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Official 2014 Vizio Mxxx-Bx Series owners thread

432K views 4K replies 547 participants last post by  llebcire 
#1 ·
AVS member Thmanx has just received the M322i, making him the first to own a 2014 M model



I've messaged him and hopefully he posts his findings in here. The larger sizes will be available at Vizio.com soon, and as soon as the 49" is available, I'll be nabbing it.

 
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#1,095 ·
Picked up 55" from Costco on Monday and am trying to optimize picture adjustments. Not satisfied at all with presets (i.e., standard, calibrated, computer, etc.) as the colors/images are quite artificial looking. Quite a step down from my old Pioneer Elite (720p, 50 inch) out of the box. I think many of you have suggested a calibrating disk and that is my next step. No calibrating service available here in Bozman Montana that I can find. Seems the consensus is that variance in the panels makes copying others' values will not work, must adjust individually. However, would much appreciate any comments from 55inch owners on their experiences.


Had a strange effect when watching a non blue-ray DVD of a British television series (most recent New Tricks series) with intense blurring with any motion. Tried a number of adjustments and couldn't get the effect to cease. I will test on my other TV to confirm no DVD quality issue but this is quite concerning. Couldn't believe this much technical quality (FALD, etc.) in a 55 inch monitor at the price but perhaps too good to be true? Thanks in advance for any help.
 
#1,098 ·
Have you tried other DVDs to see if they also have blurring? Do you have a Netflix account?, just wondering if you notice blurring on non HD titles. Hard to believe intense blurring would be normal on anything that's not HD? Have you engaged SME? Thanks in advance.
 
#1,111 ·
I ordered mine from Walmart. It was $100 more than SAMs but in the case of a return I can just take it to the nearest store(5 miles away) rather then drive 30 minutes to the nearest SAMs. The tv shipped very quickly and arrived sooner than the expected delivery date. You still get a 90 day warranty so besides the extra $100 there is no reason not to buy from Walmart unless you are one of those people against massive monopolizing companies 😏
 
#1,103 ·
I just set up my Vizio M492.


My remote is good. I do not have to be close to the sensor as I tried it from about 8ft away on the left hand side of the TV behind a desk.
PQ is good. Blacks are good. Bright.


The only gripe is no browser. And a small bruise as the box seemed to go through hell.
 
#1,119 ·
Look, a comment like that is just unnecessary and makes you look grossly misinformed. This not about conspiracy theories... these are legitimate concerns based on current events... justifiable concerns based on reality and the current state of affairs we live in. Maybe you should get your head out of your ***. And it's irrelevant whether it's on standby or off.... I still don't want my TV to turn on, unless I turn it on myself.
 
#1,133 ·
Probably custom, but I don't think Vizio makes a difference between them. Most likely, by default in Gaming Mode, Active LED Zones are turned Off. If you just leave all Advanced Picture setting off, it shouldn't matter what mode your in.

Vizio makes all changes done to a default factory setting into a custom setting. So, you don't screw up the factory settings, they will always be the same as when you first turned it on. So I wouldn't worry about it. Honestly, I don't feel a difference with the extras on or off.

Easy to find out for yourself though. Go to default gaming mode, and start a game. Get a feel for the control reactions. Then pop open settings, and start changing things. Then go back to the game, and feel if anything has changed for you. If it has, then turn off the extras and try again. Find what setting is the lagger, and leave it off. On the E600i-b3, I don't feel a difference when I change anything, or if I'm in plain gaming mode. Plays the same. I feel no lag, and I play twitchy games, where speed and reaction counts.
 
#1,134 ·
In review: Once you have joined a WiFi network with a Vizio M-series, you cannot leave that network or turn off WiFi. You must change the WiFi network settings (i.e. at the WAP) in order to break the connection. Also, if you have an Internet connection on your TV, it automatically updates the firmware.

So, if you want to avoid automatic firmware updates, don't set up WiFi on your TV. Hope you didn't care about the apps. I don't think this requires more discussion, and we can all leave our voter cards, foil hats, and soapboxes put away.

As an aside, it was suggested that Vizio has fallen "behind" other makers in this regard. Quite the contrary; I imagine Vizio intended the auto-update behavior, if not the WiFi "lock-in", and it's rather forward-thinking. They (probably rightly) assume most TV owners can't be bothered to get firmware updates, which Vizio thinks are important, so they added this functionality. I've never owned a TV that automatically updated the firmware, and were it not for the reported unhappy side-effects, I'd generally welcome the idea. Disabling WiFi should always be an option, however, and I believe we ought to let Vizio know. I hope everyone who owns one of these TVs and agrees will contact Vizio and report this as the problem that it is. When my 55" arrives, I'll be sure to do so.
 
#1,136 ·
^^ you can also set up access rules (block sites) and or block Internet access to the TV via your router as well via MAC address. These are a little more advanced though.
Well, sure - I could reserve a static IP for the TV and block access to vizio.com (assuming they host their updates on that domain; I'd probably have to trace that out). Alternatively, I could advertise on my network as an authoritative DNS and resolve said domain to a bad IP, so that auto-update attempts fail. Of course, none of this is remotely close to reasonable.


Sent from my Flip Phone using DOS
Never change.
 
#1,143 · (Edited)
So Sam's club by me has the M 49" in stock. Anyone have good/bad things to say about picking this up from Sam's club instead of amazon?

The only downsides I see is that the 4-year square trade warranty on the TV is twice as expensive at sams club compared to amazon, and I loose out on 3% cashback.

Are there any bullet proof reasons to buy this locally from your collective experiences?

Thanks,
Flutie98
 
#1,151 · (Edited)
In the last three days of reading through this entire thread: I have read/skimmed through half the posts in the first day, purchased the M322I-B1 on the second day (from Costco) and caught up to the last post today on the third day.

Initially I was looking to buy a 1440p computer monitor to also use for PS4/XBONE gaming but thought it might not be a good thing to run on a non-native resolution.

In any case, I am so very impressed with the build quality and PQ. I will say though that I am a total noob at all this and am easily impressed. One disappointment would be that right out of the box, 6 keys on the remote control keyboard do not work at all. From what I remember, they are the keys J K L M O and Enter.

Has anyone else noticed any keys not working on their remote control keyboards? To clarify, not working whatsoever.
 
#1,156 ·
I am buying a new 60-70 inch LED this week. I just left BJs Warehouse. They didn't have the 2014 M series on 65 in but like the picture from the Samsung un60h7100 and I liked the size of the 2013 Vizio 70 inch

Is there a big PQ difference between the Samsung UN60H7100, Vizio 2014 M Series 65in and 2013 Vizio 70 inch?
 
#1,158 ·
If you want 3D the then the 2014 Vizio will not be in contention as none of the 2014
Vizio sets have 3D.

I believe Mark H (imagic) saw a Vizio demonstration between the 7100 and 2014 M and said visually the 2014 M was better. Take it with a grain of salt however since this was not an in depth review and only a manufacturer demo.

Since it looks like you are buying at BJs and not elsewhere your options will be limited. I always say if you can wait, wait to see the choice you want to make and make an informed decision. Otherwise if the 65" M starts to show up next week or the week after and you see it is better than the one you decided on you'll always see that regret when watching the TV you chose early.


Sent from my Flip Phone using DOS
 
#1,159 ·
Long time lurker, first time poster. I want to thank everyone who posts useful, informed commentary in this forum.

I had wanted to get a 2014 50" this year, but due to the uncertain release schedule for that size, I purchased a 2014 49" M-Series yesterday at Best Buy. Long story short, I'm very pleased. I think most buyers will be happy with this set. I'm coming from a 2013 50" M-Series, which I purchased in February of this year but returned due to horrible backlight bleed in the corners and a screen which was not, in my opinion, bright enough. The 2014 49" M-Series corrects all of the issues I had with the 2013 model. Screen uniformity, while not perfect, is very good. No bleeding in the corners, though, as others have noticed, there is a very slight reduction in brightness in the corners. Personally, it doesn't bother me - the bleeding in the corners of the 2013 series was impossible to ignore, but I don't find the slight darkness in the corners of the 2014 series to really impact viewing at all.

One thing I noticed is that, out of the box, one of the settings causes horrific ghosting. I was initially dismayed as I played around with a few sources on Netflix yesterday, and thought that either the source material was flawed or that Vizio was using terribly laggy displays, and I would have to return it in disappointment. Thankfully, neither turned out to be the case, and the issue seems to have been caused by either the "motion blur reduction", "reduce signal noise" or "reduce block noise" setting. I haven't had time to isolate which one, but turning all three off totally solved the issue, to my relief.

Black levels are very good. The "auto brightness control" on the TV (not the active LED zones, this is a separate setting) is unimpressive, and causes noticeable and distracting fading in and out of bright areas on the screen. It's a useless setting and I immediately turned it off. I haven't noticed a huge difference between having the Active LED zones on and off - either way, the black levels are very solid and the best I've ever seen on an LCD TV. Not "inky black, deep as night" black, but very, very good performance.

"Smooth motion effect" is pretty good as well, and reduces the fairly noticeable judder on big camera pans. I've never enjoyed the effect on most TV's, but on this one I actually rather like it (on low). The downside is that on certain scenes the setting introduces distracting artifacts. It's not huge, and not super often, but certainly there. Ironically, it seems to be on scenes with less motion.

Anyways, I've only had about a half hour to really mess with the TV, so those are just off-the-cuff initial impressions. Haven't done any color calibrations yet as, unlike others, I'm not hugely bothered by the colors out of the box. Skin tones are definitely too tan, but other than that it's not bad.

Bottom line, I'm extremely happy with the 49" M-Series for the price.
 
#1,164 ·
+1. You can make some very good adjustments (not a calibration) with a disk like WoW, Spears & Munsil, or the free AVS HD709 disk. That may be all you need. If you do find a "cheap" meter the accuracy of that meter will probably be in question. $300-$400 is probably a better figure, and then there's the learning curve which can take a long time. If you're going to spend $300-$400 you might as well pay for a professional calibration, unless your the DIY kinda person.
 
#1,166 · (Edited)
There is so much talk of using meters, is it that easy? Assuming you spend the $300-400+ on a meter, is it so easy to use that in a weekend you'll have it setup looking significantly better than using a calibration disk?

From what I've read, it looks like it takes a fair amount of experience/training/knowledge to be able to get decent settings, yet there is a lot of talk of using them here like it's easy and just a step up from using a disk.

And then the meter itself is only accurate for so long before it itself needs calibrated? It seems like a lot of money and training is required to get a good picture quality, but here it's presented as a better alternative to using a setup disk. Them seem like they are in completely different, non-comparable leagues and that just buying a meter and trying to use it would not result in instant superior picture quality.
 
#1,167 ·
"Easy" is relative. There will be a learning curve as you start to use the meter and your choice of software. You'll start to learn how changing one setting can effect others etc. It will probably take longer than a weekend your 1st run, but once you become accustom to everything it will probably take a few hrs to do a complete calibration. There is a lot of useful information in the Display Calibration section of the forums.


Sent from my Flip Phone using DOS
 
#1,168 ·
I purchased a 55" Vizio Model#M552i-B2 at Costo over the weekend for $879. I'm coming from a $1,200Sony edge-lit LED KDL46NX720 which blew something in the power boards and would no longer turn on. I'm pretty impressed with the both the picture quality and visual aesthetics of the 55" M-Series. I thought the Vizio tag at the bottom right of the TV would bug me, but it disappears when the TV is on and I barely notice it when the TV is off. The Sony I had was a great looking TV with a full Gorilla Glass front panel that was flat across the front and sides with no visual physical edges. While the Vizio isn't quite as nice looking, it still looks great mounted on the wall. Overall, I am very happy with my purchase. I have the Vizio set to Standard(warm) color with about 75% backlight. I turned off all the motion/noise reduction settings and turned the sharpness down to 45%. I also reduced both the red gain and offset to -5 as the picture was a little too warm for my liking. Like I said before, I'm very pleased with the TV and am enjoying it so far. I do have a few questions/issues though:

1.) CEC control - My previous TV allowed me to use this feature and to turn on the receiver separately from the TV only when I wanted to use my system. When I enable CEC on the Vizio, my receiver is powered on every time I turn on the TV. Does anyone know how to enable CEC control for volume only, not power?

2.) Firmware updating - When I was messing around with the TV on Sunday, I was prompted for an update, but exited out of the prompt as I was busy with the TV and didn't want to wait for the download. Is there anyway to have the TV search for updates? I want to update now, but can't figure it out.

3.) LED zones - I think a previous poster addressed this, but when active LED zones is enabled, you can see the the faint outlines of the checkerboard LED pattern when there is a single color image on the screen. I noticed this in the professional color setting pages and when watching HGTV (think solid color painted walls of a house). I didn't notice it when watching sports (green fields, basketball courts). I also noticed the effect when watching a Harry Potter blu-ray. There were a few dark scenes in the Forbidden Forest where the strip of picture directly below the top letter box was a different shade than the rest of the picture.

4.) Actual screen size - I noticed the picture doesn't quite fill the entire screen when picture size is set to normal. I think there was a 1/16" on both the top and bottom of "dead screen". When I set the screen to "Wide" the full screen was filled out. What's the deal here?

5.) Sound - My Sony LED had much better sound quality. Granted, it was considerably more expensive. The sound is okay during most viewings. I notice the "tin" sounding speakers when watching Arial America on Smithsonian channel. It could just be the sound quality of the channel is bad. Do you guys prefer to have the surround function on the TV speakers set to On of Off?
 
#1,171 ·
1.) CEC control - My previous TV allowed me to use this feature and to turn on the receiver separately from the TV only when I wanted to use my system. When I enable CEC on the Vizio, my receiver is powered on every time I turn on the TV. Does anyone know how to enable CEC control for volume only, not power?


4.) Actual screen size - I noticed the picture doesn't quite fill the entire screen when picture size is set to normal. I think there was a 1/16" on both the top and bottom of "dead screen". When I set the screen to "Wide" the full screen was filled out. What's the deal here?

5.) Sound - My Sony LED had much better sound quality. Granted, it was considerably more expensive. The sound is okay during most viewings. I notice the "tin" sounding speakers when watching Arial America on Smithsonian channel. It could just be the sound quality of the channel is bad. Do you guys prefer to have the surround function on the TV speakers set to On of Off?
CEC - the biggest issue with CEC is lack of standardized protocols. With HDMI 1.4, the protocols that each mfr can use are optional so that there will be compatibility issues from time to time with various devices. CEC is all or none. There aren't any settings that one can use. It's very similar and related to ARC. You either enable it or you disable it. HDMI 2.0, once fully implemented with the new chips, will eliminate the optional implementation of the CEC protocols, but all of your devices will have to have HDMI 2.0 capability so........

Actual Screen Size - look for a setting like 1:1 pixel matching (or whatever Vizio calls it). That sets your picture to display all of the information that is being sent to it and doesn't crop any to fit the screen. You may, from time to time on network television see little squiggly lines at the very top of the frame but that's because there isn't any information there to be displayed because you are viewing all that there is. Some programs will crop or alter the picture depending on the source and if they are trying to fit the 16x9 size without distortion.

Sound - disable the tv speakers altogether and get, at the very least, a soundbar or, ideally, a real 5.1/7.1 sound system. Audio on most tv's is terrible because they just don't have the capability to render decent audio.
 
#1,176 ·
Ugh, deciding whether to pull the trigger on the 65" M. I can pick one up at BB for $1350 after 10% off coupon. To me that sounds like an amazing price, but I really wanted to see what the P series has to offer. Then I thought about the lack of true 4k content anyway and the $1400 or so price difference (estimate for the 70" P) and I'm torn... Still using my 6 year old 46" XBR.
 
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