Vizio E3D420VX - Page 7

Excellent!

I'm glad to hear its not part of the VIA update, cause I was bummed out when I didn't get YouTube. I guess I sit and wait for the Firmware rollout.

Glad to hear the YouTube 3D works too, that is cool.

Aarrgh! The volume control has changed after the most recent firmware update! You now have to push the button twice to effect a change. The first push only brings up the volume meter on-screen. I absolutely hate this behavior because I only make minor adjustments while watching a program and now I have to do twice the work. Anyone know if this is just a mistake on Vizio's part? I wonder if there's a way to get the old firmware back.

Press and hold causes brings up the meter and starts incrementing volume, what's the extra work? Granted I didn't pay attention on what the pre-upgrade did but don't see it being a really big deal.

Sure it's no big deal if you're making large adjustments, but what about moving up or down one notch? Like going from 49 to 50, or 49 to 48. Now it's two keystrokes instead of one. That's a huge annoyance to me, but I guess there's not much I do about it. Wish they had just left it alone.

I got this tv a few weeks ago and so far I love it. The 3D movies and shows that I have seen so far look amazing.

I also got the firmware update last night, I have to say I don't really notice any difference so far. The new Youtube app is nice, the 3D videos on there work flawlessly.

I wasn't sure how nice this tv was going to be when I got it home but I have to say that its a pretty awesome 3dtv for a great price.

I did get this tv bundled up at Walmart with a Vizio 3D blu-ray player and a couple extra 3d glasses (for $678! ). I have a question, I already have a slim PS3 that I use with this tv, would I still need the 3D blu-ray player for anything or can I just use the PS3 for everything that this blu-ray player probably already does? I ask this because I have a friend who is interested in buying the player that is still unopened in its box, and it would be nice to sell it to recover some of the cost of this tv.

My E3D420VX Updated its Firmware Today (1/16/2012)
Now Version 2.17.0.1100
Now supports Skype and YouTube. Very hot!


Which model of Blu-ray player?

As far as movies go, I don't expect the Vizio player could do much that the PS3 Slim cant (PS3 Slim supports 3D Blu-ray, Bitstreaming of TrueHD and DTS-HD MA, and has Netflix, Hulu Plus and Vudu apps.)

The Vizio player has the following advantages offhand:
- 802.11n (PS3 has built-in 802.11g).
- Vizio Internet Apps (PS3 has a limited number of apps).
- Lower power consumption to play a movie. Latest PS3 slim uses something around 70W to play a movie, the Vizio player should use around 25W (according to Vizio).

My setup is the E3D420VX + PS3 Slim, and I'm very happy with it. Having Vizio apps on the blu-ray player is redundant because the TV already has them built in.

Since the PS3 does 3D blu ray I don't see why you'd need the vizio player as well unless the player has some app the TV or PS3 does not, which I doubt.

Gald to hear you got the firmware update, took long enough. Youtube is by far the best app there is, I can't imagine any TV not included it from now on.

Congrats on the new firmware.

The Blu-ray player model that came in the bundle is a VBR133. Thanks for the advice. I also noticed that I don't really need the new blu-ray player, so I'd rather sell it to my friend cheap so he can have one and I can recover a little bit of the cost of this TV. The apps on there look cool, but they are basically the same thing that this TV already has or the PS3 already does better.

I noticed that the Netflix app on this TV doesn't seem to do 5.1 surround, but luckily I already have a PS3, WDTV Live Plus, and Xbox 360 connected to my surround system and all of those stream Netflix in 5.1 already, so that's no biggie for me. This TV does have plenty of cool apps that I can't get on my other devices, so I am really loving this tv for everything it can do.


I agree and thanks for the advice, I just wanted to make sure that there wasn't something out there that I was missing. The apps on the player seem to be the same ones that this tv already does. So it looks like it will be finding a new home soon.

I've had the E3D420VX for a little while, and I'm liking it. I have noticed a couple things, though:

-The "Game Mode" issue, where people have said they sometimes have to turn it off then back on in order for it to enable seems to occur because the tv switches the mode off when you switch inputs, and possibly also if you turn the tv off. I think the same thing happens with "smooth motion" as well (not as big an issue since most people have it turned it off anyway).
I'm thinking maybe if you had "game mode" or "smooth motion" on all the inputs, it might stay on when switching, but I haven't tested it.

-XBOX does do 3D over component with this tv. I've played a few games that have SBS 3D support and they work fine, though they do have reduced resolution. Although, certain games may not be supported, such as Batman: Arkham City. My xbox is the original model, purchased a few months after launch, so it has no hdmi port, which seems to be a requirement for Batman: AC.
I can also play 3D YouTube videos and 3D video files through the xbox, as long as they conform to the xbox's supported video formats. One small issue though, when playing SBS 3D, I've noticed a sliver of the right side of the videos shows up on the far left side of the screen, which can be annoying at times, though not terrible. I can't say if this is an issue with just my tv, or if it's an issue with trying to play SBS 3D over component. It doesn't happen with VUDU's 3D videos or in the new YouTube app.

-New YouTube app works pretty well, particularly with 3D videos, but I've had stuttering due to not enough of the video being cached. I've tried to pause and let the whole video load into the cache, but it only caches a small amount before it stops. The videos I tried aren't long either, only a couple minutes (maybe the resolution is too high?). Specifically, I tried the Despicable Me and Pirates of the Caribbean 3D trailers. So I'm wondering if the TV doesn't have enough memory, or the YouTube app just isn't utilizing properly.
Also, I can't figure out how to get more search results. If you search for the same terms in YouTube on a regular browser, you see that the Vizio app only gives the equivalent of the first page of results.

So if anyone has any suggestions or comments, let me know.

Just had to jump in here and mention that I picked up the 3D420VX yesterday from Walmart. I got the bundle for an AMAZING price (less than $500...long story, but incredible deal).

First of all, let me say that I do consider myself somewhat of an HDTV junkie. My first HDTV was a Sony SXRD that I purchased in 2006 and I currently have a Panny 55ST30 in my living room, which I love.

I bought the 42" 3D420VX for our bedroom and let me just say that I am THOROUGHLY impressed with this set. I am actually amazed at how unbelievable the picture is, especially considering the price. I can honestly say that the picture is comparable to my ST30, but I do lean to the Panny because I am partial to Plasma and I really do think that Panny renders a gorgeous picture.

That said, I can find ZERO fault with the Vizio for the price I paid or even the $598 that Walmart and Sears are charging for it. The passive 3D is very impressive, but the 2D picture is stunning as well. The blacks are a little substandard, but for some reason, it is not a deal breaker for this set as the picture just pops and looks phenomenal to my eyes, at least.

Anyway, I've lurked on these boards for years and occasionally post, so I thought I would post my experience with the Vizio as my impressions are nothing but positive.

I'm still having problems with the YouTube app. It seems like the lower resolution videos will play ok, but higher res files, like some of the 3D stuff, won't buffer quickly enough. And it still won't allow me to pause the video and let it buffer fully. Even lower resolution videos won't buffer fully. All videos only seem to buffer maybe 20 seconds in advance. So for the lower res files, it's not really a problem, but the higher res files go through the buffer quicker, so it's impossible for them to play without stuttering as it catches up with the pre-buffered amount too quickly.
Anybody else have this problem?

I haven't had any problems with the Youtube app so far. I do have TimeWarner Turbo internet, which gives me really solid speeds and it seems to work great with the Youtube app. I only get a little circling motion (loading) icon at the beginning of the videos as they begin to play but after that (about 3-5 seconds) it goes away and the 3D videos play flawlessly from beginning to end. Are your ISP speeds pretty fast?

No stuttering youtube for me either. Using the Vizio's wifi to my fios router about 4 feet away. Can't figure out the 3D modes tho. Tried the SW Ep: 1 3D trailer but none of the vizio's 3D modes seemed to work.

Had the same problem and figured out a lot of the youtube 3D videos require the red blue glasses to view. I had a pair laying around and they work with them!

My speeds aren't great, usually around 14 mbps down & 1 mbps up on my laptop. I know speed can affect YouTube performance, but why can't I cache more of the video to counter that? I also tried the TV wired directly into the router instead of through wifi, no difference.
And, as I said, some videos play fine, but they seem to be lower resolution. The 3D clips I tried wouldn't play smooth, and they appeared to be HD resolution. For example, I searched for "3D trailer" and the first video that comes up is for Despicable Me, which appears to be HD, and is in the side-by-side 3D format. It struggles at the beginning, and will only play smoothly for a brief time before using up the cached amount.
2D, lower res YouTube videos will play fine, but they still only buffer a small amount. To me, that suggests that either the TV doesn't have enough memory to cache more than a small amount of videos, or the YouTube app isn't properly caching.

Those speeds aren't bad either, you should be able to play the videos fine with the speeds you are getting.

I wasn't really using the search feature, I was just going to the "Featured" part of the menu and clicking on the 3D playlist that comes out first and everything worked great from there. So I decided to do what you were doing and searched for "3D trailer" and the Despicable Me 3D trailer did come out first, so I tried it to test it out on my setup and it played fine for me. I also tried Pirates of the Caribbean 3D trailer that came out after that and it worked great as well. I checked on the info button on the remote to see the progress of the file cache as it was playing and it was downloading fine ahead of the video so it would play smoothly.

The only video so far that wouldn't work properly for me was the Tron Legacy 3D trailer and not because it wouldn't download fast enough but because it claimed to be in 1080p and it would play but the video would stutter a lot. Other than that almost all the 3D trailers on there worked great. I'm not sure why your TV is having this problem, your internet speed seems to be fine and should easily be enough to play these videos. Have you tried deleting the Youtube app and then reinstalling? Not sure if that would work but I guess it couldn't hurt to try it.

Almost all of the 3D videos on Youtube that work on this TV are SBS. I saw a couple of TB videos on Youtube but for some reason they didn't work properly on this TV.

Thanks, texraider, deleting the app and reinstalling it worked! It still won't cache the whole video, but it doesn't have any problems playing them smoothly, so I don't need to cache the whole thing. The only times it overtakes the buffer is at the beginning of some videos, but if I pause the video at the beginning and let it buffer a bit, it will play the whole video smoothly.
I also had the same issue with the 1080p Tron: Legacy trailer, though. I assume the 1080p is the problem, but I suppose it could be due to some funky encoding too.

Hi, just wanted to post my experience with this 3d tv.

I picked up the 42" model from Costco 3 months ago to replace a 3 year old Vizio that had served me well [can't remember the model number]. I immediately noticed that the picture quality was all around much better than the older non-3D Vizio.

I use this as a computer monitor for all things computerish such as Internet browsing, gaming, Netflix streaming, and DVD watching. For Blu-Rays I have a PS3 which I purchased at the same time.

Well, lets just get the bad news out of the way. I took the first one back after a week because it was making a noticable unpleasant electronic squealing sound [this is from the circuit boards inside the tv, not from the speakers]. Very irritating when you are sitting just 1 meter away to use as a monitor. So I took it back and was relieved that the new one was quiet. Well it started out quiet, but now whenever a predominantly white web page [including this website] is up with lots of print then the squealing comes back and fluctuates in volume as you scroll down the page.

I have read somewhere on the internets that you can get the Vizio warranty work done and they will come and replace the noisy electronic components but that the noise doesn't fully clear up. I don't want to mess with that though and am getting ready to take this one back today before the 90 day return runs out. If you were using this as a TV only and sitting several meters back, or have hearing loss in the upper registry then you might not even notice it.

Well it is really disapointing that it has this issue, because in almost all other areas this TV has been impressive.

3D performance is next to perfect really. I have purchased nearly a dozen 3D movies and haven't noticed a single problem with any of them - none of the problems you read about with the active shutter type tvs. I also have the Drakes 3D game for the PS3, and while the image quality takes a noticable hit due to the half-resolution, I still prefer it because for games [and movies as well] I just find the whole 3D experience much more immersive. Just to clarify: I only notice a loss of resolution with the 3D game - with moves, I don't notice any degradation of quality when in 3D mode.

Movies. I am the type of person who is alway tinkerring with the settings and with this TV have nearly always been able to get very nice picture no matter the source [streaming Netflix, DVDs, Blu-rays].

I don't use the built in speakers so can't comment on them. I don't have cable TV or Satellite, and since I live in a cabin surrounded by Redwood trees I am not able to currently pull in any TV stations so can't comment on it's use in that regard either.

So for me this is probably the end of my time with this model as I think I might try an LG LK450 series to get the 4:4:4 chroma support and even lower lag since I use this as a computer monitor. Although with over $300.00 worth of 3D movies now in my collection it is going to be a tough decision to go with a non-3D tv now... on the other hand with 3D movies being so freaking expensive I will problably save a small fortune by getting out while I can.

The loss in quality you're experiencing is not an active vs. passive thing, Uncharted 3 is in 720p while in 2d, but outputs in sub-HD while in 3d mode (reduced output resolution of 896x504).

Just noticed today, this tv does play videos via usb! All the info I saw before said this would only play music or pictures. I plugged in a usb hard drive to one of the ports on the side and it shows options for music, video and photo. There are definite limitations on the video file formats, but it played some 720p and 1080p mp4 files I had (including 3D sbs mp4 videos. It also seems to do xvid/divx playback. I had some movies I had converted to xvid with 5.1 surround, and it seems to play fine, including the surround (I had connected from the tv's optical out into a 5.1 receiver).
I haven't done much testing yet, so I don't know all the limitations, but I was surprised that it played any video, especially 1080p and 5.1.

Nice catch! I wonder if they added that with the firmware update.

(edit) I've tested the following:
Video extensions recognized by television: .avi, .divx, .m2ts, .mov, .mp4, .ts, .vob
Video extensions NOT recognized by television: .3gp, .dvr-ms, .flv, .mkv, .webm

Audio extensions recognized by television: .aac, .ac3, .mp3
Audio extensions NOT recognized by television: .mka, .ogg, .ra

Of the audio extensions recognized, the following issues: one of two .aac files did not play.
Of the video extensions recognized, the following issues: two of five .ts files did not work at all (to be fair, one of them won't even work on my own computer, I think it's unsupported by libavcodec), two of two .divx files played the audio only (video codec reports as DivX 5, and did not work on the TV, the TV displayed "Video codec not support"), and the .mov did not play (I believe is h263/adpcm, and the TV displayed both "Video codec not support" and "Audio codec not support").

Other notes: I thought the .m2ts (AVCHD) file with its 1440x1080 resolution and 2MB/s bitrate might not play, but it did. The test case files included some problematic files that are used to test a/v codec libraries (courtesy of CCCP Project), so that may account for some things not working. I also wonder if it plays any files renamed even though the extension is not recognized (like an .ogg file renamed as an .mp3, for example). And I forgot to test a plain old .MPG or .MPEG extension file, but I suspect they'll play just fine.

I would say I am happy with the level of support the TV appears to have for Video formats.

wma
wmv

The 47" version is now $748 @ Wally world. Appears to the new low price. Likely at end of life and being phased out.

THats odd cause I was just in there this morning and noticed the 42" like I have jumped up to $648.

I noticed the same thing! I bought mine for $579.00 from Walmart (+Tax, free store pickup). Then it went to $599 a few days later, then up again to 648.

M3D420SR owner,

Looks like you guys tvs has better input times. I'm lagging atleast 67 ms on game mode with EVERYTHING video enhancing off. and 200 ms with all of it on. Either case its un playable for FPS and fighters.

No way can they improve this by firmware right. I'm sitting on 2.15.01000, you guys have 2.17.... I think right?

Gonna pick up the 47" version tonight from Wally World. We have several Vizio tv's and have had very good luck with them. Some are over 5 years old and still working fine.

Never mind. Out of stock everywhere. May have to try the led version...