Vizio M3D550KD - Page 4

No tv that I am aware of has perfect screen uniformity so there will be some compromises. Plasmas typically offer better black levels but there are some things you can do to optimize the viewing a bit such as the proper use of a bias light.

I agree. I had the EH6000 for a week but returned it mainly because I saw the Cnet review on the M3D550KD. I had it for two weeks and the screen was "pretty" uniform. Better than any LED TV I've seen. Black levels were great in my opinion. I've had plasmas before and my best-friend has the Panasonic UT50. I play a great deal of video games and I don't particularly like to worry about image retention so I'm partial to LED or CCFL LCD tvs.
I'm looking for something to bridge the gap until OLEDs come out and are cheaper than $7,000 for a 55''. The Sony HX850 is what I want but I don't feel like spending more than $1500 on a tv right now. Any suggestions on an LED, Sony or Samsung, 55", and around $1500.00?

Any thoughts about comparing this Vizio m3d550kd to the LG 55lm7600? I know there's a price difference of a few hundred, but I'm trying to decide on the two. Lower cost budget VIzio vs the LG.

I haven't read any reviews on the LG 7600 but I've heard it has some bad flashlighting and backlight bleed. Check out the 7600 thread on AVS.

I have an LG so I'm a bit biased but based on the numerous complaints and horror stories about Vizio products and support, if you do get a Vizio, I'd highly recommend getting an extended service agreement. There's a reason why comparable Vizio's are lower priced than their competition. And yes, I did own a Vizio a long time ago and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough.

Ok.. thanks for the info guys. I'll check out the LG 7600 thread. The quick reviews I read on it seem to have been good.

edit

So I read some threads on the LG 55lm7600. The flashlighting mentioned sounds like an issue that exist with all edge-lit panels.

Still deciding between the Vizio m3d550kd for $1100 at Costco (about $1185 with tax) or the LG 55lm7600 for $1500 at Amazon.
Edited by 2P1O - 8/15/12 at 1:49pm

TVs suck these days unless you're an idiot who doesn't know any better. All the ES Samsung models have flashlighting and backlight issues, even the ES8000. As far as another Vizio, I would greatly consider the XVT553SV but I can't find them anywhere. I believe it's full-array w/ local-dimming.
Edited by Justin Sullins - 8/15/12 at 2:02pm

Generally speaking, you're correct. All tvs have issues, some more than others, and none of them are perfect. That's especially true for us OCD folks who post here I'm just saying that to protect your Vizio purchase, you'd be best to factor in an extended warranty. Doesn't Costco throw in 2 years of service coverage on any of their electronic purchases anyway? I don't know how extensive that is though cause I've never bought a tv at Costco. I've just seen too many posts where Vizio couldn't, or wouldn't fix a problem, and would rather exchange the tv for a "new" one. Which is great until you start thinking why they'd rather give you a new tv than repair the one you have.

It's Sam's. They have a 30 day return policy. I'm just going to return it and save myself the hassel of dealing with Vizio. Maybe if I ever decide to put a tv in my bathroom I'll buy a Vizio again. Maybe.

Well I hope you have a better experience with your next purchase. At least Sam's has a decent return policy.

I was just at Best Buy and I saw UN55D6900WF 3-D, Micro-Dimming, with a qwerty remote. The guy a BB didn't know wheater it was edge-lit or full-array and it doesn't say on the Samsung Website. Other than no bezel it has stylings from the D series last year. I thought the 2012 Samsungs were ES and EH? It is "new" though. Anyone know any info on this set?

It may be new in the box, but the D series is a 2011 model. All 2012 models are E series. And I think the 6900 may have been a Best Buy exclusive model. So since it was last year's model, they should be offering you a clearance price. You would think.

I checked out the d6900 and it is edge-lit with some sreen issues. I just saw a refurbished UN55B6000 on www.fassie.com for $1149.00 w/ free shipping. I used to have this tv until BB did a junk-out on it and I got stuck with all those crappy models that I had to return, so i'm familiar with this model and liked it. Would anyone know if they use replacement parts or new parts to refurbish and if they replaced the panel would they put the same type of panel back in? Lastly, is this the best route for me to take to get the tv that i want or should I wait for HX850 or OLED?
Edited by Justin Sullins - 8/16/12 at 2:01pm

Hello everyone, I just recently picked up a M3D550KD from SamsClub. When I first set the TV up I was utterly disgusted but I knew better than to let the out of box settings sway me ;-)

I went into the settings menu and adjusted some things but noticed significant bleeding especially when logos or other white items were on the screen and the background was dark. It bothered me so much I could not even trick myself into ignoring it. I then followed some tweaks suggested at another website and I have all but eliminated the backlight bleeding issue. I have just watched the Matrix which has a lot of dark scenes and filled with shadows and the picture quality is nothing short of excellent. I did not notice any bleeding issues throughout the entire movie. Granted I am watching this during the day but I don't have any direct window light incident on the TV screen. One thing I notice is that if I sit really off center I can notice more of the edge light but it is very faint.

I have my backlight down to 43 but due to the other tweaks I still have great shadow detail. The bleeding was so bad at first I was about to bring the set back but I wanted to at least give it a couple of days and try to perform some tweaks.

One more thing... I noticed that there is some screen bar issues depending on the source and if I have smart dimming on or not. I mostly noticed it while using the TV's Netflix app but only when the picture quality dropped down to standard definition. I will continue to evaluate the set for the next week or so and see if I have any issues. I am not shy about returning a set, lol.

Overall I am really pleased with this set!

Vizio!!! Please do a better job with the manual. Lots of hidden features.

Joe

I would re-watch the Matrix in the dark and see if you get the same result. I also have significant backlight-bleed on the right side of the screen. I can't see it during the day. The black-levels look amazing during the day but at night it's pretty bad. (black-level and backlight-bleed)

Justin, have you tried using a soft cloth like microfiber to wipe your screen? Many times the bleed on IPS panels is pressure based. If you wipe your screen as you would when dusting (apply only slight pressure) you may find the bleed is redistributed differently than it is now. With IPS sets i try to get the pressure and therefore the leakage distributed across the entire panel moving away from the corners. There will still be slight variation but it gets rid of hot spots which are distracting. Put up an all black screen in a dark room for best results. This doesn't work with the few cases of clouding I've seen on IPS sets. This also doesn't really work on VA panels.

I've tried to no avail. My panel is actually not connected to the bezel. The top-right, top-left, bottom-left, and along the edge on the left-side is not connected to the bezel. It moves inward about 3/4 of an inch when pressed lightly. I talked to Vizio last week about it and they of course said it was normal. I've never heard of such a thing before nor have I found any info on the net about it. The backlight-bleed and the panel I could probably live with but Vizio Customer Service is why I'm taking it back.

Dude! sam's membership is like 40 bux. They will let you in with a guest pass (doubt you can purchase, but i would think theyd let you look).. that way you could see it in person.

Should be able to just return it anyway, if you dont like it. maybe buy the 80" monster they usually have instead?

anyway 40 bux on top of their cheap price for that tv is worth it.

Bummer but I understand. For my needs LCD sets above 42" really start to show too many weaknesses in terms of bleed, banding, choosing, dse. I'm looking at going forward with a smaller set with good uniformity and getting a projector for the large screen viewing. I also still watch a good amount of DVD content so trying to get a one size fits all display has been hard.

I know this is not the correct thread but I saw a UN55B6000 on the net, (www.fassie.com), for $1199.00 that has been refurbished. You think this is a safe route to take? I used to have this particular model and loved it. I did see this as an open-item at BB for $1500.00 but the bezel was scratched, chipped, and had sticker residue all over it. $1500.00 seems a bit much for a 2 1/2 year old tv thats damaged cosmetically. Is the bezel on this model hard to replace or even available to replace?

I just got an M3D550KD at Costco, and it's great except for two issues:

1. It takes FOREVER to turn on and off. When I'm turning it on, it takes at least 25 seconds from when I hit the power button until I can see a program. In my tests, the longest time I saw was 50s.

2. It's really slow to change resolutions. I've got it hooked up to a Tivo, and it takes 5-10 seconds to change between SD and HD or from HD to SD. I can get around this issue by having the Tivo upscale everything to 1080i, but the Tivo upscaler is worse than the one in the TV.

Anyone else having these problems? The slow startup time is especially annoying, so I'm hoping there's a fix, maybe a setting I missed or a firmware update.

It takes that long for me too. It's normal for this set. I also have a Tivo and I just set mine to 1080i so I don't worry about it switching between SD and HD. SD looks like crap on any HDTV. I've never noticed my SD programs looking any worse with my Tivo set at 1080i or having it set for all definitions. I've had many HDTVs and they all take forever to switch from 480 to 720p to 1080i.

My LG doesn't. And it takes about 10 seconds to turn on, and that's with a Harmony remote turning on the avr first.

I've never had an LG. I've had Samsung, Sony, Panasonic, Dynex, and Vizio. They've all taken time to switch definitions. Other than this Vizio I've never had a TV take over 20 seconds to turn on though.

I returned the Vizio. The banding during football was killing me. It was really bad. Got a Samsung eh6070 instead. Vizio has better black levels, but the Samsung has no banding and no edge bleed. It's a toss up. I would of kept the Vizio if the banding was not so obvious, because I love it's deep blacks.

I also prefer the 3d of Samsung. Never thought I would. Go figure.

So, you like the blacks better on the Vizio M3D550KD than the EH6070? The M3D550KD has a terrible black-level unless you only watch during the day. I had the EH6000 and thought the black level wasn't bad at all. I'm sure the EH6070 is very similar. The EH6000 has some slight discoloration on the left and right-side of the screen. Have you seen any of these issues on your 6070? How's the detail in dark scenes?

How about M3D550KD vs PN60e550 who has better blacks and overall PQ?

@ a couple of posters including this one.

First - And I am a guy who bought this TV as my first switch from Plasma. My Kaaaaochh gets harder everyday over the quality on this thing. I cant emphasize enough how I think the 240hz is whats really putting the thing over the top... I cant explain but when compared to the LG 47" I also got aroudn the same time (a discontinued Sams one apparently), its like the LG has this little light show of digital snow going on in the background all the time that has to "tune down" for a few secs on each input change or whatever. Still if you get close and stare - ITS ALWAYS THERE.. WHF!!!!???, anyone care to explain that for me???

Second - To update the Sams policy - ITS SEVEN DAYS for price reduction matching and 3 months for returns for any reason. BUT BE CLEAR - I have discovered some nasty truths about Sams.... You must have the original receipt for return credit. I dont think there is a restock or even a repacking charge if the box is trashed. But you can go to Cust service all day and they will tell you than can reprint a "record" but you cant use for returns. Perhaps for exchange - yes. Regarding the price matching on same items Sams lowers. They lowered this TV from 1198 to 1098 since I bought. The rep made it sound like I would "get credit: for that for up to 1 -3 months if I bring my receipt to CS and complain ( I dont recall precise). YOu will not. SO I said, "then you are telling me that you would rather me bring this thing back with no box, return, and buy a new one!?!?!?" I got no good response other than discounting what the value of $100.00 really is.. So I did find my receipt ( its really speculation as to if the Ink will even last 90 days - seriously - and byt he way these receipts are a method of BPA Contamination that surpases all others if you are health saavy), But I realized my club no longer had any in stock, WHICH AMAZES ME and FYI they ARE about all gone. So I found one 20 miles away and I will pick that one up new, and then return it to my local club. Boom... I wont even have to take mine off the wall LOL...

Third - They are almost gone I think as they cited they are lowering the price to clear them out. But I just dont see how when its a fairly new model. Oh well. Perhaps I should be waiting the full 90 days to see whats next. Then again, I will have a 90 days on the receipt from the purchase tomorrow. LOL

But my point is this. Even if I had to return the set unboxed and buy another one because of their dumbass pricing policy it woud be like this. If Sams feels like thats absurd over 100 bucks, then they should give a **** enough not to arbitrarily lower the price that much. Obviously they dont care about "Small expenses" if they can just decide they would like to make 100buck less on these - so they can go ahead and eat the restock cost.... There are plenty of 65" models in stock but I suspect this set does not come close to the 55" because of thee increase in size and lack of 240hz.. I just dont understand why they would lower the price on this one like they dont even pay attention to the "market buzz" and good reviews on the value of this thing....?!?!?!?

Well, of course the blacks are better on a plasma. You're comparing apples to oranges dude. But as far as overall PQ, not factoring in black-levels, on an "LCD TV" (CCFL or LED backlighting) I would say the Vizio M3Dxx0KD and Sony KDL-xxHX850 have the best among 2012 models. Obviously it's all preference anyway. The color blue is better than the color red!

I should of put it differently. With smart dimming on which is what I always watched the blacks are more black than the Samsung. With smart dimming off then the Samsung is better I think. I never could watch the Vizio with smart dimming off because of the edge bleed anyway. One thing with Vizio with smart dimming on during brighter scenes if your watching letterbox the bars (I noticed it on lower right) would brighten and darken brighten and darken depending on what your watching (that's what smart dimming does). I didn't have a problem with that though. Like I said I would of kept the Vizio if not for the horrible light colored banding. Oh and I tried 2 Vizio's both same problem.

Discoloration I don't notice any. It's the same as the eh6000 in blacks with what I saw. Only reason I got the 6070 is I wanted 3d sometimes. The picture detail is def as good as the Vizio and the detail in dark scenes is as good, but I need to calibrate it properly to really see. I haven't calibrated the Samsung yet like I did the Vizio with my friends device, so I can see what ftl is and stuff like that.

Oh and I watch mainly in a dim room. So I notice the blacks more.