Vizio M3D550KD - Page 3

I've been watching tv in the dark for a while, swtiching channels, playing ps3, and watching netflix, i've noticed that my "backlight bleed" only appears when there is something on the screen. When the screen is blank it's uniform. Could this be "blooming" instead of light-leakage or backlight-bleed? Keep in mind when there is something on the screen, icon from a game, no signal icon from the tv, or just a dark scene in general, the "backlight-bleed or light leakage" is in the same spot everytime. I can't seem to find any other hot-spots.

Word to the wise. Make sure you have some sort of extended warranty where Vizio is obligated to repair it after the usual warranty period. Most of the time they just replace the tv (at least according to the reports here). Vizio is basically a marketing company who cobbles together tv's. Just call support and see what kind of help you get.

I am planning to get the Vizio M3D550KD fairly soon. One of the reasons I was considering this model is the analog audio output. I have an old Sony STR-GX808ES receiver (an old one but a good one). However, due to its age, it does not have any digital inputs. Thus the need for the analog audio capability.

My question is; am I correct in expecting this TV's capability to produce the analog signal (and put it through the Sony) and will there be any complications or degradation of the audio? What should I expect.

Hopefully, this is the correct forum to place this question.

Thanks for any help.

Well I got one and I'm impressed with the pic quality. I do have backlight bleed in bottom right and top right but for this price I can't complain. I have the backlight low enough with smart dimming on that it doesn't bother me unless I really look for it.

The tv at Costco also had some backlighting problems u could notice if u really take the time to look. No tv is perfect. I would be surprised if nobody has any backlight bleed in the corners. All u have to do is turn off smart dimming set backlight to 50 and you see it. But that's the nature of such a cheap edge lit tv. Shoot even the Samsung Es7000 had it I noticed.

Gaming, 3d, bluray all work just fine. Halo 4 trailer looks unbelievable on this tv. Lorax 3d looked amazing. Compared to my friends Sony 909 full array the Vizio puts up a damn good fight at 1/3rd the price.

Also I prefer semi gloss vs glass of the Sony tvs.

Oh I can't wait for 3DGO! Sensio 3d bluray quality streaming once Vizio releases the app for it.
Edited by purell - 8/8/12 at 11:07pm

I have my backlight really low. I like it that way.

From what I've read online about "blooming" it sounds like that's not what's going on with my set. It is strange that the only time I see the backlight leakage is when there's an icon on the screen. Although, on my Tivo, when I change channels, the programming banner stays on the bottom part of the screen and the whole screen remains pretty uniform. Thanks for the pics. My oldest son was up late and I didnt' have a chance to mess around with tv. We watched Ice Age: Dawn of Dinosaurs in 3D on Blu-Ray and I'll have to admit I was rather impressed with the 3D on this tv. So far all we've watched in 3D is the Olympics and it's not bad.

Because the PQ is so good on this Vizio it will tide me over until the Super OLED Samsung and LG OLED comes out later this year or early next. Hopefully it's somewhat reasonable in price. Probably wishful thinking though.

I bought this so I could upgrade to 4k in like 3 yrs if the price goes down well enough til then. That happens to me too it's the smart dimming that's the way it works. It fuctuates based on what's on the screen

I use a universal learning remote and I was unable learn the Vizio's Remote. If anyone is having issues with it I have figured a way around it. I have a Tivo but I'm sure it would work with Time Warner Box, DirecTV, or At&t. Mind you, this only works for volume, TV power off/on, and mute. I use the tv volume and mute on the dvr portion of my universal remote so I don't have to switch to the TV button just to turn the volume up or down. So, I put some batteries in my original Tivo remote and got the tv code from Vizio and got the Volume, TV Power On/Off, and Mute to work on my Tivo Remote. I then grabbed my Universal Remote and Learned from the Tivo Remote. Obviously, if you're wanting to have your full Vizio Remote on you're universal learning remote this won't help but if you're like me and just want the volume etc... it's great.

I was just cleaning the panel off and I noticed the panel doesn't seem to be connected to the bezel in certain spots. When pushed, very lightly, the panel sinks in about 1/4 inch in the top right corner, bottom right corner, and on the edge of the middle on the left side of the panel. This can't be normal can it? Does anyone have this issue. Could I have bought a defective set?

Google around. 4k may be coming but it'll be a placebo. In order to see a difference between 4k and 1080p, you will need either a 100" screen at a normal viewing distances or to be sitting about 6 feet from a 65" screen.

Neither is reasonable. 4k will only be useful for passive (or glassesless) 3d so full 1080p can be passed to each eye... or you can get an active 3d and forget about it.

^^^ and some are saying that 4k will be more of marketing gimmick than anything else. The next big thing is 8k so 4k will be short-lived.

A large percentage of my MKV files are more than 4 GB, which is the limit for USB flash drives so I have to play them from a media server such as a PS3. On another TV I use a WD Live to serve the video files. Both work great. An external USB drive might work without the 4 GB file size.

The TV is mouted about 2 feet above the fireplace, which has a heatolater unit to extract heat efficiently from the fireplace. We have glass doors that we can close and the TV stand goes out up to 2 feet from the fireplace brick, so the fireplace should not be a problem the few times we use it each winter.

I called Vizio and once again got a vague answer. She said it's normal and it's a Free-Floating Panel. Anyone ever heard of this before.

caveat emptor.

Yes, 4gb is the limit for FAT32. While most TVs only accept FAT and not NTFS, from what I've been reading most brands work just fine with exFAT.
exFAT does not have the 4gb limit. You might want to grab a large USB stick and give it a try: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExFAT

I'm finding that out. Vizio sucks balls. The PQ may be good to almost great on this set but I'm on the verge of wheeling it back to Sam's Club and shelling the extra $1000 to get the HX850. This will be my last Vizio TV!

Maybe its true and is Vizio's way of avoiding the problem Samsung has on some sets. This is posted as a possible fix over on the Samsung ES8000 thread for clouding and leakage:

Originally Posted by Derek Gosselin View Post

seems the panel screws are to tight causing the clouding and leakage, i wouldnt recommend trying this but well worth the read http://translate.google.it/translate?sl=es&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=it&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.forodvd.com%2Ftema%2F108005-tutorial-eliminar-clouding-la-serie-es8000-de-samsung%2F&act=url

^^^ that fix has been around for awhile and has been suggested for other tv's besides Samsungs. It's not a very good, or safe, procedure because it doesn't guarantee that it will take care of the problem and it is very easy to screw your tv up worse.

I've read that before. The leakage is not that bad after turning the backlight down a bit. I've still got about 3 weeks before my 30 day return period runs out so I'll see how this set treats me for a few more weeks before I decide to take it back or not.

Yep not something I would recommend. I was simply pointing out that some type of floating panel might prevent some of the issues that haunt the ultra thin displays. I have no idea if Vizio uses a floating panel.

Is a "floating panel" even a real design? I don't know. I'm just wondering if that's Vizio's excuse for poor workmanship on their part. They do sell seemingly nice tv's at a pretty good price point. Wonder how they do that?

Hi everyone,

I was just wondering if anyone knows or not if it's possible to get the 47 inch version called the M3D470KD here in Canada. I was origionally going to get an LG passive 3d tv but it seems they've really dropped the ball this year in terms of build and image quality.

The black levels are good also.

Two questions:

1. Can you clean the 3-D glasses with regular eye-glasses cleaner?
2. What does Real Cinema Mode do? I can't tell a difference between Precision and Smooth.

On the "backlight bleed" issue. So I am assuming you are referring to what you might see on a notebook LCD where there will be one side or edge lit up more than other area, and visible given certain viewing and media criteria.??

And If so, I just want to ask have you checked your location in front of the screen. I know one of you said that it only appears to occur when something is on the TV other than blank. Cause I noted recently on this LG LCD I am worried about that when the screen is on and black, it would appear to have some whilte looking or more lit up areas. But then finally I got up, or was up manually turning it on and figured out it is just my perspective to the screen and is not noticible when sitting in front.

With that said and I was not planning on going here, but I am starting to get suspicious that an LCD needs a good 240hz processing rate to really show a solid pic. I am about to rant about the LG in another thread.

But as for the subject matter of the thread and the Vizio, I still cant say enought good things about this set. It has no disappointed me yet. And I am a pretty tough critic.

Bought this TV about a month ago and have been delighted with it. A little reluctant at first given I've always thought of Vizio as one of the wannabee brands, not one of the big contenders. But I like it! A bit disappointed in the crude interface that appears to be from the same software company that makes the interface for my previous Samsung. Slow, clunky, and Internet apps take forever. But aside from that, the PQ is much better than I had anticipated for a 55" set from Vizio at this price. I've gone ahead and placed it in the main living room now, usurping the crown from my Samsung for the main TV viewing experience. The Samsung isn't going far though, I installed it in my bedroom.

I'm also VERY impressed with the passive 3D effects. I have an Asus laptop wih an nVidia 560M 3D card, and that uses the active lens system at 120 Mhz. But I actually seem to prefer the passive 3D on the Vizio more than my laptop. Not too impressed with the audio, and thought about using one of the JAMBOXs as an external speaker. Anyone tried this yet?

Overall very happy with my purchase and have recommended the set to others.

This tv has a great picture. I'm having issues with the black-level though. It's too gray for me. The backlight-bleed is not a problem with the backlight turned down but their is no shadow-detail. I'm glad everyone's happy with their set. I'm taking mine back to Sam's later this week.
I realize this is the Vizio Thread but does anyone have info on the Samsung UN55EH6070F?

If you haven't done so already, get the free AVS HD709 or one of the other commercial calibration disks and at the very least, set your basics ( brightness, contrast, sharpness, aspect, color). That should go a long way in improving your overall pq. Your tv won't be calibrated (need meters and software to do that) but at least it's a definite improvement over just eye-balling it. Of course that all depends on the level of user controls you have. And, in case you're thinking about it, you DON'T need to go into the SM to make your adjustments.

I used Disney WOW. Overall I'm happy with how it turned out but in dark scenes I can see the backlight-bleed unless I turn the backlight down which causes me to lose shadow-detail. I'm actually thinking about the EH6070 active 3-D from Samsung if I can just find an honest review. I'm almost positive it has full-array backlight. I'm sure the PQ is a tad better on the Vizio M3Dxx0KD but I'd rather have perfect screen-uniformity, better black-level, and average PQ than just a great picture. There's no thread on AVS about the EH6070 and Cnet hasn't reviewed it yet.

The Samsung eh is average at best. Saw it along with es8000. Vizio pic quality is def better than the eh for sure from what I saw. U can play with smart dimming to get the picture you want. Cnet review here:

http://m.cnet.com/reviews/samsung-un46eh6000/35159621

If u want perfectly uniform and as good picture as Vizio go plasma.
Edited by purell - 8/14/12 at 2:58pm