Reli
Well-known member
Who actually makes Vizio anyway?
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Vizio LED TVs...what say you
- Thread starter gnahc79
- Start date
carries an axe
meat bone meat meat meat
LG right?
mean dad
verum super omnia
I've been keeping an eye on a couple different sites for a new TV. Not sure if I'm going to actually get one or not, but holy smokes are prices good right now! You can get a 32" LCD with a lot of bells and whistles for like a hundred bucks!
Can't wait to see what kind of deals they'll throw out there leading up to, and then after Christmas.
goodness-707
Active member
I have at least one of pretty much every major brand TV to come out in recent years, and even professional production reference displays that are big $$ (I'm in the business). I could yammer on enough about picture quality to make your ears bleed.
A few highlights from this year:
The Sony Bravia XBR950B is a really nice display. Among the best PQ you can get in a consumer display, but it's very expensive.
Samsung introduced a pointer remote that's actually quite good. Not perfect, but really good, and an improvement over most other TV remotes. Maybe limited value if you're feeding the display with a cable box, but it is pretty nice.
Vizio has a new high-end TV coming out soon, called the Reference Series. It's probably gonna be somewhat expensive when it comes out, but I think it'll be quite good, and especially so for its price.
LG introduced Web OS on TVs this year. Again, not perfect, but a positive step in the direction of making Smart TV interfaces that aren't filled with suck.
All of those other things can affect how much you enjoy your TV besides just picture quality, and are worth some consideration.
All digital TVs have scalers. It's a necessary thing, otherwise a 1080p picture would only take up 1/4 of the 4K screen, and you'd have enormous black bands on the sides, top, & bottom. All the TV makers talk about scalers as if they are some sort of proprietary magic, but it's really just a way to resize a smaller image measuring 1920x1080px fit onto a screen with dimensions of 3840x2160px (2*w, 2*h). Each brand wants you to believe that their scalers are double awesome (and some are better than others), but the industry chose those panel dimensions because even integer scaling is pretty easy. There isn't a lot of special sauce there despite what the glossy lit says.
All that aside, the 8550 is a pretty damn good display, and iirc, that's about half of what they were going for in the spring time.
"Makes" is probably not the right word. Its a complex set of business relationships where various components are designed by different companies, integrated into a TV SoC by other companies, and then paired with panels and a few other bits, and mass produced by other companies (most of which the average consumer has probably never heard of). The sets of companies involved aren't necessarily the same from one particular model to the next for a given manufacturer.
It's possible that LG makes some components for some Vizio models, but LG does not private label Vizio TVs.
RS250 Chester
New member
I haven't spoken to my buddy in awhile, but I don't think the TV manufacturing industry has changed much. With that said, there are only a small handful of TV manufacturers in the world, not like the old days. Several brands could be rolling off his factory line at any time of day.
Vizio doesn't manufacture any of their components, they simply source parts from other suppliers. I had to open my Vizio because of a bad board and the board was clearly labeled LG.
Take it with a grain of salt when someone says one brand is better than another (if specs are equal). I do think LG and Samsung use different cases for their components to make them look better, but for internal components when comparing apples to apples, they are all sharing. I would actually be more concerned with warranty.
Vizio doesn't manufacture any of their components, they simply source parts from other suppliers. I had to open my Vizio because of a bad board and the board was clearly labeled LG.
Take it with a grain of salt when someone says one brand is better than another (if specs are equal). I do think LG and Samsung use different cases for their components to make them look better, but for internal components when comparing apples to apples, they are all sharing. I would actually be more concerned with warranty.
To be fair, I love my tv, which is a Vizio, and made with everyone else components. With that being said, I do know of people who've bought the same TV at the same walmart that was crap and had to be retuned for another one.
But, as they say, never buy a car made on a Friday or Monday.
But, as they say, never buy a car made on a Friday or Monday.
All that aside, the 8550 is a pretty damn good display, and iirc, that's about half of what they were going for in the spring time.
lots of good info
. What's your take on how far displays have come? Have the current Vizio displays reached a PQ point where compared to the 8550 (or something similar) the Vizio is actually a better value? Or is a display at the 8550 level worth the extra $$$. For reliability, CR did some sampling a while back and the results were that all of the brands had the same failure rate of about 2-3%.
goodness-707
Active member
lots of good info
Simple answer to your question... yes, I think we get amazing value out of TVs these days. Sure, a lot of what you get for black Friday prices is relatively crappy in terms of PQ, but at the end of the day, you're not watching a test pattern, you're watching a story you love, whether that's the Rose Bowl, Project Runway, or reruns of the Brady Bunch. Watching something on an iPhone elbow-to-elbow on a packed BART train may not be a pristine viewing environment, but I think it's pretty amazing that we have that option if we want it.
The Vizio E series is a great value, and I think back even 10 years ago, $500 didn't buy you shit; probably not even a display model. It amazes me that you can get a 50" Vizio E series for like $600, and its a fully decent TV.
But just the same, 8550 vs E series is not really a fair comparison. The 8550 is a high end UltraHD TV, and the E series is a value oriented 1080p TV. They're not the same class, but they do both offer great value (consider that the 55" 8550 was like 4 grand just a few months ago!). The P series Vizio (or the forthcoming R series) would be a more appropriate comparison to the 8550.
If I were shopping... It would depend on the room it goes in and what sort of content I wanted to look great on it. Party room or man cave, get the Vizio; hell, get two of them at that price! Fancy home theater room with good lighting control and great sound system, spend the coin on a big high-end display like the Bravia 950B, the Samsung 8550, the forthcoming Vizio R series, or one of several other good choices. Sports fanatic, spend a little money on a quality high-end display and you'll get better fast-motion performance. Brightly lit room with lots of windows... money spent on high-end models might not be worth it.
RichC10
New member
Just installed a 60 inch Visio E series yesterday. The picture and sound are outstanding. Setup was easy. One thing to watch is power consumption. One 60 inch Visio we looked at, a 240 Hz model consumed 250w average, the 120 Hz model we bought only consumes 84w. I'm sure the picture quality on the 240 Hz model is probably a little better, but not worth the 3X power consumption in my opinion.
^ Good point. Those bigger sets do make the electric meter spin. I have a LG 55 and it uses 120 watts. *Don't buy a LG, their picture quality sucks.
Funny thing though is that LG makes most of the displays for the other manufacturers, samsung etc. To maintain their display biz, the pic quality is intentionally dumbed down on sets with their name. My next one will be a Sammy or a Vizio and I'll pick one up on Black Friday.
Funny thing though is that LG makes most of the displays for the other manufacturers, samsung etc. To maintain their display biz, the pic quality is intentionally dumbed down on sets with their name. My next one will be a Sammy or a Vizio and I'll pick one up on Black Friday.
1footdown
a little gimpy
Personally, I don't like the remotes / menu functions on the Vizio tvs. I also think that the lower priced sets like LG and Vizio have lower color brightness / contrast and more pixelated images during a 'moving' image as compared to the higher priced sets like Sony or Samsung, even when they have the same refresh rate.
To me, it's like a Hyundai vs a Honda. Or a Corolla vs. a Civic.
Says the guy with the ninja 650.
To me, it's like a Hyundai vs a Honda. Or a Corolla vs. a Civic.
Says the guy with the ninja 650.
Makes sense. I think a Vizio E or M series should be good enough...but the 8550 is still very appealing
. We have a living room with two large windows in one corner. In the evening or movie time all the lights are off except for a small light bar behind the display. Viewing is nearly all broadcast/Directv: dramas, sitcoms and kids shows. The occasional sports game as well. I do have a small 5.1 HT system with an old denon receiver and Energy speakers (connoisseur for the L,C,R and take 5 for the rear).I went to Best Buy yesterday and tried to compare the Vizio M vs the 8550 for a Directv feed. The brightness on the 8550 was cranked up so high that I could not make a good comparison
. The Vizio M and P (their 4k) look nearly identical though. I could only tell a difference when I was way too close for normal viewing...3 ft for a 55" and 60" display. At 8 ft they were the same.
Kestrel
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I got frustrated with the TV lineup as I always bought Samsung and learned that they now source their panels from multiple manufacturers, some of which are good and some of which are crappy and it's very difficult to tell which one you're getting. The Vizios seem great for the money and if you want to get to that higher echelon of PQ then you have to spend considerably more money. After my last TV broke, I said screw it and went to a projector system and never looked back.
Can't argue with a 120" screen. Really makes 3D movies worth it too.
Can't argue with a 120" screen. Really makes 3D movies worth it too.
MC BumSlap
Big Belly Bum Scud
The last two TV's I bought, I looked at Vizio...ended up getting a Samsung both times.
corndog67
Pissant Squid
According to quite a few sources, Sony (used to be my favorite electronics brand) is just barely staying out of bankruptcy. Might not want to buy their products if they are going under.
JesasaurusRex
On a break
If you haven't picked one up yet this is the last year anyone is making a plasma tv. Most manufacturers have stopped already. Picked up a 60" Samsung off their website for 699 plus tax and free shipping. Think the special is still going on and I'd recommend that route. No bells and whistles but you can get smart features built into your blu ray player if that's something you're looking for. 4k is pretty much a gimmick right now unless you sit ridiculously close to the screen or buy something a bit bigger than you're thinking about. Then Ofcourse there's still really no content anyways so I think your money should be spent on something other than worrying about resolution. Plasma shits on LCD displays in almost every single category, pays to do a little research. Also you do have to look at part numbers for some lower end tv's since the panels come out of a lottery as was stated by Rel earlier. Good luck!
Last edited:
Removed 4
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- Nov 29, 2008
We bought the 50" smart tv a few months ago. We are pretty happy with it. The reason we went with Vizio is that my hospital has them everywhere. Hundreds of them. In patient rooms, in lobbies, in the cafeteria. I never see them being replaced or worked on. I have been there for over two years and do not recall having an issue with one.
That sold me.
That sold me.