) but it'll be there in the future - or maybe Panny will try to compete on the 32" size!

fyi, the Walmart on North Ave. in Chicago has them, if anyone's looking.

I agree, I am running the break-in DVD that I downloaded yesterday. Hopefully it will help. Quick question. Do you hear a very slight buzzing noise from your plasma as well? It isn't very loud and may be normal operation for a plasma, but I am not sure. Also, did you pick up the warranty as well? It was the first time I had purchased a warranty, but I decided to because of the brand (vizio) and type of tv (plasma). I got them to come down to their web price, so I feel OK about that decision.

Jaye: Mine is still in the process of making its way to my local Walmart, so I can't answer your questions. I do understand, however, that all plasmas buzz...just some more than others.

Wow, people saying they won't hook up their video games or watch letterboxed movies need to relax. Ya you will get IR from time to time but there's no need to freak out about it. The tv will be fine.
StinDaWg: Yes, I understand IR and/or burn-in isn't as bad as it used to be in the early days of plasma. But this is a budget model and as it's new, we don't really know yet how sensitive this particular unit is to IR. That's one reason I'm a little concerned that it doesn't give you the option of zooming the picture to get rid of the letter boxing with some programing.

You're probably right, however, in that it may turn out to be a non-issue, but until this model has been out in the field awhile we won't know for sure.

I agree, I am running the break-in DVD that I downloaded yesterday. Hopefully it will help. Quick question. Do you hear a very slight buzzing noise from your plasma as well? It isn't very loud and may be normal operation for a plasma, but I am not sure. Also, did you pick up the warranty as well? It was the first time I had purchased a warranty, but I decided to because of the brand (vizio) and type of tv (plasma). I got them to come down to their web price, so I feel OK about that decision.

I've been running mine in about 40 hours worth now, since most of the run in process is with the burn in dvd and no sound I haven't heard any buzzing, even after reading your post and being aware of possible buzzing problem.
I turned it off for a while as it got pretty warm after 40 hours of continuous usage coupled to 90 degree temperatures outside house is warmer than normal, going to have to use the A/C if this keeps up:mad:
also the aspect adjustment features are only accessible in TV mode and are greyed out with anything... maybe doing something wrong

If you are sending a forced 1080i or 720p signal from your cable or sat box to the Vizio, you will not have access to the aspect ratio controls.

I am fully aware of plasmas potential and real issues. This however will be a complimentary set, I already have a 42" 1080p LCD as my main display, and a DLP Front Projector.

Hey thanks for the response. The buzzing is minor, you can hear it when standing in front of the TV with the volume on mute. My old CRT TV made the same low buzz noise. Just wanted to make sure it isn't an issue with the TV.

In my experience, Vizio/LG plasmas have pretty severe IR, but I've never seen any actual burn in.

For what its worth, not based on this set, I've had the 50" Vizio plasma since Wal-Mart's pre christmas sale. It still has IR despite many hours of viewing. I don't generally worry about it either. I watched full screen stuff for several hundred hours.

Now I don't generally worry at all by this point, I've watched stations with logos, movies in aspect ratios leaving black bars, and generally any signs of this disappear within a little bit. Even the worst cases running the image cleaner twice will get rid of. It does go away and doesn't burn in, it is IR and nothing worse.

Buy the extended warranty (online, it is cheaper) if it worries you.

Plasmas can and will have buzzing, especially depending on elevation.

Try both before you buy. I was forced by availability and size to buy a 32" LCD 2 1/2 years ago, had this set been available back then I'd have bought it in a heartbeat.

I have had this set for over a week, not running any break in dvds, just watching shows, mostly HD stuff, but some SD content with logos, such as Foxnews, and some letterboxed movies. I think those worried about burn in and IR are way overblowing this issue, I have not seen any of either. After watching 2 back to back letterboxed movies, I was looking for some IR and saw none. I am fairly happy with the set, and I am somewhat picky, being a panasonic commercial plasma owner. The aspect ratio thing is a little annoying, but for the money this set is tough to beat.

Hey Jonesy, Thanks for the update. I do notice image retention on my set, I doesn't last that long, but when watching things with logos or scoreboards (yesterday's hockey and basketball games) I can notice the IR for a couple of minutes. I am running the break-in DVD because this is the first plasma that I have had and I don't want to take any chances on it. I really do like the look of the HD programming, but SD looks pretty mediocre, especially SD satellite. Unfortunately, I don't have any plasma experience to compare it to, just my LCDs. As for the IR, I guess I shouldn't worry to much about it since it seems to go away after several minutes.

Ir???

Image Retention.

Hey Jonesy, Thanks for the update. I do notice image retention on my set, I doesn't last that long, but when watching things with logos or scoreboards (yesterday's hockey and basketball games) I can notice the IR for a couple of minutes. I am running the break-in DVD because this is the first plasma that I have had and I don't want to take any chances on it. I really do like the look of the HD programming, but SD looks pretty mediocre, especially SD satellite. Unfortunately, I don't have any plasma experience to compare it to, just my LCDs. As for the IR, I guess I shouldn't worry to much about it since it seems to go away after several minutes.

my first plasma too, running burn-in dvd also. So far I am liking the set, blacks are certainly better than my lcd's downstairs. Overall pleased with my purchase, kids like having it upstairs in family-room as Daddy really doesn't like them messing around in the theater room. I've moved my 27' crt hd-set into the bedroom, wife likes it there, so far a win-win all around

Does this set have some type of image shifting feature to prevent burn in, such as the Pioneer Orbitor system?

Hey greenland, not that I have noticed, but it does have an image cleaner function in the menu which basically blasts a white image on the screen for a period of time.

Hey greenland, not that I have noticed, but it does have an image cleaner function in the menu which basically blasts a white image on the screen for a period of time.

Thanks for the feedback. I was aware of the whitewash feature. Other brands have that feature, but also include an image shifting feature to prevent static image burn in from happening,in the first place. Perhaps it may have it, but they are just not including it in the features descriptions.

Hi All,

Still running the VP322, and it's still working fine.

I've been playing PS3 on it, and have logged many hours of MotorStorm, and COD4 on it, while taking breaks every two to three hours and watching just regular TV for a while.

The image retention is there but is not burn in at all.
The IR images go away rather quickly, and seem to be less and less prominent as the days go by.

Still, no zoom button is a downer, but not enough to stop my enjoyment of this set at all.

I plan on buying a Vizio remote with the wide and zoom button off of eBay, since they're cheap.
If it works and dumps the bars, then great.
If not, I'm out less than 20 bucks.

Overall, other than the zoom, wide feature. I'm really pleased with this TV. For the price, to me it's worth it to give it a little care than to have to suffer with motion blur and response time.

Glad to hear that gaming is great on your new Vizio plasma. Could you answer me a question about motion blur on your set? When I play GTA IV on my 24" HP LCD monitor, whenever I pan around when using the 3rd person view, the surrounding buildings and scenery blurs so much that it's annoying, when you play Uncharted, do you get this same effect?

No Goalier95, I don't get the motion blur you speak of at all.
If it's there I sure can't see it.

This is my main reason for the VDP322 actually, gaming.

I didn't want to live with response times and blur, and upgraded to the Plasma, from my old Samsung CRT, which didn't suffer from response time or blur either.

To me, the VDP322 moves like a CRT does.
My old CRT had slightly better blacks, but in movement they look the same to me.

Sofo,

Thanks again for the experiences regarding your Vizio, I have only seen this set at one WalMart and am waiting for their 42" version to come out but only Vizio site has it and Walmart only has the 32" version available online and select stores.

I play video games but can't do more than 2-3 hours at a time before fatigue sets in so I'm not too worried about the IR since I watch more movies & sports. BTW, how is standard dvd playback?

Hey Goalier and Sofo, I can partially answer both of your questions. Sofo, I have a harmony ONE and an 880 I set up the remote based on a similar Vizio set which had the zoom feature and I am sorry to say it does not work on the VP322, there is however a manual zoom option for the horizontal bars in the menu, but not one for the vertical bars. Kind of weird choice if you ask me but oh well. Goalier, standard dvd playback through an upscaling DVD player through HDMI is pretty mediocre. Using the same DVD/HDMI player on my LCD produces a much better picture. Still I am starting to like the TV more now that I have had it a couple of days. Still plenty of time to decide if I am going to keep it.

Hey all,

I'm totally jazzed about this set - my wife doesn't want a set larger than 32" in the house, and I don't want LCD. I tested a LCD last year - ick! My eyes are more sensitive to jitter, I mean motion blur, than most, unfortunately. Drove. Me. Friggin'. Nuts!

I went to our local meth-head Wal-Mart here in Portland (you know, our beloved 82nd Ave one), and they didn't have one on display, so I couldn't play with it.

So, here's the question:

I have a Vista MCE machine, and I download and record a few shows. Most have SOME kind of station ID embedded on the show.

After a 30 minute episode of Family Guy, say, will the FOX logo be retained AT ALL? (say, less than 1 minute) I just checked, and it's not bright white, but more of a dull grey, though it does sit there the whole show.

I think my only choices are this, a DLP projector, or a wide CRT/RPTV that are going for cheap on Craigslist these days.

Thanks!
-Dan

I think you will be fine with the plasma as I am slowly learning. I don't think the Image retention will be permanent, just to be safe if you buy it run the break-in dvd for 100-200 hours.

Jaye,

Thanks for your input about sd-dvd viewing on this plasma, but am a bit confused about the upconverting dvd player with hdmi: my dad has a 50" Panasonic plasma and he has a non-upconverting dvd player that he uses only component video and to me the image quality looks fine for what it is.

Back to the Vizio 32" plasma: I checked out my Wmart after work and they had one hooked up with their hd-feed running 720p/component video and it looks FANTASTIC!!! Could not believe how much more detail I saw in demos of "Walk The Line" and "Ice Age 2" that was running. Even the Sharp 32" LCD that was a hundred bucks more couldn't reproduce the fine details that the Vizio had. One thing did concern me was the reflection of the screen, so you may have to consider that factor.

Sofo was right about it having no motion blur because compared to the other LCDs surrounding it, it looked very fast and crisp. Everyone considering this set should head over to their local Wmart since they are starting to show up on their display shelves.

i've only had it since saturday, but i haven't noticed any IR at all. doesn't a plasma's susceptability to IR dimish as the phosphors age?

Hey Goalier and Sofo, I can partially answer both of your questions. Sofo, I have a harmony ONE and an 880 I set up the remote based on a similar Vizio set which had the zoom feature and I am sorry to say it does not work on the VP322, there is however a manual zoom option for the horizontal bars in the menu, but not one for the vertical bars. Kind of weird choice if you ask me but oh well. Goalier, standard dvd playback through an upscaling DVD player through HDMI is pretty mediocre. Using the same DVD/HDMI player on my LCD produces a much better picture. Still I am starting to like the TV more now that I have had it a couple of days. Still plenty of time to decide if I am going to keep it.

Thanks Jaye71,
I was hoping that it was a limitation of the remote. :(

Still, as a gaming monitor it's great, the omission of a 'fill the screen' button seems really odd.

I wonder if they can they upgrade the firmware on this set somehow, I know other sets can do this, maybe Vizio rushed it out before the firmware was bug-free, because every time I choose 'Panoramic' it looks exactly like this sets 'Wide' setting.

SD, or HD I can't seem to get the 'Panoramic' mode to display anything different.
I read it's supposed to stretch the image in the manual, but mine doesn't seem to do anything other than set the set to 'Wide' and say it's on 'Panoramic'

Panoramic gives the same aspect ratio as wide, but its not a uniform stretch of 4:3 material, it stretches(distorts) more towards the outside edges of the image.

i've only had it since saturday, but i haven't noticed any IR at all. doesn't a plasma's susceptability to IR dimish as the phosphors age?Yes, IR resistance improves as the phosphors age.

Im torn between getting this set or a Panny Commercial 37" or 42". Maybe Ill give this one a shot for 90 days?

Hey Goalier,

The picture does look pretty good in HD. As for the playing a SD DVD... I have an upscaling dvd player, that I connect through HDMI, This way the video processor in the DVD player is doing the upscaling. In your dad's case his Panasonic TV is doing the upscaling. I am pretty sure his Panasonic TV will do a better job upscaling than the Vizio TV. Still, if you connect the DVD player to the Vizio it should look pretty good since the TV should upscale the DVD.

Hey Escape, I was pretty torn in deciding which set to get as well. I always wanted to try a plasma, but I already have a larger LCD in my main room, and the woman didn't want anything to big in the bedroom. So I was stuck with getting a 32" set. I was going to try and press my luck and get a 37", but I didn't want the headache or the argument. That is when I seen that Vizio came out with the 32" plasma. It fits both bills: My desire to try a plasma, and a set small enough for the bedroom. So far, I like my decision, but I haven't come to a complete conclusion whether or not I will keep the set. I guess the memorial day sales will make up my mind for me. If there is anything (37") decent for a good price then I will most likely return this set and pick that up. If nothing comes up then I will stick with this set.

Hey Sofo, well there seems to be a usb port on the TV so that does leave me some hope for a firmware update.

I am pretty sure his Panasonic TV will do a better job upscaling than the Vizio TV. --- Jaye71

If this set is using a Mediatek chipset for scaling and processing(which it in all probability is because that is Vizios modus operandi through several generations and models and technologies), then Im pretty sure that the Vizio will do a better job than the Panny.

Yeah, Im pretty much in the same boat as you, I want to tinker with a plasma. The only 37" plasma is the Panny Commercial, unlikely to be a "MDaySale" item.

Of note, I think the Panny Commercial sets lack any aspect ratio modes on HD, as well.

I have had the set for a little over a week, I see no IR on letterbox movies or Foxnews with the nonmoving logo. EscapeVelocity, I own a panny 42" commercial plasma and this tv. IMHO, the Vizio is a nice set for the bedroom, but the panny blows it away in picture quality (better blacks, better flesh tones, better overall color, etc), the panny has way better adjustability, better remote, way better looks for those who like a small matte black bezel (Vizio bezel is very glossy). Vizio has better connectivity, more HDMIs and side mounted, and panny has no speakers, important for bedroom use as I am using it. But the commercial pannys are awesome sets, everyone I know who tries one loves em, and they can be had cheap, think I saw the 42" 10UY for a good price, big river. Remember, need to buy stand, and panny sells speakers if needed.

PS, I have Comcast, their remotes have a zoom that works great, so this is not an issue for me. Check your cable remote.

I have had the set for a little over a week, I see no IR on letterbox movies or Foxnews with the nonmoving logo. EscapeVelocity, I own a panny 42" commercial plasma and this tv. IMHO, the Vizio is a nice set for the bedroom, but the panny blows it away in picture quality (better blacks, better flesh tones, better overall color, etc), the panny has way better adjustability, better remote, way better looks for those who like a small matte black bezel (Vizio bezel is very glossy). Vizio has better connectivity, more HDMIs and side mounted, and panny has no speakers, important for bedroom use as I am using it. But the commercial pannys are awesome sets, everyone I know who tries one loves em, and they can be had cheap, think I saw the 42" 10UY for like $950 somewhere.

PS, I have Comcast, their remotes have a zoom that works great, so this is not an issue for me. Check your cable remote.


Yeah I don't know what all the fuss is about the remote not having an aspect button since, I willing to guess that 90% of all people who have HD have it through their cable or sat. company and it's on the cable's universal remote.

Also, I can't remember if I read in any of the posts, but how is this Vizio plasma with SD? I know many are watching with stretch/wide mode during breakin period but has anyone been seeing how it looks with the black bars and how SD looks?

thanks

SD is ok, nothing special, but the set is $547.....But maybe it is just that HD looks so much better.

who buys an HDTV to watch SD anyway? at the very least it's $5 more a month for the box, or you can grab OTA with a $13 antenna :)

i don't even know why we're talking about SD on the AVSforum. ;)

First, I bought this tv two days ago and I love it. As it is my first plasma, I have been reading up on ir, and I have been running the break in dvd whenever I am not using the tv. Can anyone tell me how I should use image correction? I.e., how often should I use it? When do I know that I can stop using it? How long should I be using it for?

Thank you.

Thanks Jonesy, for the heads up, side by side comparison. This will be a secondary display, but size doesnt really matter. however, I do not want a big 50", Id like to get a smaller set. Havent really made up my mind yet.

who buys an HDTV to watch SD anyway? at the very least it's $5 more a month for the box, or you can grab OTA with a $13 antenna :)

i don't even know why we're talking about SD on the AVSforum. ;)


LOL I hear ya but when you got a wife who can care less about HD and watches mostly SD, then you have to take that into consideration:)

I am pretty sure his Panasonic TV will do a better job upscaling than the Vizio TV. --- Jaye71

If this set is using a Mediatek chipset for scaling and processing(which it in all probability is because that is Vizios modus operandi through several generations and models and technologies), then Im pretty sure that the Vizio will do a better job than the Panny.

Yeah, Im pretty much in the same boat as you, I want to tinker with a plasma. The only 37" plasma is the Panny Commercial, unlikely to be a "MDaySale" item.

from what i remember from the press release, i thought it was supposed to use the Reon pprocessor.

from what i remember from the press release, i thought it was supposed to use the Reon pprocessor.

Nope, only their "high end" model(s).

who buys an HDTV to watch SD anyway? at the very least it's $5 more a month for the box, or you can grab OTA with a $13 antenna :)

i don't even know why we're talking about SD on the AVSforum. ;)Because the vast majority of television programming is 4:3 SD and will be for probably the rest of our lives. And when the digital transition kills off the analog channels in Feb 2009 all those 4:3 SD shows will be broadcast on the digital channels and the lack of an aspect button and lack of a zoom mode will be a problem for many people who are using an antenna, or feed the TV a 720p or 1080i signal from their cable or satellite STB. Over time, IR eventually does becomes burn-in.

Nowadays i think all widescreen TVs need to have a decent non-linear stretch mode for 4:3 programming (like Panasonic's JUST or Pioneer's CINEMA or Sharp's SMART STRETCH etc) and make it available on the HD OTA channels as well as over HDMI. It should also have a ZOOM mode available at all times for when someone want's to eliminate black bars on top or on the sides. And it should have an Aspect key on the remote to facilitate quick aspect changes as one sees fit. The stretch mode on all cable and satellite STBs is a linear FULL mode and makes everyone look fat. A non-linear mode simply looks better. Not perfect, but better.

most of my post was tongue in cheek. but thanks.

however, i don't know how old you are but unless you're talking about TV Land, i can almost guarantee that "most" programming will not be in 4:3 for the rest of my life. i've lived about 1/4 of it so far. things are moving to 16:9 HD really really fast.

most of my post was tongue in cheek. but thanks.

however, i don't know how old you are but unless you're talking about TV Land, i can almost guarantee that "most" programming will not be in 4:3 for the rest of my life. i've lived about 1/4 of it so far. things are moving to 16:9 HD really really fast.

I beg to differ. Im in my twenties too, but even with 2009 DTV switchover a lot of programming would stay in 4:3. My guess is 4:3 will stay for at least 5+ years. Some smaller, local channels would not have the budget for HD cameras.

And, I think VP322 would use a Mediatek chip, based on the style of the on screen menu (Remember the old VM60P with a Genesis Cortez? The font size and style of the fonts are totally different on the menu then 99% of other Vizios)

5+ a lot will be, yes. but that's hardly the rest of my life, even with re-runs. :)

5+ a lot will be, yes. but that's hardly the rest of my life, even with re-runs. :)

4:3 won't be going anywhere soon...5 years is only the tip of the iceburg...Count in reruns from the past 40 years and that means your lifetime as well kiddo...

yes but we don't have re-runs from the 60's on prime time TV. those are relegated to a select few channels like TV Land and Nick. those won't affect most viewing.

Thanks to all for the feedback so far, I'm really looking forward to buying this set within the next couple of weeks. I was hoping to see one on display at our local Walmart, but alas they didn't even have any in stock.

Does anyone else happen to have any more photos of it in action?

Cheers.

yes but we don't have re-runs from the 60's on prime time TV. those are relegated to a select few channels like TV Land and Nick. those won't affect most viewing.And not everybody watches only prime time TV, and even those that do don't all watch only the HD shows in that time slot. Lots of people still watch non-HD daytime/evening/middle of the night programming, non-HD cable, non-HD satellite, etc and will continue to do so even after they buy an HD TV since that's pretty much the only kind of TV you can buy nowadays. On an HDNet special last year, Mark Cuban (owner of the HDNet channel) said that the majority of 4:3 programming will be with us for many many years to come. The broadcast professionals on the HDTV forum say pretty much the same thing.

i don't trust predictions since tech changes so fast. people twenty years ago could've envisioned flying cars in 10 years from now, but they wouldn't have thought of more basic stuff like HD. who knows, HD cams could drop significantly in price once more stations start using them, and it just snowballs. i think it'll be mostly HD faster than you think. probably not within 5-10 years, but definitely within our lifetime. probably even higher resolutions than we have now.

Egad, or worse, there is a wave of "Stretcherization" like Turner (?) did and colored in all the old B&W films. All that old 4x3 goes instantly to 16x9 (which might not look that bad, if done right...)

-Dan

Content rules.

I just picked up the set and like it so far. However, my one problem is that I have noticed these slanted bars going accross the screen. So far I have only seen them while playing my Xbox 360 (hooked up through the component input), but I haven't put much time into any of the other modes. They always seem to be there, but they are very noticible over dark areas of the screen and not visible at all over lighter areas (if you have GTA IV, look at the back of a seat when you are riding in a taxi, I always see them there). And I'm not sure if it really matters, but I was running my Xbox on 720p (my friend said it was better for gaming). When I changed it to 1080i the bars were still there but somewhat less noticable. Is this a common problem, some kind of defect, or do I just need to adjust a setting in some way?

could be a bad cable. i've seen the same thing before with my Wii before i replaced the cable.

yeah if you are only seeing it on X-Box then that's where I would start. Like Brian said try the cable first and then go through all your settings.

Got one last night!!! I really love the HD content from regular cable and the screen size is perfect for my viewing distance of 6 feet. I've only watched one dvd and will have to make adjustments to the video settings because everything looks too dark.

I currently have toned down the Standard factory settings of this tv and will be breaking it in by watching full screen content. I've seen some IR from network logos and the blue onscreen menu and the cable tv info box in the uppper right hand corner, but they go away very quickly once I change channels. Will upload some pictures this morning.

Some quick shots of the Vizio VP322 Plasma TV that I just got from Wal-Mart last night.

First thoughts:
1. Nice, decent picture quality from the default settings! Very bright and vivid looking so I had to take down the Brightness & Contrast from the Standard setting to Custom mode in the Picture menu. The glass does reflect images but I'm upgrading from a Sony Vega CRT analog tv so this isn't an issue for me since I normally don't mind it. At first glance in the store I thought 32" is too small for me but once I set it up the picture is so much bigger than I expected. Note all shots are from 1080i or 720p from regular cable using Coaxial RF.

2. Sorry about the blurry images. a) I don't have a tri-pod for my camera and b) there is no freeze button on the remote.

3) Not sure if it's my set of all of them since I don't remember seeing this on the display: on the top and bottom of the screen I can see metal "plates" showing that the bezel did not cover up. At first I thought it was a design of the panel but then looking closer it's actually the innards!! WTF?? It doesn't distract me when viewing at night but you can see it from a good distance. So far it doesn't affect the video but am wondering if this is a design flaw (see below)

http://img147.imageshack.us/img147/5395/dsc00340ta6.jpg

4) Only watched SD & HD content from regular cable and a couple SD-Dvds so I can't comment on gaming yet. Too tired to hook up my xbox 360 from my pc monitor but will have to soon since I'm not waiting 100 hours of break in time to play GTA IV. I will have to do some more tweaking since dvd playback looks a bit dark from my up-converting dvd player (Pioneer DV-400V is what I have but only running component cables and will have to get an HDMI cable to see what difference it makes)

5) Inputs can be named to whatever you want (up to 8 characters/numbers) so that was a nice touch.

6) Remote control is okay, not backlit but after a few times using it I can navigate in dim lighting by feel. The menu button is conveniently placed right in the middle of the 4 way arrow buttons.

http://img132.imageshack.us/img132/9964/dsc00338fo8.jpg

7) Inputs are easy to get to since it's on the side of the tv instead of the back bottom portion like the old Vizio models from a year ago.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/6302/dsc00339er4.jpg

Some ESPN2 in HD:

http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/174/dsc00330ru8.jpg

http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/8601/dsc00331ma9.jpg

Is that motion blur on a plasma or just my camera shutter lag?
http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/33/dsc00334ex9.jpg

See those gray/silver dashes? That's part of the inside of the panel!!!
http://img329.imageshack.us/img329/1269/dsc00337qh4.jpg

8) The Vizio logo glows white when the set is on and "Vizio Orange" when it's off. I don't think if you can turn off the light like some other tvs since the menu setup didn't show anything about it nor was it stated in the manual. The white logo is a bit distracting at first, but I tuned it out after awhile.

http://img177.imageshack.us/img177/8872/dsc00341dp6.jpg

So first impressions are fairly good, later tonight I will make some dvd player adjustments like switchwing over to HDMI and testing out some video games but for the money this is a great bedroom or first HDTV for someone not looking to spend a lot of money.

Any questions, just ask but I'm not that technical so I'll try my best to help anyone out regarding this plasma tv.

Those gray/silver dashes are distracting. Is this on all sets or did you get a bad tv?

Those gray/silver dashes are distracting. Is this on all sets or did you get a bad tv?

Don't know, I'll have to stop by the store again to see if the display has this on all sets. It just gives it that "unfinished" or poorly made look. But the picure quality looks amazing! It doesn't do anything weird to any source or sound coming from the set. I may have to return it since the tv on the box has the frame covering all the glass panel. Oh well, at least Wal-Mart has a good return policy.

Other than that cosmetic flaw, I will run this TV through with different types of content to see if I want to upgrade to the 42" version when it's released. :D

I went to go see one at our local wal mart, and the idiots there had another VW32L LCD set up, obviously not having a clue which tv they were displaying. They also had a 422, but it was not powered up yet. I'm interested in either right now.

Don't know, I'll have to stop by the store again to see if the display has this on all sets. It just gives it that "unfinished" or poorly made look. But the picure quality looks amazing! It doesn't do anything weird to any source or sound coming from the set. I may have to return it since the tv on the box has the frame covering all the glass panel. Oh well, at least Wal-Mart has a good return policy.

Other than that cosmetic flaw, I will run this TV through with different types of content to see if I want to upgrade to the 42" version when it's released. :D

Go to the tools(wrench icon) section of the menu, and "H/V Postion" and move the screen down.

I gave in to the charms of this TV last Friday. My set does not have those gray sections on the bezel. I think you got a bad set there, Goal.

On another note, I find the SD content quite watchable. I'm talking about both the digital and analog SD. You're not going to confuse it with HD, of course, but I find it pretty decent even when it is stretched.

One more comment I have is don't leave the set on mute. It has a bizarrely bright mute logo in the bottom right corner and I've turned down the factory settings quite a bit. I don't know if the logo goes off after an amount of time, but I didn't leave it on long enough to find out.

Don't know, I'll have to stop by the store again to see if the display has this on all sets. It just gives it that "unfinished" or poorly made look. But the picure quality looks amazing! It doesn't do anything weird to any source or sound coming from the set. I may have to return it since the tv on the box has the frame covering all the glass panel. Oh well, at least Wal-Mart has a good return policy.

Other than that cosmetic flaw, I will run this TV through with different types of content to see if I want to upgrade to the 42" version when it's released. :D

Hey Goalier,

I don't have the metal frame showing on mine either, I would suggest exchanging the set if it bothers you. I mean if you paid for it, you should expect it to be close to perfect; I know I would. I mean, I thought about exchanging mine because of a very low buzz (can only hear when standing 12 inches from the TV), but I read that is pretty common with plasmas. I would rather deal with that then press my chances with something that my be worse off than the first. Well, I guess what I am saying is that you might as well do it now while it is still inside of the return/exchange period. One question for you as well... Did you get the warranty on the unit?

actually I think dj640 hit the nail on the head. It looks and sounds like he is seeing the cc information. Going to your H/V position mode ( Thanks RWalters for teaching me that trick) and bring down you H just a smidge.

I just re read your post, is it an actual separation between the frame and the screen? then if so then the others are right, return it for a new one. But if it's on the screen then try the H/V position.

Thanks Jaye,

I figured that metal exposure was not really supposed to be seen since it looks really odd. So I'll definitely exchange it when I get a chance after some clean up in my HT setup.

On a separate note: how do you guys place your center channel? I don't want to have it mounted on the wall directly behind the tv or place it right in front where it blocks the IR sensor. Right now, it's just on the floor with the speakers angled up toward the listening position. (the width is about 2 feet across - Paradigm Cinema 330)

Also, I declined the extended warranty offered by WMart since I heard that the price is higher at the store than online.

I just re read your post, is it an actual separation between the frame and the screen? then if so then the others are right, return it for a new one. But if it's on the screen then try the H/V position.

Nope, it is an actual metal piece that is showing and not the video screen off-image. So if anyone is looking to buy this, beware of physical defects.

got a chance to eye one of these up in person last night when I was in walmart picking up wii fit. Messed with the settings a bit and was able to get a pretty nice picture. I'm going to wait a few weeks to get some more impressions and make sure there's no extensive reliability problems, but otherwise plan on picking one up for the bedroom. It's just a no brainer at that price. They had two boxes out under the display model at the store last night. Don't think I would have had much issue getting it into the back of my civic. It maybe be close though. Does anyone have dimensions of the box?

Those gray/silver dashes are distracting. Is this on all sets or did you get a bad tv?

I didn't see them on the display model I looked at last night. I'd exchange it if I were him. edit: see that he's doing that..wise choice.

Hmm, I guess it might be my Xbox. I'm using the cables Microsoft shipped with it though, going directly to the TV so it doesn't seem like there should be a problem. I just bought component cables for my Wii so I'll give that a try. No one else is seeing any bars like that though? Like I said they are easy to see across dark areas, and they obviously shouldn't be there.

Well, it looks like the 42" version of this one is finally on Walmart's site. No picture listed, but the price is.....:)

Still have the box right here. It is 38"Wx28"Hx11"D. I rounded up width and height by about 1/2 and inch.

Is ANYONE else going to sell these besides Wal-Mart? There's a Wal-Mart ban in effect in our household that seems pretty firm. Any ideas when?

Hi Plympton,

I understand the family's sentiments. I believe that Costco, Sam's, BJ's and Circuit City will carry this one. Not sure though. However, at this time WalMart is the only one listed on their site under retailers for this specific model. Maybe Walmart had an exclusive contract that they would sell these for a few months before anyone else got to?

http://www.vizio.com/products/detail.aspx?pid=59

The 42" definitely looks like a decent price, too bad I really don't want to go that large in the bedroom. I really was looking for a 37", but that would leave me with the panny commerical, or an LCD. This TV was just at a very good price point. Kind of made it hard to pass up. Goalier, I was able to get them to match their web price on the 2 year warranty. I agree with you on the store cost. I wouldn't have paid over 20 percent the cost of the product for a warranty.

Agreed on all points, Jaye;

This has been by far (with the exception of the display flaw) the best deal I've seen on a small HDTV with picture quality that exceeds the retail price point. I was too surprised that Vizio didn't come out with a 37" plasma since they do make LCDs in that size. 42" in a bedroom setting is a bit much but for a couple bills more, it's still a good deal. I'm gonna keep visting the store every other day to see if they get it in.

Just noticed the resolution of this TV is only 1024x720, Thats not even HD.

720 IS HD...:rolleyes:

Just noticed the resolution of this TV is only 1024x720, Thats not even HD.

It has 720 lines it is HD.

A few more questions...

1) What are you guys using as a break in disk? Can it be any movie, or is there something specific that works best?

2) Is it best to run everything in the TV's native resolution (1080i). My friend told me that for gaming it would be better to run my Xbox on 720p. Should I just try them both and decide for myself?

3) What is the DNR feature? I don't really understand what the manual says about it. Also what about the features lik black level extender, white peak limiter, and CTI? Are things things I should always use, never use, or just try out and see if it looks better?

A few more questions...

1) What are you guys using as a break in disk? Can it be any movie, or is there something specific that works best?

2) Is it best to run everything in the TV's native resolution (1080i). My friend told me that for gaming it would be better to run my Xbox on 720p. Should I just try them both and decide for myself?

3) What is the DNR feature? I don't really understand what the manual says about it. Also what about the features lik black level extender, white peak limiter, and CTI? Are things things I should always use, never use, or just try out and see if it looks better?

This is a 720p (ish) TV, not 1080i. I would set the Xbox to 720p as that's its native resolution. If there is a way to turn off overscan, do that.

In general it's best to leave DNR, black level extender, white peak limter, and CTI off.

HD is 1280x720
1024x720 is way lower then that.

HD is 1280x720
1024x720 is way lower then that.

This is how HD plasmas have been for nearly 10 years. It makes almost no difference at 42" so it will be beyond minor at 32".

Well, I saw the set at the Walmart, and they had new Sharp LCDs, Sony LCDs, Philips LCDs, Vizio LCDs, Sanyo LCDs, and the Vizio 42" and 32" Plasmas, and a 50" Panny all new compared to last week.

Wow!

Unfortunately, all the TVs had horrible feeds, most had purple and green tints scrolling down the screens, and one section, had the Vizio, Sony, and other sets struggling to lock the signal, going black/blue and then playing every second or so. This is where the 32" Vizio was.

The 42" Vizio was in a seperate section, apparently they didnt have enough room for all the new sets, and was on a separate feed, which wasnt HD but at least it was clear. I tweaked the picture settings and it looked very good, the price is rockin on that one.

I was pressed for time, so I didnt get a good look at all the new panels, I did notice that the Sanyos were touting "1080" but their resolution was stated as 1366x1080 or some such. Weird, after contemplating it for a moment, I decided it must be a typo, nobody is producing odd pixel count panels like that.

My understanding is....

1024x768 is not HD.

1366x768 is.

1280x720 is.

1024x720 is not HD.

1 million pixel count is the definition.

My understanding is....

1024x768 is not HD.

1366x768 is.

1280x720 is.

1024x720 is not HD.

1 million pixel count is the definition.

No, 1024x768 is considered HD. Has been for many years.

I will say that in reality, a 1024x768 is a lot clearer than a 1080i CRT.

I was pressed for time, so I didnt get a good look at all the new panels, I did notice that the Sanyos were touting "1080" but their resolution was stated as 1366x1080 or some such. Weird, after contemplating it for a moment, I decided it must be a typo, nobody is producing odd pixel count panels like that.

Maybe they use Hitachi ALIS panels. Those have weird resolutions.

Alright so I took my Xbox to my other HDTV (a Sony Tube) and there were no traces of the bar problem I'm seeing on the Vizio. I've been playing with the settings a bit. So far I've noticed that the bars are less noticable when my XBox is on 1080i as opposed to 720p, and that they are less noticeable when the brightness is turned down. As I said they are most noticable in dark areas of the screen, but not complete black areas. I took a picture so you might have some idea what I'm taking about.

Does anyone else have this TV hooked up to an Xbox 360 through component cables? If so please do me a favor and play around with a few games to see if you have the same problem.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v396/noj11jon/DSC04795.jpg

(the bars are actually more noticable in the picture due to the flash of the camera)

Maybe they use Hitachi ALIS panels. Those have weird resolutions.

These were the new Sanyo LCDs. My mind did wander to the Hitachi ALiS panels though.

Walmart has greatly expanded their HDTV flatpanel offerings.

Alright so I took my Xbox to my other HDTV (a Sony Tube) and there were no traces of the bar problem I'm seeing on the Vizio. I've been playing with the settings a bit. So far I've noticed that the bars are less noticable when my XBox is on 1080i as opposed to 720p, and that they are less noticeable when the brightness is turned down. As I said they are most noticable in dark areas of the screen, but not complete black areas. I took a picture so you might have some idea what I'm taking about.

Does anyone else have this TV hooked up to an Xbox 360 through component cables? If so please do me a favor and play around with a few games to see if you have the same problem.


(the bars are actually more noticable in the picture due to the flash of the camera)



almost looks like a hum bar issue. so interference of some sorts. i think best bet would be to a)try another device on the same input to see if its displaying the same interference or b) try another component cable.

No, 1024x768 is considered HD. Has been for many years.

I will say that in reality, a 1024x768 is a lot clearer than a 1080i CRT.


Im not poo pooing these in my understantding, non HD resolutions. The non square pixel dimensions bother me. But that may not amount to a hill of beans either.

almost looks like a hum bar issue. so interference of some sorts. i think best bet would be to a)try another device on the same input to see if its displaying the same interference or b) try another component cable.

I tried my Wii on that input as well. It can only run in 480p, but I did not notice the same interference. However, like I said I tried my Xbox on my other HDTV with the same component cables and didn't see any sort of interference like that. Is it possible I just got a defective TV?

Just noticed the resolution of this TV is only 1024x720, Thats not even HD.

Even the Pioneer Elite had 1024 x 768 Plasmas and the broadcast standard for 720p is something like 1280 x 720, which kind of debunks your claim of needing at least 1 million pixels to qualify as HD. Overall, I think the fact that the Vizio is of slightly lower resolution than the standard, actually helps it because it won't upconvert any of the HD signals it receives, unlike every other tv in it's size.

The Vizio being a cheap product, is able to deliver a solid picture this way, because it would have probably cost a lot more to include a scaler good enough to do 1366 x 768 and not look like crap (ala a 32" Vizio LCD).



No, 1024x768 is considered HD. Has been for many years.

I will say that in reality, a 1024x768 is a lot clearer than a 1080i CRT.


I will say that in reality, you need to be checked :)

Probably going to trade in the 32" for the 42" and give it a go. I've been impressed with the 32" and the 42" is cheap as hell.

Even the Pioneer Elite had 1024 x 768 Plasmas and the broadcast standard for 720p is something like 1280 x 720, which kind of debunks your claim of needing at least 1 million pixels to qualify as HD. Overall, I think the fact that the Vizio is of slightly lower resolution than the standard, actually helps it because it won't upconvert any of the HD signals it receives, unlike every other tv in it's size.

The Vizio being a cheap product, is able to deliver a solid picture this way, because it would have probably cost a lot more to include a scaler good enough to do 1366 x 768 and not look like crap (ala a 32" Vizio LCD).





I will say that in reality, you need to be checked :)

Noticing that the pixel count is 1024x720, the TV (MediaTek chip?) will still have some complex video processing to convert 1280x720 to the panel with rectangular pixels.

The thing is, 1024x768 is actually a 4:3 resolution, I seen this on those old CRT monitors.

Its called XGA. All the rage in the early 90s.

Would you recommend this over a similarly priced LCD? Mostly Standard-def sources (dvd/vcr),an hd antenna and I'd maybe connect a laptop.

Would you recommend this over a similarly priced LCD? Mostly Standard-def sources (dvd/vcr),an hd antenna and I'd maybe connect a laptop.

Absolutely.

If anyone gets the 42" version give us your impressions. While assuredly not top of the line, these new Vizio plasmas seem like a good bargain.

Just noticed the resolution of this TV is only 1024x720, Thats not even HD.

HD is 1280x720
1024x720 is way lower then that.Only the vertical lines are taken into consideration so it is indeed considered HD. This is why you only see HDTVs rated at 720p or768p or 1080p or 1080i, with no mention of the horizontal lines.

In other words, it's HD enough. Quit obsessing about it, it's not a big deal.

I will say that in reality, you need to be checked :)

I'm serious -- look at the fine detail on a 1080i CRT, then look at a 1024x768 plasma. The plasma is significantly sharper and more detailed. I'm not saying that it will look better overall, but there's more detail in the picture.

I'm serious -- look at the fine detail on a 1080i CRT, then look at a 1024x768 plasma. The plasma is significantly sharper and more detailed. I'm not saying that it will look better overall, but there's more detail in the picture.

not sure that's true Chris. i had a 27" WEGA 1080i and it looked fantastic. only upgraded because of the size.

No metal bars showing here either.
Looks like the end of some RF shielding of some sort. Glad to see you're taking it back, that's surely a defect.
As far as the break-in DVD goes, I burned the one available from this site, with no issues at all.
Bars in games is something I do not see, but I'm connected to a PS3 via HDMI.
Sorry to hear of other's woes. :(

I'll tell ya what, if the 42" isn't that bad, I am going to be really torn deciding if I want to keep the smaller TV or get the larger TV. I will almost feel like I am wasting money keeping the smaller one since the price difference is so small. I hate it when I do that to myself, lol. I just really wish there was a 37" version. I would have picked that up in a heartbeat.

Purchased VP322 yesterday, and after a few hours of watching, unit went into pure static covering screen, and volume turned up very loud. Could not turn volume down using remote or buttons on side, and could not power off unit using side controls or remote. Had to remove plug from unit to get powered off. After checking everything and re-powering on unit, same thing happened after just 30 minutes of viewing.... Do not have good feeling about purchase so far....

Purchased VP322 yesterday, and after a few hours of watching, unit went into pure static covering screen, and volume turned up very loud. Could not turn volume down using remote or buttons on side, and could not power off unit using side controls or remote. Had to remove plug from unit to get powered off. After checking everything and re-powering on unit, same thing happened after just 30 minutes of viewing.... Do not have good feeling about purchase so far....

What connection were you using? HDMI?

not sure that's true Chris. i had a 27" WEGA 1080i and it looked fantastic. only upgraded because of the size.

Sony WEGAs may be an exception, since they are pretty much the highest quality CRTs ever made. Besides, I am talking only about resolution. In other ways (black levels, motion, color, etc) CRTs are still unmatched.

My only point is that if you're going to call CRT HDTVs "HD," then you really should call the various plasma resolutions HD as well.

No metal bars showing here either.
Looks like the end of some RF shielding of some sort. Glad to see you're taking it back, that's surely a defect.
As far as the break-in DVD goes, I burned the one available from this site, with no issues at all.
Bars in games is something I do not see, but I'm connected to a PS3 via HDMI.
Sorry to hear of other's woes. :(

I finally went back to the store to see the difference with the store display and the one I bought:

My unit is missing the black tint or film that covers that metal frame around the video panel! It's not moved out of place or anything, it's just missing that piece. Thanks Vizio QC!! Going back soon even though I'm happy with the picture quality. So if you bought one of these, you'll immediately see something's not right.

How will this work behind a bar??? The viewing distance will be approx 5 - 8ft and I want to put two of them side by side.

This will be SOLELY for watching sports. I've been looking at the 32" Samsung A550 LCD and the new 32" Panasonic LZ800 LCD over at the LCD Forum, but I'm scared they will have issues with fast moving camera scenes during football games, so this may be a perfect solution for a MUCH cheaper cost!!! (I can get two for just under 1k)

Thanks

Using all connections RCA/AV/SVideo/Cable. No matter what is connected, or how it's connected, screen last only about 10 minutes now and goes crazy. Looked nice in the store compared to others, but is going back to join others in store. What I saw of the Lakers game last night looked very good even on standard def...until it went crazy on me though...

almost sounds like the board is overheating.

It did seem to get pretty warm last night, but was nice and cool this afternoon, and had issues even quicker than before. Had device on stand a good 3-4 feet away from wall, so wouldn't think that was the issue. Very new to the HDTV and Plasma circle, as I've had an RCA 36 CRT for about 6yrs now, so don't know if I got a lemon or what.

I would just pack it up and get a new one. Wal-mart has a good return policy.

definitely, no reason to deal with that.

So I've been trying multiple devices in this TV, and the immediate IR is really bad on some and not so much on others. This is my first plasma, so my question is, will that go away after more use? I'm not worried about the permanent IR, I have burn-in reduction settings on all of my devices and I make sure nothing is left up too long. But I am getting a little annoyed with pulling up a menu or something then switching screens and having a box on my screen that lasts for a minute.

How will this work behind a bar??? The viewing distance will be approx 5 - 8ft and I want to put two of them side by side.

This will be SOLELY for watching sports. I've been looking at the 32" Samsung A550 LCD and the new 32" Panasonic LZ800 LCD over at the LCD Forum, but I'm scared they will have issues with fast moving camera scenes during football games, so this may be a perfect solution for a MUCH cheaper cost!!! (I can get two for just under 1k)

Thanks

I think this is perfect for a bar because of the low cost, better motion vs. LCD and, most importantly, excellent viewing angles. LCDs wash out when you look at them from above, below, or from the sides. Practically speaking, plasmas will look the same from all angles and positions.

Two questions for everyone out there. Does anyone know how much power this TV uses in standby mode. On the box it has an energy star label and the manual/website says 250 watts average (I am assuming while on). Just would like to know how much juice it uses while it sits in my bedroom off. Second question, I am not sure if this is inherent to all plasmas, but when viewing the TV at a wide angle, while standing up I can almost see a double picture. It almost looks a picture is being displayed behind the main picture. From normal positions this does not occur.

I guess I should clear up that last question. I am seeing a double image when standing up and looking down at the TV.

I don't have experience from other plasma's, but I also see the double image if I'm close and at an angle to the Vizio.

Thanks for the response. I just really wonder if this is something common. It isn't that noticeable with a regular broadcast, but much more so if there is text on the screen.

RickDel, Where can you get them for under $500?

A friend works at Walmart, so I can get an employee discount. Not to mention I live in Delaware, where there's NO sales tax.

I say pull the trigger and go get them. 90 day return policy, cheap extended warranty.
You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I don't have experience from other plasma's, but I also see the double image if I'm close and at an angle to the Vizio.This is normal for most plasmas when viewing at an exteme (and un-natural) angle, usually visible when text is on the screen. Panasonics and other brands show the same effect at extreme angles. It's caused by a reflection between the outer glass and the plasma panel itself. It's not an issue in normal viewing.

This is normal for most plasmas when viewing at an exteme (and un-natural) angle, usually visible when text is on the screen. Panasonics and other brands show the same effect at extreme angles. It's caused by a reflection between the outer glass and the plasma panel itself. It's not an issue in normal viewing.

Yeah, you've really got to be at an extreme angle and even then I don't find it to be especially noticeable.

This is normal for most plasmas when viewing at an exteme (and un-natural) angle, usually visible when text is on the screen. Panasonics and other brands show the same effect at extreme angles. It's caused by a reflection between the outer glass and the plasma panel itself. It's not an issue in normal viewing.

certain plasmas don't have this affect, those with the single pane design. but they're more fragile.

Just received my VP322 today and I am loving the picture quality. However I have a question. Is it normal to feel heat coming from the set while standing in front of it, never owned a plasma before. I am running the break in DVD, and I noticed when I walk by the screen I can feel a change in temperature. Been running the DVD for about 2 hours. Top of the set is not overly hot but warm. Also what would be your recommended settings while running the break in DVD. Thanks for your help!

Just received my VP322 today and I am loving the picture quality. However I have a question. Is it normal to feel heat coming from the set while standing in front of it, never owned a plasma before. I am running the break in DVD, and I noticed when I walk by the screen I can feel a change in temperature. Been running the DVD for about 2 hours. Top of the set is not overly hot but warm.

Yes it is normal to feel heat from a plasma TV, LCDs do it as well but in my opinion plasmas are usually a lil bit warmer than LCDs.

Noticing that the pixel count is 1024x720, the TV (MediaTek chip?) will still have some complex video processing to convert 1280x720 to the panel with rectangular pixels.


I guess it depends on your definition of complex, but unless things have changed recently, every HDTV I have seen fed a higher signal than it's native, looked better than every other tv that had to upconvert a signal, sans CRTs.

Don't get me wrong though, I have never been a fan of Vizio, but I am hoping this 32" does well so that Panasonic will take notice as literally every sub $800 32" LCD is complete crap.

I'm serious -- look at the fine detail on a 1080i CRT, then look at a 1024x768 plasma. The plasma is significantly sharper and more detailed. I'm not saying that it will look better overall, but there's more detail in the picture.

Which Plasma dude? If we are talking about a Pioneer we could argue. Plus, you have entered into that age old resolution argument.

The Sony Hi-Scan models were reportedly 853 x 1080i and the XBR were 1440 x 1080i. Then you have to factor in the size. And even after all of that, it still boils down to the processing and the technology. You will find many a watcher who thinks their 480i Sony Trinitron looks better than any Plasma. Then you have the LCD people that think LCD is the greatest thing since bubblegum.

I will take the HD CRT over any 1366 x 768 LCD in a taste test. I don't believe that anyone can honestly sit in a room and view a Sony 34" HD CRT against a 32-37" 720p LCD or Plasma and not say the CRT has better picture quality.

This Vizio does have great picture quality however. I played with the settings at a Walmart, and even with their crappy feed, I could visualize how good it would look through HDMI on a solid source. The thing that scares me about Vizio is who they get their parts from. I mean, if they are going to come out with a 32" Plasma, why price it below their 32" crappo LCD? They have ZERO competition as noone else makes a 32" Plasma.

It's sounds suspiciously like they are trying to take the money and run like Samsung did with the Slimfit CRTs. They will have sold 100,000 units before people know what hit them.

I will take the HD CRT over any 1366 x 768 LCD in a taste test. I don't believe that anyone can honestly sit in a room and view a Sony 34" HD CRT against a 32-37" 720p LCD or Plasma and not say the CRT has better picture quality.



Just thought I'd thrown in a couple comments, I have a Sony 34XBR960 CRT HDTV which is Sony's high end model with the super fine pitch tube, I had a Kuro 4280HD plasma (exchanged it for a 5080HD) and even tho it was only 1024x768 the picture quality was considerably better than the CRT.

The overall contrast 'punch' on the plasma was much greater (an unfortunate downside to the superfine pitch CRTs is they arent as bright vs. standard HD CRT's) also the color vibrancy, overall sharpness and the fact it had no geometry / corner to corner focus or convergence issues to worry about really made it stand out.

Comparing PS3 and 360 games on the CRT vs. Plasma actually put the CRT to shame, seeing Bioshock run on the Kuro was truly a sight to behold mainly due to its brightness advantage, finer details & sharpness and top that off with excellent black levels (even in my dark room). Bioshock always failed miserably on any LCD ive tried due to mainly weak black levels, but on a Kuro the game looks absolutely stunning.

Which Plasma dude? If we are talking about a Pioneer we could argue. Plus, you have entered into that age old resolution argument.

The Sony Hi-Scan models were reportedly 853 x 1080i and the XBR were 1440 x 1080i. Then you have to factor in the size. And even after all of that, it still boils down to the processing and the technology. You will find many a watcher who thinks their 480i Sony Trinitron looks better than any Plasma. Then you have the LCD people that think LCD is the greatest thing since bubblegum.

I will take the HD CRT over any 1366 x 768 LCD in a taste test. I don't believe that anyone can honestly sit in a room and view a Sony 34" HD CRT against a 32-37" 720p LCD or Plasma and not say the CRT has better picture quality.

This Vizio does have great picture quality however. I played with the settings at a Walmart, and even with their crappy feed, I could visualize how good it would look through HDMI on a solid source. The thing that scares me about Vizio is who they get their parts from. I mean, if they are going to come out with a 32" Plasma, why price it below their 32" crappo LCD? They have ZERO competition as noone else makes a 32" Plasma.

It's sounds suspiciously like they are trying to take the money and run like Samsung did with the Slimfit CRTs. They will have sold 100,000 units before people know what hit them.

You know, many non technical-oriented people prefer LCDs over plasmas for fear of IR and burn-in. Since they're a value brand oriented towards average customers, it doesnt surprise me if they price their 32" plasma below their own 32" LCD.
From what I've read they get the parts mostly from LG and use MediaTek for processing. Not sure about this model unless someone open up the back cover though. Who knows if the panel's a Kuro! :eek: (jk :p)

I have a Sanyo CRT HT30746 next to the VP322. I was able to compare the picture quality and noticed that the black levels are lighter somewhat grey, and the whites aren't as white on the VP322. My question is, will this improve once the VP322 is broke in.

I have a Sanyo CRT HT30746 next to the VP322. I was able to compare the picture quality and noticed that the black levels are lighter somewhat grey, and the whites aren't as white on the VP322. My question is, will this improve once the VP322 is broke in.

It might improve if you tweak the settings or calibrate the sets. Torch mode is almost always better on CRT.

I was in the LCD market for about a year (after I realized I wasn't going to be able to get a decent CRT)because I want a 32", I was worried about burn in for video games, and I really don't like stretching 4:3 content. After buying a 32" Samsung LCD that was pretty highly rated by CR, I found out I couldn't stand the motion blur in sports and video gaming(two of the main reasons I want an HDTV) and after looking at sports content in-store on 120hz sets I decided I couldn't get an LCD until something is done about the motion blur. SD content was not horrible but was still a little disappointing on the LCD I bought. I was, however, pretty shocked when I saw my brother-in-laws cheapo 42" Insignia(Best Buy Brand I believe made by Dynex) Plasma showing a Bob The Builder DVD(2 Year olds birthday party) through s-video. It looked miles ahead of any DVD or SD content I had seen on the Samsung LCD as there was almost no noticeable pixelation. At that point I started thinking about getting a plasma and finding out about this TV it obviously because my first choice because of the size. I really would like to do some SD and 480p gaming on the TV I get so my question here is how does this TV compare to more expensive 32" LCD in the $700-900 range or even higher in SD and DVD content. How expensive do they get before LCD is going to be better in that area than this TV?

Just get this set, you cant lose, its cheaper than all 32" LCDs and has a 90 day no questions asked return policy at any of 1000s or locations across the US including Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii, and even West Virginia.

Well there is no question I am going to give this a really good hard look and I will definitely go take a look at my local Wal-Mart. Another question for plasma users, is it absolutely necessary that I stretch 4:3 content to fill the screen to avoid burn-in(edit: or uneven phosphor wear)?

Well there is no question I am going to give this a really good hard look and I will definitely go take a look at my local Wal-Mart. Another question for plasma users, is it absolutely necessary that I stretch 4:3 content to fill the screen to avoid burn-in(edit: or uneven phosphor wear)?
Might have a little difficulty doing that easily with this set. Read a few of the earlier posts.

Might have a little difficulty doing that easily with this set. Read a few of the earlier posts.

Yeah, I have read some of those but there seemed to be some confusion as to what you could and could not do. Are you saying that you can't stretch 4:3 content at all?

No, you can stretch. What I've been gathering is, for the first 100 viewing hours, you have to break it in, meaning avoiding watching the 4:3 with the side black bars, avoid accessive gaming, and watching DVD's that may have the black bars on the top and bottom, much like you find on a 2:35:1 aspect movie. After the 100 hours the risk diminishes and such and you should be able to go back to normal style viewing.

It's just the breaking it in part. Others have suggested a break in DVD and putting it Discovery Channel HD is supposed to good as well.

Yeah, I have read some of those but there seemed to be some confusion as to what you could and could not do. Are you saying that you can't stretch 4:3 content at all?Based on what i gather from this thread, it looks like you cannot stretch 4:3 content if the TV is getting a 720p or 1080i signal, or of if it's being broadcast on a digital OTA or on an "HD" cable channel using the TV's OTA/QAM tuner, or on anything input via HDMI. So it appears that the two stretch modes are only available with a 480i or 480p signal. And there is no Zoom mode at all.

For anyone using an antenna this could be a problem when the digital transition hits the airwaves in February 2009 as you won't be able to stretch any 4:3 OTA content at all since it will all be digital and you'll be stuck with the black sidebars.

Just get this set, you cant lose, its cheaper than all 32" LCDs and has a 90 day no questions asked return policy at any of 1000s or locations across the US including Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska and Hawaii, and even West Virginia.


Easy on the WV there buddy.

@EM3 :)


Randy, in your informed opinion, would you say that 4:3 black bars on a plasma are a big no, no?

Sorry if this was in an earlier post, but there's no way to change the black bars on the sides of 4:3 content to gray? I couldn't find it anywhere in the onscreen menu options.

Sorry if this was in an earlier post, but there's no way to change the black bars on the sides of 4:3 content to gray? I couldn't find it anywhere in the onscreen menu options.

no as it seems there is no way to change the side bars on a 4:3 pic gray. its going to be whatever the broadcaster is broadcasting.

I guess my biggest gripe so far is the absence of the ability to change aspect ratios on a digital input (you are able to change on a analog input). Not to mention that there is no difference between wide and panoramic (they are the same thing). This seems like a really big oversight on my part. Almost like the TV was rushed to meet production without the software being fully tested. My only hope is that there will be a firmware upgrade. There is a usb port on the side of the TV so maybe it will come of some use in the future. My Samsung also has a usb port in which I have already done several firmware upgrades.

I guess my biggest gripe so far is the absence of the ability to change aspect ratios on a digital input (you are able to change on a analog input). Not to mention that there is no difference between wide and panoramic (they are the same thing). This seems like a really big oversight on my part. Almost like the TV was rushed to meet production without the software being fully tested. My only hope is that there will be a firmware upgrade. There is a usb port on the side of the TV so maybe it will come of some use in the future. My Samsung also has a usb port in which I have already done several firmware upgrades.


Why not just use the aspect ratio button on your cable or Sat. remote. I don't understand why this is a huge deal.

exactly, my cable box has all those options, i understand though for those who dont have a box, it does suck and it doesnt surprise me (flame on)

Why not just use the aspect ratio button on your cable or Sat. remote. I don't understand why this is a huge deal.It may not be a huge deal to you, but it can be a huge deal to others. Like myself :D

The stretch mode on a cable or satellite STB is usually a Full/Linear stretch mode that makes people everywhere on the screen look equally fat, and it looks like crap. I never use the aspect modes on my Tivo or Cable DVR because they suck; the non-linear stretch mode on my TVs look much better so i use that instead.

And remember a lot of owners will be using this TV with an antenna or with basic cable straight from the wall with no STB so they need to be able to change the aspect, and it would be nice if it had this available and even better via the remote.

I am virtually positive that Vizio will not be correcting this on some future firmware upgrade for disgruntled owners. It's probably not even be possible even if they wanted to do it.

Speaking of remotes that do not have an aspect ration button on them, the LG 37LG30 remote lacks this as well, so Vizio is not alone in this.

-Cork55

Just thought I'd thrown in a couple comments, I have a Sony 34XBR960 CRT HDTV which is Sony's high end model with the super fine pitch tube, I had a Kuro 4280HD plasma (exchanged it for a 5080HD) and even tho it was only 1024x768 the picture quality was considerably better than the CRT.

The overall contrast 'punch' on the plasma was much greater (an unfortunate downside to the superfine pitch CRTs is they arent as bright vs. standard HD CRT's) also the color vibrancy, overall sharpness and the fact it had no geometry / corner to corner focus or convergence issues to worry about really made it stand out.

Comparing PS3 and 360 games on the CRT vs. Plasma actually put the CRT to shame, seeing Bioshock run on the Kuro was truly a sight to behold mainly due to its brightness advantage, finer details & sharpness and top that off with excellent black levels (even in my dark room). Bioshock always failed miserably on any LCD ive tried due to mainly weak black levels, but on a Kuro the game looks absolutely stunning.


You are comparing a 42" tv to a 34". If that Pioneer was a 34" 1024 x 768, the picture differences would be more significant.

That is why the 5080 was 1366 x 768, the larger screen size would make the shortcomings of 1024 x 768 more significant. You have the 1080i on the HD CRT's, because people would be sitting closer to them. I think owners of a really good CRT Rear Projection would also put their 1080i big screens up against your 720 Plasma.

And again you are getting into the resolution argument, without discussing the processing and the technology which is what you paid out the ass for with The Pioneer Elite. For example, the new Panasonic 720p's look great, but surely you don't think they look as good as the best HD Tube?

To just say 720p is better than 1080i based on one excellent tv seems silly to me. Resolution is resolution, period, and even though you really don't need the max resolutions, it never hurts.

I absolutely hate watching 4:3 video sources in wide or panoramic. I however can live with zoom, if its necessary. My question is, will it be necessary? I will be watching quite a bit of 4:3 material, includeing PS2.

I just received a reply from Vizio in regards to Zoom mode, and the possibility of an firmware update. I don't think its sounds to promising for the addition of Zoom mode in the future. Here is what they said.

Dear Vizio Customer,



After reviewing your email regards to your VIZIO TV, model VP322



I feel sorry to tell you that the model of VP322 has no this function. But if you want to remove the blavk bars on side of the screen, you can choose the panoramic mode to get you want. Of course, we will upgrade your informaiton to the RD department. Then we will improve the later design of our VIZIO TV.

Thank you for your information!

You are comparing a 42" tv to a 34". If that Pioneer was a 34" 1024 x 768, the picture differences would be more significant.



Im sure if Pioneer made a 34" 1024x768 Kuro I would still be saying the same things in my comparisons..

Resolution is resolution but the CRT simply isnt as sharp or detailed in comparison due to the technology differences and the many factors preventing it from having uniform corner to corner focus.

I play a lot of video games so the Plasma's sharper image ,brighter output (which in turn also gives colors more 'pop') and uniform focus go a long way.

Does anyone know if the VP322 has any type of picture-in-picture function? Or do any other similarly sized Vizio TVs have this function? Thanks.

I absolutely hate watching 4:3 video sources in wide or panoramic. I however can live with zoom, if its necessary. My question is, will it be necessary? I will be watching quite a bit of 4:3 material, includeing PS2.

This is exactly how I feel, I just cannot stand watching 4:3 content stretched; it looks terrible to me. Can anyone else comment on the necessity of stretching 4:3 content on a plasma to avoid burn-in and/or uneven phosphor wear. It is definitely a factor in my decision to get a plasma or ... the only thing I could really to besides that is wait.

Yesterday I upgraded from the vp332 to the 42" model
Quite a difference. the 42" has it's connections on the back on the bottom except for 1 hdmi port on the side (right side facing the tv)
the remote and setup screens are the same as to be expected. What I didn't expect was that it appears to be brighter and more robust colors than the 32", I even turned down the brightness and contrast 5 points lower than I had the 32" set at.
Bottom-line for me it was well worth the $200 to upgrade...
I am running the breakin dvd now. While watching it last night I didn't notice any IR, which I usually saw with the 32". Of course no two sets will ever be exactly alike, but for now I'm quite pleased:)

I picked up this tv a couple of days ago and admittedly haven't had enough time to play around with it other than viewing HD content.

I've got Directv HD (connected through the hdmi plug Directv provided) and it takes a pretty noticeable/borderline annoying amount of time to change channels. It will go to a grey screen and then go to the channel I selected. If anybody has any insights, i'd appreciate the feedback.

This problem isn't enough to warrant a return/hassle of an exchange...but if someone knows of a quickfix, i'd appreciate the info.

Yesterday I upgraded from the vp332 to the 42" model
Quite a difference. the 42" has it's connections on the back on the bottom except for 1 hdmi port on the side (right side facing the tv)
the remote and setup screens are the same as to be expected. What I didn't expect was that it appears to be brighter and more robust colors than the 32", I even turned down the brightness and contrast 5 points lower than I had the 32" set at.
Bottom-line for me it was well worth the $200 to upgrade...
I am running the breakin dvd now. While watching it last night I didn't notice any IR, which I usually saw with the 32". Of course no two sets will ever be exactly alike, but for now I'm quite pleased:)

What is the energy usage figure for the panel, according to your owner's manual?

The online specs says 210W. Which has to be a mistake, since the 32 inch model figure is higher than that. Thanks.:)

i boxed the manual and all the packing stuff back up, don't plan on opening it until I get rid of the tv. sorry

Hi, has anyone with this set been able to set the RGB to a custom level to get a more accurate greyscale calibration. I don't have any testing or calibration software and was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to post there settings so I can try them out. I am trying to get as close to 6500K as possible. Thanks for your help!

I picked up this tv a couple of days ago and admittedly haven't had enough time to play around with it other than viewing HD content.

I've got Directv HD (connected through the hdmi plug Directv provided) and it takes a pretty noticeable/borderline annoying amount of time to change channels. It will go to a grey screen and then go to the channel I selected. If anybody has any insights, i'd appreciate the feedback.

This problem isn't enough to warrant a return/hassle of an exchange...but if someone knows of a quickfix, i'd appreciate the info.

Set the DTV HD box to output a fixed resolution....like 1080i or 720p, intead of the channel broadcast resolution.

I picked up this tv a couple of days ago and admittedly haven't had enough time to play around with it other than viewing HD content.

I've got Directv HD (connected through the hdmi plug Directv provided) and it takes a pretty noticeable/borderline annoying amount of time to change channels. It will go to a grey screen and then go to the channel I selected. If anybody has any insights, i'd appreciate the feedback.

This problem isn't enough to warrant a return/hassle of an exchange...but if someone knows of a quickfix, i'd appreciate the info.The problem is originating with your DirecTV receiver. Two things you can try - connect it via Component instead of HDMI and see if that speeds up the channel changes (often it will), or if you want to keep HDMI try setting the receiver to output everything at 1080i only (or 720p only). Or do both. Let us know if that helps . . . . :)

Randy, do you have me on ignore?

It may not be a huge deal to you, but it can be a huge deal to others. Like myself :D

The stretch mode on a cable or satellite STB is usually a Full/Linear stretch mode that makes people everywhere on the screen look equally fat, and it looks like crap. I never use the aspect modes on my Tivo or Cable DVR because they suck; the non-linear stretch mode on my TVs look much better so i use that instead.

And remember a lot of owners will be using this TV with an antenna or with basic cable straight from the wall with no STB so they need to be able to change the aspect, and it would be nice if it had this available and even better via the remote.

I am virtually positive that Vizio will not be correcting this on some future firmware upgrade for disgruntled owners. It's probably not even be possible even if they wanted to do it.


Oh I didn't mean to come off sounding like that, I was just actually curious of why this is a big issue with people. Now I know.
but for the OTA, that runs out at the end of the year so, I guess it's rathr moot point.

That is why the 5080 was 1366 x 768, the larger screen size would make the shortcomings of 1024 x 768 more significant. You have the 1080i on the HD CRT's, because people would be sitting closer to them. I think owners of a really good CRT Rear Projection would also put their 1080i big screens up against your 720 Plasma.

The 5080 is 1366x768 because all 50" 720p plasmas are that resolution.

Except for the 5th and 6th generation Pioneer 50" which were 1280x720p.

what do you guys think about the 42" and a samsung blu ray/hd dvd player? I would be sitting about 8-10' feet away. Would I be better off getting a 1080p plasma or at that distance would the Vizio suffice? i.e. would I notice the difference of 1080p at my viewing distance?

what do you guys think about the 42" and a samsung blu ray/hd dvd player? I would be sitting about 8-10' feet away. Would I be better off getting a 1080p plasma or at that distance would the Vizio suffice? i.e. would I notice the difference of 1080p at my viewing distance?

In my experience you would be hard pressed to see a difference with a 42" in 1080p or 720p.
I have the visio 42" a sanyo z2000 both connected to a sammy bd-p1400 and with the 42" the detail and color is really good, unfortunately I don't have both a 1080P and 720P to compare side by side. I don't think at 8-10' you would see a difference.

The problem is originating with your DirecTV receiver. Two things you can try - connect it via Component instead of HDMI and see if that speeds up the channel changes (often it will), or if you want to keep HDMI try setting the receiver to output everything at 1080i only (or 720p only). Or do both. Let us know if that helps . . . . :)
I tried switching from hdmi to component but the channels still take 4 seconds to change.

I have my Directv HD Receiver video set to the following settings:

Video Settings: Native - Off; Screen Format - Original format

TV Resolutions: 1080i

I'm a noob, so if you see something blatantly obvious that I'm not doing...let me know.

I tried switching from hdmi to component but the channels still take 4 seconds to change.

I have my Directv HD Receiver video set to the following settings:

Video Settings: Native - Off; Screen Format - Original format

TV Resolutions: 1080i

I'm a noob, so if you see something blatantly obvious that I'm not doing...let me know.

Does it take this long when you are just going up/down on channel selection or is it doing it when you change the channel from the Directv guide? I just bought this tv a few days ago, and will be getting Directv on Wednesday, so I will tell you if the same thing happens to me. Also, have you tried output of 720p or just 1080i?

A couple of quick questions with regards to this set:

1. Can an older Vizio Remote(like the black one that came with the VX32L) control the tv's aspect ratio, and zoom function without having to go into the menu, like this plasma(and the newer vizio lcd's I should add)? Would the older silver one, which seems identical to the black one be able to do this as well?:

http://www.vizio.com/accessories/

The VUR5 model for $34.99

If it can than this problem with the cheaper remote can be solved by buying a new one, or stealing one from Sears. ;)

Also, what is all the hubbub about not being able to change the aspect ratio with HD?

I ahve not read the entire thread, and am wondering what everyone(Randy Walters Especially. Randy, you were so much more relaxed back when you had your Panny CT36HL43 Direct View back when you posted alot in that forum. :) ;) )

Actually Randy Walters, if you could explain to me what the problem is with the aspect ratio changes(or lack there of) would be greatly appreciated.

Is it problems with HDMI connections that don't allow this? Or is it component? Or is it HD material that can't have it's aspect ratio changed(while analog and SD material can be changed.)

I am one of those people who will be feeding a tv like this cable straight from the wall(no Box), an antenna for OTA(both cable and antenna will be connected to a A/B selector switch), and will get the Clear QAM HD/digital and OTA HD/digital that way.

I know I will have to go into the menu in order to change from cable to antenna each time, but that is no big deal.

Does the tv REMEMBER the channel lineups after it scans therefore allowing me to switch from antenna to cable and vice/versa withcout having to rescan/add the channels over again? If it doesn't, then this is no big deal, but would be nice.

But the thing about the remote and aspect ratio changing/zooming functions being available by using an older Vizio remote IS A BIG DEAL to me, and would be a deal breaker.

Thanx in advance.

A couple of quick questions with regards to this set:

1. Can an older Vizio Remote(like the black one that came with the VX32L) control the tv's aspect ratio, and zoom function without having to go into the menu, like this plasma(and the newer vizio lcd's I should add)? Would the older silver one, which seems identical to the black one be able to do this as well?:

http://www.vizio.com/accessories/

The VUR5 model for $34.99

If it can than this problem with the cheaper remote can be solved by buying a new one, or stealing one from Sears. ;)


Also, what is all the hubbub about not being able to change the aspect ratio with HD?

I ahve not read the entire thread, and am wondering what everyone(Randy Walters Especially. Randy, you were so much more relaxed back when you had your Panny CT36HL43 Direct View back when you posted alot in that forum. :) ;) )

Actually Randy Walters, if you could explain to me what the problem is with the aspect ratio changes(or lack there of) would be greatly appreciated.

Is it problems with HDMI connections that don't allow this? Or is it component? Or is it HD material that can't have it's aspect ratio changed(while analog and SD material can be changed.)

I am one of those people who will be feeding a tv like this cable straight from the wall(no Box), an antenna for OTA(both cable and antenna will be connected to a A/B selector switch), and will get the Clear QAM HD/digital and OTA HD/digital that way.

I know I will have to go into the menu in order to change from cable to antenna each time, but that is no big deal.

Does the tv REMEMBER the channel lineups after it scans therefore allowing me to switch from antenna to cable and vice/versa withcout having to rescan/add the channels over again? If it doesn't, then this is no big deal, but would be nice.

But the thing about the remote and aspect ratio changing/zooming functions being available by using an older Vizio remote IS A BIG DEAL to me, and would be a deal breaker.

Thanx in advance.

Your right, the STEELERS do RULE!:)

A couple of quick questions with regards to this set:

1. Can an older Vizio Remote(like the black one that came with the VX32L) control the tv's aspect ratio, and zoom function without having to go into the menu, like this plasma(and the newer vizio lcd's I should add)? Would the older silver one, which seems identical to the black one be able to do this as well?:Other Vizio remotes with the Aspect key will not be able to ZOOM this TV as there is no ZOOM function to begin with. Someone earlier in this thread tried it and it didn't Zoom.

Also, what is all the hubbub about not being able to change the aspect ratio with HD? I have not read the entire thread, and am wondering what everyone(Randy Walters Especially. Randy, you were so much more relaxed back when you had your Panny CT36HL43 Direct View back when you posted alot in that forum. :) ;) )Actually it was a CT-32HXC43 (didn't like the HL43 series) but i'm actually more relaxed nowadays then i was back in my old Tube TV days in 2003 :D

Actually Randy Walters, if you could explain to me what the problem is with the aspect ratio changes(or lack there of) would be greatly appreciated. Is it problems with HDMI connections that don't allow this? Or is it component? Or is it HD material that can't have it's aspect ratio changed (while analog and SD material can be changed.)Yes, as myself and others have said earlier in this thread the Panorama mode is not available over HDMI. If you're watching a 4:3 program on an "HD" channel over HDMI the TV is locked in full screen mode. Dunno about Component.

I am one of those people who will be feeding a tv like this cable straight from the wall (no Box), an antenna for OTA(both cable and antenna will be connected to a A/B selector switch), and will get the Clear QAM HD/digital and OTA HD/digital that way. I know I will have to go into the menu in order to change from cable to antenna each time, but that is no big deal.

Does the tv REMEMBER the channel lineups after it scans therefore allowing me to switch from antenna to cable and vice/versa withcout having to rescan/add the channels over again? If it doesn't, then this is no big deal, but would be nice.You won't be able to utilize the Antenna and Cable sources simultaneously - you have to set it up for either one or the other. It can't map both channel lineups. To change from one source to the other you'd have to re-scan all the channels for the new source which erases the channels from the other source. This is common on HDTVs that only have one RF input so this is not surprising. My two Panasonic Plasmas are the same way, as is my brand new 19" Magnavox LCD TV.

I just bought a Digital Stream DTX9900 DTV CECB Converter Box at Radio Shack today (to use at work) but in playing around with it on my old 4:3 Sharp LCD TV i discovered that in the Setup menu i can choose to scan for either Antenna or Cable channels, and the instruction manual also says it can be set up to tune the free cable channels. If this works, you could connect your roof antenna to the Vizio's ATSC tuner, then connect a DTX9900 to the Composite Video input to tune the basic non-HD cable channels from the wall. I plan on testing this method out next weekend.

But the thing about the remote and aspect ratio changing/zooming functions being available by using an older Vizio remote IS A BIG DEAL to me, and would be a deal breaker.The inability to change the aspect with the remote and the complete lack of a Zoom mode kinda pisses me off because i'd like to be able to recommend this TV to folks who are considering getting a small LCD but i think watching too much black-bar 4:3 content will eventually cause burn-in on this LG panel. I think Vizio sacrificed some basic neccesities to save a few bucks.

Other Vizio remotes with the Aspect key will not be able to ZOOM this TV as there is no ZOOM function to begin with. Someone earlier in this thread tried it and it didn't Zoom.

Actually it was a CT-32HXC43 (didn't like the HL43 series) but i'm actually more relaxed nowadays then i was back in my old Tube TV days in 2003 :D

Yes, as myself and others have said earlier in this thread the Panorama mode is not available over HDMI. If you're watching a 4:3 program on an "HD" channel over HDMI the TV is locked in full screen mode. Dunno about Component.

You won't be able to utilize the Antenna and Cable sources simultaneously - you have to set it up for either one or the other. It can't map both channel lineups. To change from one source to the other you'd have to re-scan all the channels for the new source which erases the channels from the other source. This is common on HDTVs that only have one RF input so this is not surprising. My two Panasonic Plasmas are the same way, as is my brand new 19" Magnavox LCD TV.

I just bought a Digital Stream DTX9900 DTV CECB Converter Box at Radio Shack today (to use at work) but in playing around with it on my old 4:3 Sharp LCD TV i discovered that in the Setup menu i can choose to scan for either Antenna or Cable channels, and the instruction manual also says it can be set up to tune the free cable channels. If this works, you could connect your roof antenna to the Vizio's ATSC tuner, then connect a DTX9900 to the Composite Video input to tune the basic non-HD cable channels from the wall. I plan on testing this method out next weekend.

The inability to change the aspect with the remote and the complete lack of a Zoom mode kinda pisses me off because i'd like to be able to recommend this TV to folks who are considering getting a small LCD but i think watching too much black-bar 4:3 content will eventually cause burn-in on this LG panel. I think Vizio sacrificed some basic neccesities to save a few bucks.

Thanx for the info Randy.

The HDMI not having the ability to change to a Panoramic mode is a little disconcerting, but not that much of a big deal to me.

My HDTV viewing would be coming from the BUILT-IN TUNER on the Vizio anyway(along with analog and SDTV). Funny how it doesn't memorize each channel lineup(cable and antenna). Even my LG LST-4200A STB(which only has one tuner, can do that. Switch between Cable and TV all the time. I miss the old days when some these TV's had 2 RF inputs, and the channel map was combined into one big one, and would switch between the tuners.

Too bad they couldn't go back to that with the newer models/tuners as they look 100 times better IMHO, than they did even 3 years ago(ESPECIALLY LCD'S)

The reason why I asked about the aspect ratio problem was because I will be using a Phillips 3575 HDD/DVD Recorder with this TV and that unit has a BUILT IN SDTV TUNER(480i/p max output).

The Phillips 3575 will be connected through component. It has only 2 settings in it(no aspect ratio change on that), either showing it is connected to a 4:3TV or a 16:9TV(this is for DVD video playback and SDTV), so the aspect ratio correction buttons at least working from an older remote(looks like ZOOM is COMPLETELY OUT on the Vizio Plasma's, and that may KILL IT for me) would have been a big deal to me.

This is too bad. The 42" Vizio I saw a WalMart today for only $749 looked GREAT(they were showing a 1080i HD program of course through HDMI).

I guess the best way to find out about the remote(the black one) is too ask one of the Walmart people for one from the older VO LCD models that are still there, and see if the aspect ratio correction button on there works with the plasma TV(and see if anything else the NEW REMOTE is lacking works off of the older one).

This is going to be a bedroom tv and 37" seems MAX to me. I wanted one that big, but it looks like the Vizio goes from 32" to 42", with no 37" in between. Too bad. The more I post, the more I look at and like the Toshiba 37AV500/37CV510/Left over 37HL67 Regaza LCD's, as they just seem to be a better deal.

That is too bad. I really like the picture on a plasma.

But Vizio seemed to lessen costs in the WORST places on these new models to make other manufacturers sets more appealing.

Granted for more money, but not that much more.

This is exactly how I feel, I just cannot stand watching 4:3 content stretched; it looks terrible to me. Can anyone else comment on the necessity of stretching 4:3 content on a plasma to avoid burn-in and/or uneven phosphor wear. It is definitely a factor in my decision to get a plasma or ... the only thing I could really to besides that is wait.

I also feel that way, is still have plenty of SD games and TV i watch, and i like watching it in the original intended resolution, and i also like having black bars so i can focus on he picture, and not colored side bars messing up the consistency.

That being said, i do know that it's probably not a good idea to watch SD content with black side bars, it wont cause burn in, but you will assuredly get uneven wear, which i feel is very difficult to get back in sync.

I bet that as long as you use grey side bars from the start, you'll be fine. I dont feel that the solid grey bars get burnt in or anything like that.

it's a shame though that they cant think of another way, since everything in respect to IR,burn in is very fixeable and resistant, this facet however i dont beleive has gotten any better over time.

has anyone wall mounted their 32" yet? i was looking at this mount from monoprice:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082807&p_id=4116&seq=1&format=3#specification

i don't want or need tilt capability in the bedroom. just an inexpensive mount that is reasonably flush to the wall.

has anyone wall mounted their 32" yet? i was looking at this mount from monoprice:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082807&p_id=4116&seq=1&format=3#specification

i don't want or need tilt capability in the bedroom. just an inexpensive mount that is reasonably flush to the wall.

price is right, dealer is great....
very similar to the one I mounted my 42" visio vp442 with.

I wish I had purchased mine from monoprice, I have had it for a while, used it originally on my 37" lcd b4 replacing it with the visio

price is right, dealer is great....
very similar to the one I mounted my 42" visio vp442 with.

I wish I had purchased mine from monoprice, I have had it for a while, used it originally on my 37" lcd b4 replacing it with the visio

i'm sure it's not as rugged as my sanus mount that holds my 43" Pio in the living room, but the vizio doesn't weigh nearly as much either.

my main concern is the bolt locations.

My TV is going into the corner of my room so I want one that tilts and swivels. I just ordered this one:

http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=108&cp_id=10828&cs_id=1082806&p_id=3612&seq=1&format=2


It is probably more than I need, but it is still cheaper than anywhere else.

the mount i linked to in the above post has a 1.25" depth. anyone think that's too close to the wall to provide adequate ventilation?

Found another quality control issue with this set:

So I was looking at the back panel yesterday and found on the upper right corner where the metal is folded in the corner to be bent and sticking out about a quarter inch!! What's the deal Vizio??!!? First I am missing the black tint to cover the metal frame on the glass panel now this? Man, did I get the prototype or what? Will be returing this to get a Samsung PN42A450.

Found another quality control issue with this set:

So I was looking at the back panel yesterday and found on the upper right corner where the metal is folded in the corner to be bent and sticking out about a quarter inch!! What's the deal Vizio??!!? First I am missing the black tint to cover the metal frame on the glass panel now this? Man, did I get the prototype or what? Will be returing this to get a Samsung PN42A450.

every tree has rotten fruit. return it for another? mine's been fine so far :knock on wood:

Yeah this is one of the problems Vizio and other non major brands face. The luxury of the "Benefit of the Doubt". If something goes wrong or just got a bad set, if you bought a Vizio, Westinghouse, Olevia etc. it comes down, "Crap, I knew I should have bought the more established name.

If you encounter the exact same problems with a Sony, Samsung , Panny etc, they have the "Benefit of the Doubt" factor. More often than not, let's just say in Goalier's case, if that had been originally the Samsung PN42A450 and the exact same issue was there, most people would just chalk it up to "Crap got a bad one". and return it the store for the same model and be all happy.

Vizio does not have that luxury yet.

Exactly what I was thinking, boswd, when a small electronics company that is making a name for itself is having this kind of issue it leaves a bad taste and people will let other people know by word of mouth NOT to buy their brand. Vizio has to put out a product that is 110% perfect once it gets to the consumer's hands just to keep it's good name. I'm a type of consumer that will give upstart companies a chance but not when the product is shoddily built even at a rock bottom price.

To those that have bought this set, and have had no problems, congrats! The picture quality is still very good - I've had no problems whatsoever when I watch standard dvds, xbox 360 games (Assassin's Creed looks amazing!!) or HD-DVDs and Hi-Def cable channels. For the price point, this set beats out comparable LCDs in the same size range and video quality (no banding, motion blur, clouding, artifacts, etc.) because it is a plasma tv. But for my Piece of Mind, in my opinion I'm going for the name brand companies.

If you were happy with the PQ and it was just an outer cosmetic issue, I would give it another shot and just exchange it for another. If you weren't happy with the PQ and had some internal issue's than I can see your point.

But for this price and the quality of the picture I would give it another shot.

It's still purring along fine.
Ir can be an issue after long bouts of gaming.
But IR still goes away after watching a few regular SD shows.

However,

I am unable to get the 'panoramic' mode to do ANYTHING AT ALL.
It's like they didn't even finish that part of the firmware.

All resolutions available over regular cable and HDMI, 'panoramic' does absolutely nothing at all.
It changes the name from 'wide', to 'panoramic' but doesn't actually work. lol

Has anyone with this set gotten 'panoramic' to work?
At all?
On anything?
:confused:

That being said, i do know that it's probably not a good idea to watch SD content with black side bars, it wont cause burn in, but you will assuredly get uneven wear, which i feel is very difficult to get back in sync.

On that note is it possible to get this TV to display 4:3 with gray bars on the side? Not that I would be totally thrilled with that but I believe I could live with it; it would be a lot better than uneven phosphor wear anyway.

Hey Sofo,

I have had this TV for close to 2 weeks now and I don't think the panoramic function works at all. I have tried it over S-Video, HDMI, and reg Coax, but when swithing through the modes panoramic and wide seem to do the exact same thing (There is no end stretch). Not to mention these features are not available over the QAM tuner at all. On a positive note, I am starting to worry less about burn-in as all of the IR I get goes away after a few minutes of regular full screen TV. I agree, I truly believe this TV was released before the firmware was complete. I mean how do you incorporate a feature and discuss its use in the manual and have it not do anything when trying to access it on the actual TV.

I got the 32" version on Monday and the tv looks great. On mine, the panoramic mode does change the way the picture looks. When I switch between wide and panoramic, I see the most change about 6 - 10 inches from the edge of the tv. I've only used it on the coax input.

The colors look great (much better than my parent's Sharp LCD), but I have no idea how to adjust a tv. Is there a general guideline to follow when setting up a tv.

Currently I've been watching basic cable (with local HD's) and playing ps3. With Gran Turismo I have noticed a little IR, but nothing major. It goes away after switching back to tv or by running the image cleaner for 60 seconds or so.

A side by side split screen would have been nice last night as both the pistons and red wings were playing at the same time.

Hi Fenderman,

That is cool that you are getting the aspect modes to work on the TV, I have tried to get them to work, but nothing changes between wide and panoramic. I am not sure why, I have tried it both over SD cable and DirecTV. Also have you had any luck with the wide mode working with the QAM tuner? I am just wondering if they made a revision to the firmware on the TV.

Jaye71,

I can change aspect on any signal that is not HD. I don't know if it works across the different inputs as I only have cable coming directly into the tv. When I get home from work, I'll see if I can find a build date or something to see if our tvs were built around the same time.

I picked up my 32" today, and initial feeling is pretty darn favorable. It took my remote code for the power (LG code on Tivo), and the picture as shipped looks pretty darn nice to me. Haven't had a chance to tweak it yet.

Haven't seen anything resembling IR, so leaving something on for a short period of time isn't a problem, even Vista's MCE interface. That's a relief. The build quality is solid.

Anyone running this off an HTPC? I set mine to 1024x768, as I couldn't find a way to get 1024x720 yet. That res scales pretty well to my eyes. 1360x768 looks pretty bad, even though Vizio recommends it.

-Dan
PS: I'm on a DVI->HDMI cable

I received mine yesterday night. At the first glimpse, the picture looked good but nothing phenomenal compared to the LCDs at the same category. I'm using comcast hd box for the cable feed. The Hi Def channel feed is good, but when I switch to TV mode , the quality is drops compared to my CRT tv. What is concerning is that I've observed shiny glittering lines at parts of the screens for few HD channels at 1081i. Besides, few 480i have slight ghost trail.

Pardon my lack of knowledge on plasma, but can it be related to burn-in issue. My understanding was the new gen plasmas do not need a manaul burn-in as they have built-in pixel orbiter. I've been browsing the posts in this thread and majority seemed to have done a break-in. Can someone pls enlighten me with the complete process og break-in ?
Also, people using comcast, can I switch to HDMI cables and will that make any difference to the picture quality ?

Is the panoramic mode available through the HDMI input with the input resolution at 480i or 480p?

Does the TV remember the stretch mode by resolution? For example if I set HDMI #1 to panoramic with 480i and 16:9 for 720p will the TV remember those settings?

Had Mine a week now. Was not to happy at first, but got out my SE Return of the Jedi and ran thx optimizer. WOW. Big difference.

anyone have a good calibration for this tv? if so, please post the specs.

Picture Mode: Custom
Brightness: 54
Contrast: 28
Color: 36
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 1
Color Temperature: Cool
Advanced Video: Everything Off

I picked up this unit Sunday. I also have a 2 year old Panasonic 50" plasma to compare this bargain to. I have it connected to my Media Center PC via RGB. I get my HD content OTA.

Here are some of my initial thoughts after using it a few days:

Pros--
* Unique size for Plasma
* Price
* Great PQ
* Lots of connection options
* Sleek piano black finish
* Sound is decent
* Packaging is nice - 4 plastic clips to remove the lid - no cutting
* Nice documentation in color - when was the last time you had an English
ONLY owners manual :)
* Appearance wise the Vizio site looks top notch for support...I am waiting
for a response via email on a question tho ;)
* Affordable extended warranty from Walmart.com
* Custom labeling for inputs
* 32" web browsing :D

Cons--
* Lack of aspect ratio on remote
* Runs HOT at least 20 degrees hoter than
my Panny - I think the Panny has 2 or 3 fans...I have not heard any fan
running on the Vizio so I assume there are no fans.

Overall I think this is a deal most of us cant pass up

Other thoughts......

I tried to connect the Media Center PC via HDMI, but got too much horzontal "flashing" from the browser...I do not see this on my Panny.

The Media Center tuner gives a better picture OTA than the built in tuner...IMO.

SD picture is not bad from Directv.


So far its a keeper

Picked up a set from Walmart last night, haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but from what I've seen so far I'm quite pleased.

Noticed the occasional IR from station logos, but as noted by other owners this tends to go away after a few minutes when watching another channel.

Sofo: : How high did you crank up the brightness & contrast when running the break-in dvd?

Anyone have this hooked up to an HTPC? I'm getting greenish streaks when I watch some Divx's (Flight of the Conchords). Is this just the "plasma thing" I've read about? Kinda driving me crazy - can't tell if this or LCD streaking is worse.

I haven't used the internal tuner yet to see if it's an odd ATI driver thing, though. I figure I'd check here.

Thanks!
-Dan

Picture Mode: Custom
Brightness: 52
Contrast: 48
Color: 42
Tint: 0
Sharpness: 4
Color Temperature: custom 130,128,128
Advanced Video: Everything Off

Any professional reviews on this set yet?

Had this set for almost a week now, one thing i've noticed though is that sometimes HD channels stretch out completely and other times they stay in 4:3 or paranomic. Is there anyway to stop this, or is it set by the individual stations?

Had this set for almost a week now, one thing i've noticed though is that sometimes HD channels stretch out completely and other times they stay in 4:3 or paranomic. Is there anyway to stop this, or is it set by the individual stations?



If its broadcast in HD (720p 1080i) it will be full screen, Digital 480i is not HD and will be 4:3. To get it full screen for non HD channels you will have to go into the menu to stretch it as this remote does not provide an aspect ratio button :(

also you have to remember that even though you have it on an HD channel they may not at that particular time be broadcasting in HD. For example if you are watching the local news and you are watiching it on it's mirror HD channel, then more than likely it will be broadcasting in 4:3 and will get the pillar bars

Another example:

Ghost Hunters on SciFi HD is always broadcast in 4:3 even though it's an HD channel.

Hi Fenderman,

That is cool that you are getting the aspect modes to work on the TV, I have tried to get them to work, but nothing changes between wide and panoramic. I am not sure why, I have tried it both over SD cable and DirecTV. Also have you had any luck with the wide mode working with the QAM tuner? I am just wondering if they made a revision to the firmware on the TV.

I checked the TV out last night at Wal Mart and found the same issue. It was hooked up to an in store analogue feed at the antenna input. There was no difference between wide and panoramic. Is the issue that panoramic only works via component or S-Vid?

I haven't seen a difference in wide or panoramic over any input, not sure if there is a difference. I should send an email to Vizio regarding this issue, I would like to hear their response.

Picked up a set from Walmart last night, haven't really had a chance to put it through its paces yet, but from what I've seen so far I'm quite pleased.

Noticed the occasional IR from station logos, but as noted by other owners this tends to go away after a few minutes when watching another channel.

Sofo: : How high did you crank up the brightness & contrast when running the break-in dvd?
I cranked the brightness and contrast both up to 60 each during break in.
Figured if it's gonna have to burn, then let's roast it good. lol

I haven't seen a difference in wide or panoramic over any input, not sure if there is a difference. I should send an email to Vizio regarding this issue, I would like to hear their response.
I agree, Jaye71. I have NEVER seen the Panoramic mode do anything.
It dosen't stretch the way panoramic on every other set does.
It doesn't stretch the way the Vizio Manual says it should.
To me and my eyes, pixel for pixel Wide = Panoramic.
4:3 However works, so I'm thinking it's a bug as well.

plympton, since you're using a PC connected to it, have you tried the TV's fine tune feature for the PC Connection?
It's supposed to tune the TV to the signal that your HTPC is outputting.

FWIW, I've never seen any green streaking, but have not hooked my PC up to it.