VIZIO INTERNET APPS (VIA) Enabled LCD's Thread

I thought I would start this thread since several people asked for one and with the TVs being released to the general public, more questions are sure to come. Please keep this on-topic to VIA enabled models. No price talk.

The VIA platform is based on the Yahoo Widgets for television called Yahoo! Connected TV. More information on Yahoo! Connected TV can be found here

http://connectedtv.yahoo.com/

While this is not exclusive to Vizio TV's, Vizio has stated to offer special content for their product line.

The VIA hardware support includes the following based on information from Yahoo! At this time it is unclear if Vizio will utilize all features.


As the date of this post Vizio currently offers 3 models of TV's with VIA. They will be offering VIA in their next model of Blu-Ray player as well.

VF552XVT

55 LCD LED HDTV
802.11N Dual Band Wireless Networking
TruLED Superior LCD HDTV Performance
Smart Dimming
2,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
240Hz SPS*
Full HD 1080P
50% below Energy Star® 3.0
Mercury Free

SV472XVT

47 LCD LED HDTV
802.11N Dual Band Wireless Networking
TruLED Superior LCD HDTV Performance
Smart Dimming
2,000,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
240Hz SPS*
Full HD 1080P
45% below Energy Star® 3.0
Mercury Free

SV422XVT

42 LCD HDTV
50,000:1 Dynamic Contrast Ratio
240Hz SPS*
Full HD 1080P
SRS TruSurround HD & SRS TruVolume
Exceeds Energy Star® Guidelines by 20%








More information can be found here:

http://vizio.com/via/

Like a few others here I participated in the VIA VIP program that allowed users to test an offering of the internet apps and provide feedback to Vizio. In exchange after completing a survey each week for six weeks Vizio would send a Blu-ray player and sound-bar with sub-woofer.

My path to the VF552XVT
I had been planning on a HDTV purchase since June and had heard about Vizio offering LED backlit models. I told myself I would wait for the LED offerings since they were coming out in September. This quickly got pushed back and while I waited I had heard of the internet app version being offered in the new VIA enabled models. Due to my family watching most of our content on-line (Netflix, Hulu, Veoh and others) this seemed like the TV to wait for. So finally after not having a TV for 6 months I received notification of the VIA VIP program and signed up for our 55" TV.

The wait is over
When my TV arrived I was impressed with the packaging.


The box was a bit overwhelming especially in our small living room. My only complaint with the packaging is there was not a protective sheet over the panel itself. Though I didn't have any I could see the screen getting scratched easily with only a plastic bag protecting it. Unpacking the TV was a breeze and with the stand already attached we were up and running in a few minutes.

Setup...so easy
First thing you get when powering up your new TV is the setup menu. This walks you through pairing the Bluetooth Remote, Setting up your internet connection and personal information and settings. You can option out of this and set the features up separately if you wish. I decided to connect my TV to the internet cloud via wireless based on it's location in my home.

Apps shmapps who cares?
I've heard a lot of people talk down a TV with "limited" internet connectivity. Will this replace your PC for internet browsing? No, the Widgets are designed around a partial multimedia experience the internet offers. These apps are designed for the general public not for the diehard guy looking to compare it to his HTPC.

Even with the limited amount of apps available at the moment. I have been really impressed. Especially with the HD streaming offerings of Vudu and Amazon on Demand. I can already see my days of running out to the video store being a thing of the past.

Vizio sells junk...right?
I had been told not to go with Vizio due to their picture quality only being substandard compared to that of other providers. Initially when I started to shop for a large display I went around to the local businesses to see what they had to offer. I knew I wanted to wait until the LED Vizio came out before making my final call but nothing hurts shopping around. There are many impressive TV's out there and I am not saying Vizio is the best but I was blown away at the viewing angles on the 552. I originally compared the angles of the 551 once it came out to other offerings and it was right up there with name brand TV's. I had also checked online and started seeing more and more information that states Vizio is in for the long haul.

Now I have had some minor issues with my set. I don't want to go into detail on this post especially since the TV is not released to the general public yet. I will post those later.

Game play
I have probably spent about 7 hours solid playing video games on this TV and the colors are rich and vibrant. One thing that really impressed me with this TV was how great games look. Even my son's Mortal Kombat games on his PS2 look good in 480P. I have played a few games with my PC connected via HDMI at 1080P and was equally impressed. I will provide more in this section at a later time once I have a chance to review some specific titles.

Final thoughts
Vizio has put a lot of effort in their company to get to where they are today. I honestly thought a few years ago when I first saw Vizio that it would be another knock off brand that would be gone pretty quickly. The VIA enabled TV's have a lot to offer and an even greater potential. I hope they really take advantage of the features this TV offers in the next year and look forward to more application offerings.

Same here. I also suggested that on the last survey.

As I posted above I have mine connected with wireless. I originally had a wireless B linksys router and upgraded to a cheap TEW-652BRP N router. I've streamed HD movies with Netflix, Vudu and Amazon without issue. Vudu outperformed them all and had better features including chapters. Amazon gets props for having more 48hr rentals. For now the 3 USB ports are listed as maintenance only. Vizio states they will be enabled in a firmware update.

It's not out yet unfortunately. I expect to see more widgets available once the TV is released.

Edit: Both of these issues were fixed with updates

Can someone with the 552 and netflix test the following issues?

Issue #1
Green Line and screen jump with 4:3 content.

I get a green line and the screen will jump. This is on any 4:3 content on netflix that has a 640x480 resolution and 23.97 frequency setting (per system information in the help menu).

Vizio says it is Netflix and Netflix is saying it is the TV at that resolution. If it is Netflix other VIA users should see the same issue.

Two examples I watched recently:
Law and Order SVU Season 1: Any episode
Grumpy Old Men




Issue # 2
Netflix ending early
I see this on most episodes where I'm returned to the main netflix screen before the credits complete. This is very apparent on The Pink Panther cartoons since they end early.

Netflix is looking into the issue to see if it is something they can reproduce.

Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection

Thanks Doc, I would appreciate it. On another note Survey 4 is available and is a survey on the Rhapsody widget

http://viziovip.com/auth

Wow I just used Rhapsody for a few hours and that widget is buggy. It seemed to bog the TV down and the interface really seemed like it needs some work. This was the longest survey I've completed yet and I've typed some long ones. It has potential but I really hope Rhapsody makes some updates to this one.

From what I understand the TV has a development code that you associate with your Yahoo Developer Account. Once associated, Widgets you have in your development area will show up. I'm building a Linux box this weekend as a development machine to try my hand at the Widgets since it is needed for the emulator.

Thanks Doc!! It's good to know that I'm not the only one. I did a few more tests and if I pull up the menu and press the blue button to resize the screen the problem goes away. I am 100% sure it is an issue with the TV's. Hopefully they can fix it with a firmware update. I'll talk to Vizio tomorrow and see if I get anywhere. Can anyone test this out on the 47 and 42 inch? It would be good to know if it is on all VIA models and I would like to add a known issue area to post 1.