Though VIZIO has grown significantly in the past two years, they are still a fairly lean company in the fact that they do not manufacture a wide range of models in any one size.
For example, currently, the VO37L is one of only four 37" HDTVs from VIZIO. All of them are 720p TVs. VIZIO doesn't produce Full HD 1080p TVs smaller than 42". Then again, when I'm viewing 37" TVs, I don't especially feel pixel envy with a 720p display.
We are in the midst of a roundup of 37" LCD HDTVs from different manufacturers. We will review each individually and then aggregate our opinions in a comparison article. This VIZIO is the fourth one in the corral. (You can read the review of the first, an LG 37LG50, here, the second, a Samsung LN37A550, here and the third, a Toshiba REGZA 37RV530U, here.)
(Editor's Note: VIZIO also makes the VO32L, which has similar specs to the VO37L and this review can be applied to it also. The VO37L is available at Costco, Sam's Club and BJ's. The VU37L has similar specs and can be found at Target, Circuit City, Sears, and Dell.)
This VIZIO sports a dual textured bezel, which measures less than two inches on the sides and top. The inside bevel of the frame is a glossy piano black. Then comes a matte black grid texture with a narrow outer lip of glossy black.
The almost four inch deep TV weighs less than 37 pounds with its non-swivel stand.
Recessed on the right side of the VO37L is a convenience panel with an HDMI In, a Component In, a set of Composite inputs and a Headphone stereo minijack.
Unlike most new TVs, VIZIO is still mounting the larger connection panel on the back and facing it down, which makes plugging in the cables more difficult. This 37" TV is not that troublesome to twist around, but it's still would be easier if the connections were facing out.
The panel contains two HDMI inputs (with one set of stereo Audio Ins), one Component input (YPbPr) with matching stereo Audio In, one VGA (15 pin D-Sub) with a minijack Audio In, one Composite (with Audio), a digital Audio Out (optical), a stereo analog Audio Out and a Service Port.
(This diagram of the panel has been split and stacked for the sake of readability.)
The one RF antenna input connects to integrated NTSC/ATSC/QAM tuners. Since the tuner system is Clear QAM compatible, you can attach your cable TV signal directly into the RF connector and tune in unscrambled cable stations.
The VO37L does not offer a USB port to upload JPEG and MP3 files to the TV. Nor does it have an Ethernet port to connect to your home computer network or the Internet, but none of the 37" TVs we are reviewing does have this feature.
VIZIO does offer both Picture-in-Picture and Picture-outside-Picture capabilities with controls for sizing and positioning insets. You are limited in the combinations of sources. For example, you cannot PIP two HDMI sources.
The remote control is unusual because of its size. Most remotes measure about 8 or 9" long. The VO37L remote is a compact 6 1/4" in length. It can pull off this shrinkage because it isn't a multi-function control. Therefore it doesn't contain the extra buttons for operations like DVD playback.
If you are wondering where the Menu button is, it's the orange and white V, which lights up when you press any of the buttons. Beyond that, the remote is not backlit.
We have begun to measure the power consumption of our review units. Our process is straightforward. We plug the TV into a watt meter, called Watts up? Pro, and take a simple sampling of readings during the playback of a full screen video clip.
The first measurement is at the TV's default picture settings, which are often some form of Vivid, which is exactly the label that VIZIO uses. This is usually a high number because it takes more power to maintain a bright picture.
Our Power Consumption measurement at the Vivid default was between 160 and 161 watts. In their specifications, VIZIO states the Power Consumption as 200W (max).
We also take a reading after we adjust the picture to our preference, which is a much less bright image. The power consumption dropped to the range between 80 to 81W. Of course, depending on how you like to set up your TV, your mileage may vary.
We found that if you simply changed to the Standard default, the reading dropped to about 130W.
Finally, we turn off the TV and measure how much power it is using. Many older TVs still suck a lot of electricity even when they are switched off. When Off, this VIZIO doesn't even register on our meter. And indeed, they state that in Standby the consumption is less than one watt. Start up time from Standby is about six seconds.
To calibrate the monitor, we use the the Blu-ray version of the Digital Video Essentials DVD called HD Basics. We are playing the DVD on a Pioneer BDP-94HD Blu-ray player connected to the HDTV with an HDMI cable.
We use the test patterns to adjust black level, white level, and color bias. When we were testing the VO37L with the other 37" HDTVs, we usually set the player to output a 1080p signal. As I mentioned, this VIZIO's Maximum Resolution.' class=gloss>native resolution is 720p, but it does accept 1080p signals. When we were just setting up this TV, we told the Blu-ray player to output 720p.
The Picture menu provides the basic adjustments, Contrast, Brightness, Color (Saturation), Tint (Hue), Sharpness, and Backlight. When it comes to Picture Mode presets, VIZIO was in the sporting mood and offers Custom, Standard, Movie, Game, Vivid, Football, Golf, Basketball and Baseball. I'll leave it to you to switch between the modes and see if you can perceive the differences in color and sharpness.
I picked Custom and began by turning down the Backlight.
Next, I found the Color Temperature controls in the Advanced Video menu. You have four choices, Cool, Medium, Warm and Custom. The default is Cool, which is the 9300K setting. I chose Custom.
Under each option are Red, Green, and Blue sliders that allow you to fine tune the color. After I set Brightness, Contrast, Color, and Tint, I came back to this menu and lowered Green a little to fix a slight greenish shadow that I was seeing.
For me, the biggest adjustment from the defaults was Color, which I turned down because the picture was simply too saturated for my tastes. Even with the Color lowered, the soccer pitch in the Olympics was realistically green. At the higher setting, it tended to look overly fertilized.
It didn't take long to dial in a totally satisfactory picture. If you wish to tweak further, in the Advanced Video Features, VIZIO includes Color Enhancement, Advanced Adaptive Luma and Enhanced Full On/Off contrast measures the ratio of the light output of an all white image (full on) and the light output of an all black (full off) image. 2) ANSI contrast is measured with a pattern of 16 alternating black and white rectangles. The average light output from the white rectangles is divided by the average light output of the black rectangles to determine the ANSI contrast ratio. When comparing the contrast ratio of video devices make sure you are comparing the same type of contrast. Full On/Off contrast will always be a larger number than ANSI contrast for the same video device." class=gloss>Contrast Ratio. I like to leave these Off or in a neutral state when I am doing my initial setup.
When compared to the other 37" TVs lined up in our testing facility, the picture quality of the VIZIO VO37L held up very well. The colors are rich, while skin tones are true.
One of the questions is how does this 720p TV compare to the 1080p sets? If it is a matter of detail or sharpness, I can't see a difference - at least not at a normal viewing distance. Perhaps if you pulled out your monocle and went nose to screen, you could say that the 1080p TVs were sharper.
Once again, with standard definition material, I saw a tendency for this TV to crush the blacks, which makes the image look muddy. But, come on, we are talking about standard definition, which for me is synonymous with mud.
High definition content looks very good. I'm watching Tarsem Singh's visually compelling The Cell, and I'm pleased with the rendition. I just wish the screen were larger, which in its way is a compliment.
All LCDs like to claim that they have a 178 degree viewing angle, but in practice, you wouldn't want to seat your most obnoxious neighbor that far off center. The image simply is too washed out. With the VO37L, you experience this problem more on the vertical than the horizontal. If you are looking from above or below, the image deteriorates rather quickly. It is much better from the sides.
I connected my laptop through the VGA Out to the TV's VGA In. The highest compatible resolution is 1366 x 768, which is the TV's native resolution. The PC input has its own limited set of picture adjustments. After dropping Backlight to 50, reading Internet pages was comfortable.
The audio performance from the integrated pair of 12W speakers was good enough to make you wish it was better. I always hoped that I could make one more adjustment to squeeze out sound that would make me forget about a separate dedicated audio system.
The Audio menu has presets titled Flat, Rock, Pop, Classic and Jazz. If you open up the five band Equalizer, you will see how those modes differ. I like to turn down the higher frequencies. I also felt that the Surround feature made voices less distinct, so I turned it Off.
But as I said, no matter what I tried, I was never totally satisfied with the audio. It's definitely decent enough for viewing the Olympics and Oprah. But if you are planning on watching Chariots of Fire or The Color Purple, then be a champ and spring for an AV receiver and a good set of speakers.
The VO37L's video performance may surprise videophiles who turn up their noses at a 720p TV. For the rest of us hoi polloi, this VIZIO provides a value alternative to 1080p TVs.
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