Component Reviews
Vizio P50HDTV10A 50” Plasma Television
A tremendous value - to better this set's features you'd literally have to spend twice as much or more.
Published on April 01, 2007
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Vizio P50HDTV10A 50” Plasma Television
SRP: $1900
VIZIO, Inc.
39 Tesla
Irvine, CA 92618
949-428-2525
888-Vizio-23
888-849-4623
www.vizio.com
Basic Description
50” plasma television; integrated NTSC (standard definition)/ATSC (digital high definition)/QAM (cable) tuner; 1366x768 pixel resolution with pixel/dot pitch .81mm x .81mm; 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i compatibility; PC resolutions: 1366x768, 1280x720, 124x768, 800x600; 170 degree viewing angle; PIP and POP; 10,000:1 rated contrast; inputs: RF (x1), s-video/composite video & stereo audio (x2), component & stereo audio (x2), RGB and stereo audio [shared w/ HDMI] (x1) & HDMI & stereo audio (x2); outputs: optical, stereo audio, headphone (on 3.5mm jack); DCDi by Faroudja; stereo speakers with built-in 10W (x2) amp; 60,000 rated panel life; remote control; TV stand; 122 pounds or 108 pounds w/o stand; 48.8” x 34.3” x 12.2” w/ stand (included); 48.8” x 33.5” x 3.89” w/o stand, one-year parts and labor on-site warranty. Additional warranties are available for $250 (2-year), $300 (3-year), and $350 (5-year). Build version G46 (November 2006) with firmware v 50.2.9714.
Associated Equipment
Marantz DV4001 DVD player, NAD T515 DVD player, Mitsubishi HS-U580 S-VHS VCR, Audioquest and Revelation cabling, Terk TV55 powered HD antenna.
Setup and Operation
Unpacking and Mounting. Unpacking this TV is definitely a two-man job. I had some friends bring it up the stairs and help me put it up on a credenza. I didn’t plan to mount it on the wall (although that is what most people do), so it was nice to have the stand included. Vizio offers an inexpensive universal flush wall mount for only $90, a universal tilting wall mount for $100, and a universal swing arm wall mount for $350.
Installation Options. Additionally, Vizio offers a few different levels of installation for their TVs or for those who are interested in getting an HDTV antenna. The basic plan includes TV setup and connection to a local home theater system, programming of the included remote and one other remote, 20 minutes of instruction, and 90 days warranty on the installation for $250. Deluxe installation includes the basic plan plus wall mounting the TV and surface mounting the cables for $300. The premium plan includes concealing video and audio cables in a standard frame wall and concealing the power cable with track molding. HD antenna installation is available for $300. There are also breaks in price for combinations.
Connection. This TV has a bevy of connections for all sorts of sources components—both digital and analog. It lacks an RS-232 or IR input for a hardwired control connection (which may not be a big deal based on the likelihood that the set will be used in that type of system). The quick start guide has an excellent, detailed, colorful chart that explains connectors and audio/video signal choices. The areas on the TV are actually color-coded to allow for easier connection. The location of the TV in my installation was low to the ground, so it was difficult to see the inputs. If it were on the wall it would have made things much easier.
Channel Setup. First-time tuner setup included having the Vizio search for channels for both the standard definition and digital/high-definition channels. I’ve never used a television like the Vizio where the digital channels and non-digital channels were actually separate inputs on the TV. I ran into a couple issues (that can be circumvented in most cases). The P50 only has a single RF input, yet I had a feed from the cable (no box) and a dedicated HD antenna. I didn’t have a diplexer handy, so I used the VCR as a standard definition tuner (and used AV1 as an input) and left the HD antenna connected to the RF input—I still had to change inputs on the TV—but, now I had to change inputs on the Vizio remote as well. (Some TVs offer two RF inputs to eliminate the hookup issue).
The Remote. There is nothing all that special about the supplied remote. It will control four devices although I had difficulty pushing the set button—it got dislodged and I had to play around with it. It’s lightweight, is not backlit, has smallish sized buttons, and sensitivity is just okay. Since there are multiple sets of input types (i.e. two component ins, two composite ins, etc), if you have two devices of the same type you have to push the button twice. The TV is very slow to respond—there was many a time where I thought I hadn’t pushed a button hard enough, but it was just a delay from the TV. The manual has a complete section on remote operation and should take care of any questions. I was okay with it, but my fiancé hated it. If you can afford to buy this television, then a high quality remote control should be your very next purchase.
The Manual. The manual is quite dense, but has color pictures, hookup diagrams, and tons of information that will help the end-user get the most out of their TV. It includes extensive sections on source connection, menu navigation, cleaning the TV, and troubleshooting. Some of the sections are bit difficult to understand (like the viewing mode section), but most are simple enough.
Pixel Structure. With digital displays there is always a visible pixel structure. The question is at what distance is it noticeable? Some technologies (and specific displays) have more visible pixel structure while, with others, a viewer can be but a few feet from the screen and not see visible pixels. With this TV when I was 10-11’ away there was no visible pixel structure. At closer distances, especially on scenes with large areas that had single bright colors/white, the viewer had the sense of the area not being wholly solid and smooth.
Optimizing the Picture. I used the AVIA test disc in the P50’s Custom mode to adjust for a better picture. Each input will save picture settings, so you have to make these adjustments multiple times. I concentrated on the HDMI and component inputs for the DVD player. Additionally, I experimented with a free colorimeter software analysis program called HCFR. The HCFR team offer their own probe, but the software also supports 3rd party probes like the popular Spyder II, the EyeOne, and the DTP94 (which I have). The program has measurements for brightness, grayscale, color, and charts and graphs to help visualize how close or far away your display is from where it should be. The software is available here, and is supported in the AVS Forum Calibration area.
I asked the representative from Vizio if there were any service codes, but he said he was not aware of any. When I measured grayscale with the software I observed a curve that was well above the NTSC standard of 6500K. From 20-30 IRE it was tracking in the 8000K range and rose to 9000K by 40 IRE. By the time it reached 100 IRE the color temperature was close to 9500K. By playing with the advanced color controls I was able to bring the grayscale to within +/- 400K from 40 to 100 IRE. It sloped downward to about 5300 towards the bottom of the scale. The picture did have a much warmer look after the adjustment. Some people may prefer something in between. Reds, blues, and greens were all slightly oversaturated.
Features
Picture Adjustments. Like many sets these days, the Vizio offers preset picture modes: Game, Sports, Custom, Vivid, and Movie. Within each of these settings are the categories brightness, contrast, saturation (which are fixed except for the Custom mode), and hue and sharpness. Additionally, there is a noise reduction adjustment with 16 steps that are related to motion, and a digital adjustment with 64 steps. Fleshtone is adjustable—high, medium, low, and off. There is also a dynamic contrast adjustment setting (0,1,2,3) and an advanced custom color setting for red, green, and blue. Note: Each input can have a different picture mode and Custom settings can be different each input.
The Game mode was the most natural looking setting straight out of the box. Sports mode was a little brighter but didn’t have blown out blacks like the Vivid mode. Overall, it was a tad brighter than the Game mode and should help when viewing sports. Vivid was fairly bright, but blacks were washed out—perhaps this mode might work well with a lot of ambient light. The Movie mode was too dark—even with the lights off. It was very warm in character, but shadow detail was compromised. The Custom mode allows access to all the picture settings and will be best for those who are willing to take some time and adjust their TV.
I tried the noise reduction, but it seemed unnecessary and just added artifacts. If you use these, I would recommend only using them a tad. Fleshtone I set to off as I normally find these controls make fleshtones artificial when everything else is set properly. Dynamic contrast at 1 seemed to improve blacks, but you will need to experiment.
Aspect Ratio Adjustments. The aspect ratio modes were different depending on the input being used. There is a panoramic mode (a stretching mode that stretches more at the ends and less at the center) available for S-video and composite video inputs and normal (4:3), wide (16:9), and zoom (an expanding mode) available for the other sources (with the exception of the RGB—it doesn’t have the Zoom option). The aspect ratio mode DOES NOT stay with each input or after the power is turned off. I would frequently have the TV set to normal and then it would default back to wide when the TV came back on. Also, when I had the DVD set to wide and switched back to TV the mode would need to be changed back to normal. I wished it worked like the picture modes.
PIP and Effects. This TV offers a few picture-in-picture options, setting it apart from some of the competition. There is a setting for large, small, and side by side, as well as positioning choices in each corner. You have the typical swap option to trade the sound source and freeze and zoom functions.
Audio. Since I’m in a temporary residence (due to an ongoing home remodel), this is the first time I’ve actually used the audio inside a television on a regular basis. The TV offers bass and treble adjustments (that I didn’t use), balance (ditto), SRS (uh-huh), auto volume, and a way to turn the internal speakers off and then output either a fixed or variable signal. When I first began listening to the set with Pirates of the Caribbean 2 I thought there was something wrong with the set. It was difficult to hear dialogue and loud portions sounded muffled or cut off and then expanded at the same time—very strange. It turns out this had to do with the auto volume being on. Turn this off! Other than that the sound is decent and very usable with a good amount of bass considering the size of the speakers.
Miscellaneous Adjustments. The Vizio offers an image cleaner that has white bars sweep across the screen. The manual cautions about leaving static images on the screen for lengthy periods of time and this panel seemed to have longer retention than other screens I’ve used. When I pushed a button on the DVD player that brought a small white box on the screen it would take more than 10 seconds for it to go away. Eventually I would start watching something else, so it wasn’t such a big deal and the image never permanently burned in—although it was some cause for concern. I would be more careful with this set and make sure to use the cleaner periodically.
Viewing I – SD and Videotape
Believe it or not I still have a VCR for recording off-air TV. I’ve been waiting for over two months to get a high definition cable recorder from the cable company and it still isn’t here. In any case, with the VCR playing via the RF out on the Vizio the picture was black and white! There was no problem passing the signal through (with the VCR off) and the signal was fine coming out of the audio and composite video outputs, but I can’t explain this strange behavior. (The VCR worked fine hooked up this way with the previous display.)
There isn’t much to report about standard definition programming. The feed comes from the cable company and it’s noisy on some channels and better on others. Having a large TV makes any inadequacies with SDTV quite obvious. With some programming when a person’s mouth moved there were visible stair-steps. This was the only place I noticed this strangely enough. Video was worse than what I was used to with the 25” CRT direct view television I was using previous. I was anxious to get the HD antenna hooked up so I could view the digital feeds. Even when programs weren’t in HD there was no noise which made the image look distinctly better with the DTV feed and HD was a revelation.
Viewing II – HD
Even the box the Vizio came in warns against not taking full advantage of the TV unless it is hooked up to an HD signal. A powered Terk HD antenna was the immediate solution. HD broadcasts looked fantastic. I had to get used to getting to the DTV input on the TV, but it wasn’t too big a problem. A bigger problem was the fact that I could not receive KCET, the local PBS channel. KCET has some excellent HD programming—travel and food shows, concerts, documentaries—you name it! I re-ran the channel search and still couldn’t get it. I did a localized search near channel 28 and the P50 said it found a channel, but it would not appear in the listing.
The sound of the digital broadcasts was much lower than the standard broadcasts, so if you switch between the bands often it will be necessary to readjust the volume. On the digital channels the Vizio shows signal reception resolution, data (if available), audio track, run time, channel, and signal source information.
The quality of the display was good enough that I could tell the difference between better and lesser quality HD broadcasts. For instance, The Unit looked excellent while Veronica Mars only looked great. And the garbage (Wicked Wicked Games) that they play on My Network TV 13 looked gorgeous. For those holding out on getting HD…what are you waiting for?
Viewing III – DVD
I didn’t have access to a Blu-ray or HD-DVD player at the time of this review, so all my comments refer to standard definition DVD with and without upsampling. I used the Marantz player via HDMI and ran into a problem: green and purple splotchiness and pixelation in dark areas that seemed to disappear in brighter scenes. I wasn’t sure of the trouble until I replaced the HDMI cable and the problem went away. I had borrowed another DVD player (the NAD) in case the problem was the player. With the Marantz I was able to get sound (from the HDMI cable) through the television, but with the NAD I was not. I hate HDMI. [You're not alone...Ed.]
I tried switching between 480p and 1080i output on the player, but there wasn’t much difference. I also went back and forth between component video and HDMI connections. There was more difference here, but it wasn’t huge. With the DVD players I’ve used there isn’t usually enough of an advantage to use the digital connection. The image was slightly sharper with the HDMI while the component connection had a slightly softer look. With some video I actually preferred the component, but the HDMI connection was slightly sharper.
With chapter seven from Art School Confidential it was easy to see the limitation of plasma technology in the area of false contouring. With early plasma televisions this problem was severe. With the higher-end plasmas today this issue is mostly resolved. With the Vizio it was still noticeable on areas of the picture with darker, solid colors as they went from low light levels and grew brighter (or darker). In this scene it was visible on the chairs and in the background when there was a closeup on Anjelica Huston. Another place to see this effect is chapter nine as the two guys walk into the alley. If you focus on the ground as they move closer to the camera the blackness shimmers and toggles in level between dark and not-so-dark.
Another tough scene for plasmas is the under-water sequence from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (chapter 19). You might at first think the issues were DVD related, but other technologies I tried do not exhibit the effect: DLP front projection, CRT rear projection, and direct view. There were bands of shifting color visible in the background. Also, examining very bright areas next to much darker areas showed the same contouring/dithering problem mentioned above. These effects were visible with both the analog and digital video connections. On the whole, the image was softer than I’ve seen on the best displays. Contrast was good (with the exception of the issues discussed) and once the color was brought under control, looked pleasant.
Some of the material I watched was black and white like It’s A Wonderful Life. I watched a section from chapter three and found the picture to be perfectly fine. I was able to change the aspect ratio so that the picture appeared in the correct shape (1.33:1). There is a zoom function available for those who want to use more (or all) of the screen on the P50 if there is a large border all around.
Conclusion
Nitpicking aside, the Vizio P50 is a tremendous value--you could easily spend as much or more for a 42” plasma and not get a significantly better image. The panel is solid and handsome, the set has a built-in off-air HD tuner, has tons of inputs, and comes with a pedestal stand so you can set it up right out of the box. In comparison with more expensive sets you lose a little sharpness, color definition, the set has more obvious posterizing/false contouring, and video processing on standard definition material isn’t as good. However, to better the set in all these areas you’d literally have to spend twice as much or more. I haven’t seen any other 50” flat panel that can compete with the P50HDTV10A near this price.
-- Brian Bloom
big_brian_b@hotmail.com
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