I just got my Vizio VX20L yesterday and thought I'd share my impressions thus far.
This is a brand new set, it's major claim to fame is that it's the smallest set out there (as far as I know) that has a built-in ATSC tuner.
I ordered this set about 3 weeks ago. I bought it direct from Vizio as no stores around here stock it. Vizio is probably ramping up as they took a bit to fill the order. No big deal to me.
Price wise, it's not that much less than the 24 to 26" sets with ATSC tuners that are already out there. The main reason I needed something smaller was the WAF. This is our bedroom TV, replacing a tiny 9" AC/DC set we've used for 20 years, and she made it clear she didn't want a big set that would "overwhelm the room". We also needed something small and light enough to mount it on the wall, sticking out on an articulating arm mount. I got the matching arm mount from Vizio as well.
So, I've only fiddled with it for one night, but here are my impressions thus far ...
ATSC TUNER SENSITIVITY: I'd rate it "Excellent". The most sensitive ATSC tuner I've tried yet.
This is a really important issue to me, since I'm in a fringe area. Most of the digital broadcasts out of Denver are low power from a downtown building, roughly 60 miles to the South/South east of me. The remaining digital broadcasts are less than full power and come from the foothills west of Denver, directly south of me, with lots of foothills in between them and me. So it's challenging to say the least to get a solid signal from here.
On top of all that, the RF signal going to this set is the weakest feed in the house.
My antennae signal goes through a distribution amp that provides direct signals to two ATSC tuners, a Cat's Eye DTA-151 in my HTPC and the built-in ATSC tuner in my Sharp LC-45GX6U. But the output for the Vizio gets passively combined with the VHF channel 3 output from a satellite receiver, and then it gets passively split for two different bedrooms, and then it runs through 100' extra of RG6 before it gets to the Vizio. So I kind of expected the Vizio to have a tough time getting channels solidly.
Well, it surprised me. Despite being on a weaker feed, this TV not only gets everything the other 2 ATSC tuners get, but it also gets one additional station! So it's the best tuner I've got.
Just as a side note, one of my big motivations for getting this set was that it eliminated the last NTSC-only TV in the house, thereby letting me remove the gargantuan and troublesome VHF/UHF/FM antennae from the roof and replacing it with a much smaller UHF/Digital only job.
NTSC TUNER: My only use for the NTSC tuner is for the aforementioned VHF channel 3 signal that I passively combine onto the RF feed that heads to the Vizio. Historically, this passive combining device has never worked all that well, showing of evidence of interference both to and from adjacent VHF channels. But again, the Vizio surprised me, the channel 3 picture is very, very good, not a hint of static or snow or interference. For whatever that's worth.
PICTURE QUALITY: I'd rate it "very good". Is it best in class? Probably not. I'd have to do a side by side comparison to really say, but just from memory, I've seen sets in this size range that are sharper, and better defined. But I have no complaints, it more than meets my needs.
The picture isn't the classic matte finish that I expect from an LCD, nor is is the glossy type that you see in so many plasma's, it's kind of in between. I believe the set has some kind of a glare filter on it, it's advertised as being good for bright areas, that's probably what I'm seeing. Being a bedroom tv used only at night, this is a don't care for me, but could be important for someone using this set in say a camper or other mobile environment that has lots of light. So long as it doesn't hurt the picture while in dark settings, which I don't think it does, that's fine with me.
SOUND QUALITY: This was another surprise for me, it's really good, at least from within 5-6 feet away. During setup I was sitting close and wow, you could really hear the stereo effect, I kept looking to the side of the set expecting to see a speaker. From 10-12 feet away though you lose much of the effect. Still, I'm very satisfied with it.
OTHER THINGS I LIKE:
The "VIZIO" logo at the base of the display lights up dimly when the set is turned off. Very helpful point of reference when I get up in a dark bedroom!
It's got a rudimentary guide built into it. Didn't mess with it much though.
The "panoramic" mode for watching 4:3 on widescreen does a pretty decent job. Normally I watch 4:3 material with a letterbox on each side just because I don't like the distortion of stretch modes. But this one works pretty decent, combining a little stretch with a little zoom. The distortion is not very noticeable.
GRIPES:
Two minor ones. First, and I knew about this before I bought it, the only PC resolution accepted over the HDMI is 640x480, which is pretty damn useless. The only option for connecting it to a PC and getting the full 1366x768 resolution is through the analog RGB. I hate analog. I have no plans at this point to connect it to a computer, but they ought to provide a digital method to connect it and get the full resolution.
Second, the sleep timer only has a 30 minute resolution. So you can select 30-60-90-120 minutes. It oughta be 10 minute resolution.
Overall, I'm very happy with the set.
I'll follow-up with any other interesting things I learn about it.
This is a brand new set, it's major claim to fame is that it's the smallest set out there (as far as I know) that has a built-in ATSC tuner.
I ordered this set about 3 weeks ago. I bought it direct from Vizio as no stores around here stock it. Vizio is probably ramping up as they took a bit to fill the order. No big deal to me.
Price wise, it's not that much less than the 24 to 26" sets with ATSC tuners that are already out there. The main reason I needed something smaller was the WAF. This is our bedroom TV, replacing a tiny 9" AC/DC set we've used for 20 years, and she made it clear she didn't want a big set that would "overwhelm the room". We also needed something small and light enough to mount it on the wall, sticking out on an articulating arm mount. I got the matching arm mount from Vizio as well.
So, I've only fiddled with it for one night, but here are my impressions thus far ...
ATSC TUNER SENSITIVITY: I'd rate it "Excellent". The most sensitive ATSC tuner I've tried yet.
This is a really important issue to me, since I'm in a fringe area. Most of the digital broadcasts out of Denver are low power from a downtown building, roughly 60 miles to the South/South east of me. The remaining digital broadcasts are less than full power and come from the foothills west of Denver, directly south of me, with lots of foothills in between them and me. So it's challenging to say the least to get a solid signal from here.
On top of all that, the RF signal going to this set is the weakest feed in the house.
My antennae signal goes through a distribution amp that provides direct signals to two ATSC tuners, a Cat's Eye DTA-151 in my HTPC and the built-in ATSC tuner in my Sharp LC-45GX6U. But the output for the Vizio gets passively combined with the VHF channel 3 output from a satellite receiver, and then it gets passively split for two different bedrooms, and then it runs through 100' extra of RG6 before it gets to the Vizio. So I kind of expected the Vizio to have a tough time getting channels solidly.
Well, it surprised me. Despite being on a weaker feed, this TV not only gets everything the other 2 ATSC tuners get, but it also gets one additional station! So it's the best tuner I've got.
Just as a side note, one of my big motivations for getting this set was that it eliminated the last NTSC-only TV in the house, thereby letting me remove the gargantuan and troublesome VHF/UHF/FM antennae from the roof and replacing it with a much smaller UHF/Digital only job.
NTSC TUNER: My only use for the NTSC tuner is for the aforementioned VHF channel 3 signal that I passively combine onto the RF feed that heads to the Vizio. Historically, this passive combining device has never worked all that well, showing of evidence of interference both to and from adjacent VHF channels. But again, the Vizio surprised me, the channel 3 picture is very, very good, not a hint of static or snow or interference. For whatever that's worth.
PICTURE QUALITY: I'd rate it "very good". Is it best in class? Probably not. I'd have to do a side by side comparison to really say, but just from memory, I've seen sets in this size range that are sharper, and better defined. But I have no complaints, it more than meets my needs.
The picture isn't the classic matte finish that I expect from an LCD, nor is is the glossy type that you see in so many plasma's, it's kind of in between. I believe the set has some kind of a glare filter on it, it's advertised as being good for bright areas, that's probably what I'm seeing. Being a bedroom tv used only at night, this is a don't care for me, but could be important for someone using this set in say a camper or other mobile environment that has lots of light. So long as it doesn't hurt the picture while in dark settings, which I don't think it does, that's fine with me.
SOUND QUALITY: This was another surprise for me, it's really good, at least from within 5-6 feet away. During setup I was sitting close and wow, you could really hear the stereo effect, I kept looking to the side of the set expecting to see a speaker. From 10-12 feet away though you lose much of the effect. Still, I'm very satisfied with it.
OTHER THINGS I LIKE:
The "VIZIO" logo at the base of the display lights up dimly when the set is turned off. Very helpful point of reference when I get up in a dark bedroom!
It's got a rudimentary guide built into it. Didn't mess with it much though.
The "panoramic" mode for watching 4:3 on widescreen does a pretty decent job. Normally I watch 4:3 material with a letterbox on each side just because I don't like the distortion of stretch modes. But this one works pretty decent, combining a little stretch with a little zoom. The distortion is not very noticeable.
GRIPES:
Two minor ones. First, and I knew about this before I bought it, the only PC resolution accepted over the HDMI is 640x480, which is pretty damn useless. The only option for connecting it to a PC and getting the full 1366x768 resolution is through the analog RGB. I hate analog. I have no plans at this point to connect it to a computer, but they ought to provide a digital method to connect it and get the full resolution.
Second, the sleep timer only has a 30 minute resolution. So you can select 30-60-90-120 minutes. It oughta be 10 minute resolution.
Overall, I'm very happy with the set.
I'll follow-up with any other interesting things I learn about it.
