Vizio SV472xvt - Page 2

The current 47" models at Costco are named XVT472SV, these models have no internet capabilities at all. No wireless, no Bluetooth and no ethernet port. The panels and underlying video processor may be the same however so it still may be a good deal.

The model I am waiting to percolate through the retail space is the SV472XVT, these are the VIA enabled sets with the Bluetooth remote and built in wireless-N. This is the set most people are interested in.

Whoever came up with the idea to name these models with transposed beginning and ending letters is either a blithering idiot or a pure genius, depending on which side of the fence you are standing on.

Just be aware of the model you are buying.

I called Vizio on Friday to sign up for their VIP program. I ended up buying the 47" model for $1,499 (free shipping, no sales tax). According to the sales rep. I spoke with, the VIP program requires you to complete one survey a week for six weeks. Each one asks you to navigate different menus, launch apps, etc., and should only take 10 - 15 min. After the six weeks, they send you their Blu-ray player and Sound Bar with wireless sub (VSB210WS).

I believe your local Costco has mislabeled their signfor their SV471XVT models since the price would be correct for SV471XVT model.
And would also match the price for the the SV471XVT model at the Costco website.

http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product...0-18b53805b8ba

Thats a link for the xvt472sv on the costco website, and it is not just a sign label mistake. The model number on the back of the TV says xvt472sv at my costco.

Costco is selling the 47" LED-LCD without VIA at that price in stores. His description of what he got is correct.

The in-store price is 100 less. It does not have wireless features. What is scary?

Well something is definitly screwed up since the list of features at the Costco Website lists all of the feature contained in the SV471XVT and none of the additrional features scheduled for the SV472XVT. As lsited in the following lnk:

http://www.hdtvlounge.net/vizio/sv42...2xvt-vf552xvt/

This has been discussed in this thread. Costco is selling the XVT472SV exactly as described on their website. It does not have the network features. It is a local dimming LED lit LCD. Feature's wise it's the same as the SV472XVT minus the network stuff and the bluetooth remote. Vizio has packaged it for the lower-cost retailers. There isn't anything screwed up or fishy or scary. It is what it is.

I'll give you that the naming convention is a very poor choice, but I think Vizio is smart to offer the two models. You can have a lower priced TV with LED local dimming from Costco or you can buy a higher priced TV elsewhere that adds the network features and bluetooth remote. Your choice.

Mark

What is the most confusing is that the features described and price are almost or are exactly the same as the ones for the SV471XVT model which they no longer list.
I certainly agree swtiching the name around for the sole purpose of confusing people with a place holder model until the SV472XVT becomes is not a very clever one.

Saw the XVT472SV at Costco yesterday, but didn't buy it right away because I didn't see any mention of VIA on the box and wasn't 100% sure it was the right model. Checked online and the model numbers matched (not transposed), so I went back and bought it.

As mentioned, even though the model numbers are the exact same, this is NOT the VIA model. I am not happy about this and will be taking it back.

But before I did, I powered it up to revel in LED glory. Unfortunately, the picture was horrible! HD was not crisp and clear; regular TV was grainy. I tried every adjustment possible, but no improvement. I also have a SV471XVT which produces an excellent picture....from the same cable source, so I know it's not the source.

I can't imagine it's a function of LED backlighting since I've seen the 55" VF551 LED and the HD picture is sharp and clear.

My guess is the TV is having trouble processing the signal.

Anybody else can comment or offer suggestions?

Thanks

Well, thanks for all the great info on this thread, I was able to take advantage of the VIP program and purchase my FIRST lcd/led TV. I called yesterday evening and Vizio still had some 42 and 47 models available. This is a screaming deal if you ask me, considering you get the speakers, blue-ray player and $300 off msrp. Originally I was going to wait for Costco to carry this model(sv472xvt) but couldn't wait any longer and this special promo is a better deal then costco was every going to offer(if they ever did) The only downside is I won't have the extra 2 yr warranty costco offers, but again $1499 + tax(wa) - accessories is a win in my book.

The purchase is kind of a shot in the dark in terms of how it will perform, my only baseline is that its larger counterpart has reported a good picture. Once I receive the unit I"ll report back on my impressions. Thanks again for the good info.

I just called Vizio and got the 47" through the VIP program. Awesome deal, and perfect for my basement TV. Thanks for the tips!

The VIA model is SV472XVT. The model without VIA (currently at Costco) is XVT472SV.

Buyer be wary!

The XVT472SV is not a placeholder. They will offer both at the same time. Both are listed on Vizio's 2010 list from CES.

Mark

Can you post photos of the two TVs for comparison and the settings used on each?

Mark

Also, did you try a non TV source like Blu-Ray or DVD? It could be different tuners rather than the display itself. Also, it looks to me like the "Sharpness" setting is really edge enhancement and makes any grain standout.

Mark et al -- I reconnected my 471 and its picture didn't look much better, so maybe my eyes...and memory...are playing tricks on me. Or...I did something to the incoming cable and the signal has been affected, so both TVs are displaying poorly. Then I split the cable so that I could have both the 471 and 472 connected at the same time. I ended up increasing Sharpness on the 472 to 4 to get it to match the 471 at 0. I got both pictures looking the same. Still not as sharp as memory serves...but I have no comparison anymore.

I did load a Blu-ray movie. Maybe it was a little off, but no big thing.

In the 472's defense, the blacks are significantly deeper than the 471.

Another anomaly I've noticed with the 472 is some vestigial graphics remaining from the previous channel when I change channels. This could be an indication of a tuner problem, too?

Graphics from the other channel sounds like old time analog tuning. It could be a problem in the way your cable company is picking up it's locals. That sounds bad.


Mark

This VIP program now makes me suspicious. What if Vizio isn't releasing the VIA models to the general public until the 6-week "survey" program is complete so they can get feedback in order to make any necessary tweaks to the system. That would put the "official" release off for at least 8 weeks, if not longer.

That takes us to late Q1, as they originally reported.

I hope I'm wrong.

I checked last night and I prefer sharpness settings of 3 or 4 for most TV content, though that can produce too much edge enhancements for SD material that is stretched.

I personally prefer being able to turn town the sharpness to 0 or 1 for some Blu-Ray content and for photos that are already sharpened. If the current sharpness of 3 was the zero setting it wouldn't work for me personally.


Regarding the VIP program, can't you buy the VIA 47" direct from their website right now without doing the VIP program? You just have to pay more.

Mark

For me the price was very fair. The closest current competitor is the LG 47lh90 for 400 bucks more. The LG doesn't have any network features. It does have much more sophisticated picture controls.


So far I'm fairly pleased with the Vizio without the VIA. I already have all the network stuff on my blu-ray player and I don't use it hardly at all.

The Vizio fits very nicely within my enclosed home theater cabinet and doesn't generate very much heat. That's one of the reasons I wanted an LED backlit display.

Despite the limited picture controls, the PQ seems pretty good. Black levels are good. Not Samsung 8500 good, but better than my previous 4 year old LCD. Contrast and sharpness seem fine. It's not the all time best PQ in the world, but I feel like I'm getting what I paid for.

The CNET color settings for the 551 produce a pretty good natural looking color with good skin tones.

For those curious about backlight/brightness/contrast settings, I've played around with that using the basic test screens off Disney Blu-Ray movies. It seems that if the backlight is set anywhere between let's say 40 and 80, the brightness always comes out around 80-82 to set the proper black levels and the contrast always comes out around 80 to set the proper white levels. Thus you are just modifying the backlight setting to set the overall light output you desire. The rest of the color/sharpness/adapative luma/color enhancement, etc are really your preference. Luma off for more "purist" look or on for some dynamic contrast. I find with Luma on low I'm still not getting black crush. In fact I'm pretty impressed with the shadow detail overall on both Standard and my custom settings.

I have a very bright room during the day and Standard seems to please my family with all the natural light. At night when the lights are mostly off, I use a custom setting that turns down the backlight. I'm setting it between 50 and 65, still haven't settled down on that yet.

I do wish it had an ambient light sensor and would adjust the backlight automatically.

Side angle viewing is okay for family use. For critical viewing I would want to be in front. We have a recliner at 45 degree angle form the screen. The comfyness of the recliner outweighs the lightening of the blacks at that angle for my wife and kids...

Mark

The latest from Vizio re: the two versions of the 472 and release date:

"The model you have purchased, XVT472SV, from Costco is an LED TV but is not the VIA TV with the internet applications. We released that model to Costco due to feedback we were receiving from customers that wanted the 47" LED but did not need the VIA applications. The SV472XVT (LED LCD with VIA) is only available through us directly and will not be available until March through retailers. I am sorry for the confusion, but if you would like to get the LED/VIA TV ordered, please call me directly."

March...

Received further info from Vizio. The VF552XVT will not be released to retailers until March, too.

So maybe my suspicion that Vizio is collecting feedback thru the VIP program is correct.

I had some time last night to watch one SD show (Chuck) and a bunch of HD and Pirates of the Caribbean Blu-Ray last night on the XVT472SV. After having some time to watch the set, I'm more impressed with the PQ now than I was before.

The set can display HD content with very good contrast, black levels, sharpness, color saturation and realistic color (with custom color temperature). Overall my set is capable of very good clarity and depth, which are what I personally look for in PQ.

Of course this is dependent on the content. SD looks like SD on a large screen - flat and soft. Stretching and zooming SD adds even more interpolation, and thus negatively impacts PQ. Compared to my 4-year old 40" LCD, I would rate SD quality about the same. Of course it's the same small amount of pixels stretched over a larger screen, but it looks like video processing has improved enough to make it look about the same. One nice thing about the larger screen is I don't feel obligated to zoom or stretch SD - it's still plenty big pillar boxed.

HD looks very good, but again that depends on content. All of the blu-rays I've watched on the set have looked very good. HD shows on television vary greatly in picture quality - live studio shows look very clear but typically don't have much contrast. Non-live produced shows look very good for the most part, but again that depends on the production of the show.

Somebody posted earlier about grain. Grain comes from the content. You can see a virtually grain free commercial and then a dark grainy scene in a show like CSI. Turning up the sharpness setting on the set will make grain from content more apparent.

For my viewing of Pirates last night, I set the backlight to 56 and was very happy with the contrast and the color saturation and brightness. Having backlight at 80 in dark room hurts my eyes when it goes from a dark scene to a light scene. I will have to watch more content to judge how much light I like coming form the set for movies in a dark room.

The screen is a "matte" type screen. It does not handle reflected light sources as well as my older matte LCD. Lights reflect back a touch more than my older matte LCD and the black levels lighten up a bit in full daylight. I think a glossy screen would preserve black levels better but would give sharper reflections. I personally like both glossy and matte screens. I find glossy screens add a bit of depth and contrast to the picture. On the other hand, they look a bit more artificial and remind me of analog tube TVs. The matte screen on this set produces are more natural looking picture that is more film-like in appearance. Overall I prefer matte screens but do enjoy glossy screens as well. That's definitely a personal preference for each person.

I probably won't be watching a lot of TV or movies over the next few weeks but I'll post updates if I have any more / different impressions.

Overall this set is looking like a good value and a keeper for me.

Mark

PS. My kids give a thumbs up to PQ on Cloudy with a Bunch of Meatballs.

I can add this. Many reviewers use Watchman as their test for deep blacks and /gray shadow definition. A few others cite some scenes in Master and Commander, which I have. Two scenes particularly -- the opening scene where a character is walking through the dark hold at night with only a lantern for illumination, and Scene 13 where, at night, a raft with lanterns in floated out and away from the ship to fool the French pursuer. With the 471 LCD, I had to turn the Backlight down quite a ways -- almost too far for any clarity -- and never did get a rich, deep black. With the 472 LED, I switched Picture Mode to Movie (default Backlight 55) and got deep blacks I hadn't seen before...with character's faces and picture still very clear. Very impressive!

Performance question. When you change channels, the screen indicates the channel in a box in the upper righthand corner. When I change channels on my 472, the channel box flickers, something I never saw with my 471. Anything? Anyone else?

I will try this when I get a chance , might not be until Sunday or Monday. I typically don't channel surf very much, I just directly enter the channel number I want to watch.

Can you describe the flicker? Do you mean the whole box looks look like it's appearing , then disappearing, then appearing again? Or do you mean the box is constantly displayed and there is some video artifact? Do you have any motion settings on?

Mark

I have the SV422XVT through the VIP program. Is there a thread on that TV? I've had some major issues with it in the last 24 hours. I hope these issues can be fixed through a software update instead of sending it back. The Twitter app is buggy. If you try to reply, the cursor is placed in front of the @ instead of behind the person's name. The sound is buggy. When I watch a tv show the sound is actually lowered during the show and pumped up during commercials. I've had the tv just randomly doing things such as turning the volume all the way down and won't let you increase it. I've check the settings and I can't find the auto volume adjusting.

There was a software update today when I came home but I don't know what it did. I called tech support about this and they were clueless about the TV. The guy wanted me to email a copy of the order just to make sure I had that tv. So far I've searched around the net trying to find a discussion on any fixes. It as 3 USB ports on the side and I don't think it can read anything from them. (In the manual it says for service only)


As far as the picture quality, I watched the Marine 2 on my PS3 last night and I must say that the picture quality is leaps and bounds over my older Vizio. Going to watch some blu-rays some time tonight to see what this bad boy can do.

The rest of the apps are good. No Facebook app so far. The Netflix interface is exactly like the PS3 setup. It's also a movies on demand app with a few new releases in XHD, HD, and SD.