CNET Editor's rating: 6.3 out of 10
Reviewed by
David Katzmaier
Review date: 03/24/06
Release date: 03/20/06
The good: Relatively inexpensive; includes HDTV tuner; accurate primary colors; acceptable initial color temperature; HDMI and PC inputs; adjustable backlight.
The bad: Subpar black-level performance; inconsistent grayscale tracking; no rear S-Video input.
The bottom line: While certainly not suited to discerning low-light viewing, the inexpensive Vizio L32HDTV is a good bargain for people seeking a solid everyday television.
For the last year or so, Vizio's aggressively priced televisions have been selling nicely via its main retail partner, Costco, as well as at other big-box retailers and online. The company's L32HDTV marks a new milestone: it's Vizio's first 32-inch LCD to include a built-in over-the-air HDTV tuner and cost less than $1,000, making it one of the least-expensive of its kind.
The L32HDTV looks exactly like its predecessor, the L32. Its screen is bordered by a black rectangle, which is in turn surrounded by a thin silver strip set back on the top and sides. The silver extends below the screen to form the set's speakers, and the whole thing sits on a silver stand. Including its stand, the L32HDTV measures about 33 by 26 by 11 inches and weighs 43 pounds. We like the set's understated look, although it's certainly not one of the most eye-catching panels out there.
Vizio's remote is typical of what's normally included with budget LCD TVs. Its many nonbacklit keys lack much differentiation, which makes finding the key you want, such as Wide to change aspect ratio, relatively difficult. It offers extensive control of picture-in-picture, though, and can command three other pieces of gear. The set's internal menu system is basic but complete enough; there's only one mode that allows you to change picture parameters, but it's different for each input, so it's really all you need. The three Vivid presets are all basically the same, and while there aren't any choices for different color temperatures, the out-of-box color temperature was accurate enough that we didn't miss 'em (see below). We appreciated the presence of an adjustable backlight, a picture control that's common to some more expensive LCDs.
Not every budget LCD has an HDMI input, so the Vizio's was welcome. The set also includes two component-video inputs and a VGA-style PC input--1,280x768 is the recommended resolution for PC use--along with a pair of composite A/V inputs with S-Video and two screw-type RF jacks, one for the built-in HDTV tuner. We missed having an S-Video input on the rear panel, but a set of A/V inputs on the side includes S-Video.
Aside from that tuner, which allows you to connect an antenna and watch free over-the-air HDTV, the Vizio also boasts a versatile picture-in-picture control. One option lets you view standard-def--but not high-def--inputs in a smaller window while using the PC input for the main screen. There are four aspect-ratio modes available for both HD and standard-def sources. Like almost every 32-inch LCD, the Vizio L32HDTV has a native resolution of 1,366x768, which should be enough to display every detail of 720p HDTV. All incoming resolutions, including standard television, DVD, HDTV, and computer sources, are scaled to fit the pixels.
We began our video-quality tests by measuring the L32HDTV's initial color temperature, and all of the preset picture modes were surprisingly accurate (see the Geek box), if incredibly bright. Indeed, the three presets are actually named Vivid1, Vivid2, and Vivid3, and our light meter pegged the brightest at 357FTl--blinding by any standard, so you'll probably want to turn it down to avoid sunburn. Calibrating the grayscale resulted in marginal improvement, but we were disappointed in the panel's tracking; depending on brightness, the color of gray fluctuated from too reddish and even brownish near black to greenish in the midbright tones. Speaking of color, we did appreciate the accurate primaries, while color decoding was nearly spot-on.
Blacks weren't nearly as deep as those we've seen from other LCDs, such as Sharp's LC-32D4U, and we didn't see as much detail in shadows as we would've liked. During the opening of The Fifth Element DVD, for example, the star field at the beginning was relatively bright, even with the backlight control reduced to zero, and we saw masses of murky dimness on the fuselage of the passing ship instead of fine detail in the hull. We also noticed discoloration in darker areas; space looked a tad brownish, and near-black areas were too red.
Detail via HDMI according to our signal generator was fine for an LCD of this resolution, and the images looked nice and crisp during Leeloo's reconstruction sequence. Afterward, her skin had a realistic delicacy, although again we noticed unnatural slightly greenish areas in midtone shadows under her arms and back, for example. A broadcast of a Big Ten tourney basketball game on ESPN HD looked punchy, well saturated, and sharp. There was a drop in sharpness when we switched to 1080i mode--in general, this set is happiest with 720p high-def.
Switching gears to standard-def, the L32HDTV did a good job quickly engaging 2:3 pull-down, although some of the tests from the HQV disc caused it to render video-based diagonal lines with jagged edges. As a result, you may notice less than smooth edges in some regular TV material that originates on video as opposed to film.
We tested the reception of the set's over-the-air HDTV tuner, and it performed as expected, successfully grabbing all of our New York City local channels and populating the rudimentary EPG with program information.
Overall, the Vizio L32HDTV is a solid performer if you're looking to watch primarily TV and HDTV in high-ambient-light situations. LCDs with superior picture quality are definitely available, but so far we haven't reviewed any that can approach the price of the L32HDTV.
Intro:
The Vizio L32HDTV is a 32-inch, liquid crystal display television.Compared to other liquid crystal display TVs on the market, it is relatively inexpensive at around $780.This unit is an LCD display, which is generally the best kind of flat-panel screen for viewing in brightly-lit rooms.
Noteworthy Features:
Has two tuners, which is considerably more favorable than some similarly priced TVs.(Having two tuners comes in handy when you want to view two broadcasts at once, using PIP.)This unit can display images that are sharper and more realistic than analog television when connected to a high definition signal.The 3:2 pulldown feature of this unit reduces artifacts that can occur when motion pictures are transferred to a digital format such as DVD.
Weaker Features:
Has only a rear connector location.
Suitability:
A liquid crystal display TV, suited for home entertainment as well as work place applications.Also, a wide aspect TV such as this one is ideal for DVD movies recorded in the popular 16:9 format, as well as high definition programming.
Value:
In view of its relatively inexpensive price, this TV has great features for the money.In terms of viewable size, liquid crystal display TVs having similar viewable size have an average cost of around $930.
Suggestions:
(1) Since this TV supports progressive scan video, you probably will want to have a progressive scan DVD player connected to it.This will produce a relatively more "flicker-free" picture, compared to what is produced with conventional DVD players and TVs.(2) For help in understanding the various types of TVs and their features, read David Katzmaier's TV buying guide at CNET Reviews.
Receiving HDTV broadcast:
The three common methods to receive HDTV broadcasts are via satellite-TV set-top box, cable system set-top box, and over-the-air reception from a digital HDTV broadcast station.
True HDTV:
True HDTV programming is broadcast in three resolutions: 720p, 1080i, or 1080p.
Tuner options:
An HDTV-ready satellite or cable box will act as an outboard HDTV tuner for your digital TV set that lacks a built-in HD tuner.
8 out of 10 - Excellent Watch out for this company.
Being a videophile and all I'll give ya the quick heads up.
First thing you should know about this ...
Being a videophile and all I'll give ya the quick heads up.
First thing you should know about this tv. They have a zero bright pixel garrantee. How well their customer service is I'm not sure but that is a better garrantee than any other tv manufactuare has for LCD tv's anyware that I'm aware of. They also have a 1 year onsite tech support if something should go wrong. And one other nice thing is that they are based out of california, I'm not sure where these tv's are made but know that the company headquarters being american based was reassurring to me since I live in the U.S.
Ok on to some things most people don't care about but I found quite impressive. The box the tv came in was amazingly designed in that you unclip 4 plastic clips and the whole top came off with no cutting tape of any kind. This tv had the best instructions and the best packaging I've ever seen. Everything in the manual was easy to understand and the quick guide to the setup was top notch. Any grandmother could set this sucker up in a heart beat. Which is saying alot for the presentation of the packaging.
On to the remote and first impressions. The remote is a universal that you can program it for 4 devices and it's very well laid out and comfortable in the hand. Upon firing up the tv I first tuned in my basic cable channels and then the hd over the air channels. It didn't take very long at all and went very smoothly. The hd tuner picked up all the channels that my media center pc does and the only one I have troubles with is cbs for some reason in chicago they broadcast on vhf and not uhf like all the others. I always have trouble with cbs. I first turned on the hd but nothing in good hd was playing but I did notice that the channel changes were very fast and the tv had a very nice guide description for the hd channels that could be toggled on and off much like using tivo and displaying what is on at the top and being able the minimize it to just show the channel or all the info for what was playing and so on. Next I went on to trying basic cable. It looks ok, merely ok but some channels are much better than others. Like I said I use basic cable and it's not very good. On the bad channels you would kind of get a slight blurring effect but on the good ones that was almost non existent. Later that night I checked out some of the hd shows and noticed that the hd tuner does a adequate job but the picture never quite looks as sharp as the newer bravias or sammys but it does look good overall, just not great.
Onto the 360. I read somewhere that this tv's picture is much crisper on the hdmi than the components and that the difference was more than you would normally notice. After hooking the 360 via components I noticed that the tv didn't have the same clarity as my dell w2600. It was very good and almost as good but you could tell that the dell was better. So next I hooked up the vga adpater, I tried the 1360*768 resolution since the tv is native 1366*768 but for some reason it made picture off center and could not be fixed. I then switched to the 1280x720 res and was really impressed straight away. I made some minor adjustments and then ran the gammut at it. First of I played all my downloaded hd trailers and was blown away. Over the vga it actually now looked better than my w2600. All the videos just popped off the screen. I then played the beginning of Kameo just to check out the colors. It looked fabulous, again I was floored. I then fired up my media center pc and played some of my hd tv shows. Like prison break and house. It's funny because my recorded shows over the MCE actually looked a tiny bit better than what was currently on the hd tuner. After a bunch of playing with MCE, which worked perfectly at the 1280x720 resolution( my prior westinghouse had issues with MCE and the vga adapter) I tried a dvd. That didn't work out so well. For some oddball reason the DVD was not filling up the whole screen. I then tried it with the components and it worked fine but still wouldn't with the vga adapter. I do have another dvd player hooked to the tv so this didn't bother me much.
To sum it up this tv cost me $999, has a great warranty, good hd, ok analog though I was using cable so it might be better with something else. But the most important it has a 8ms response time and plays xbox360 games with no blurring whatsoever and looks incredible doing it. My decision to buy this tv came down to a few things. Could I return it?, Would it play xbox 360 games well?, and would the hd tuner be any good. Well I'm not gonna return it and it plays xbox 360 games superbly using the vga at 1280x720 and the hd tuner is good but merely acceptable to me. It does it's job but will never stun you like the bravias and sammys. My MCE hdtuner actually does a better job.
In the end I'm happy and this is a tv manufacture worth looking out for in the future. With their superb quality I'm sure we'll be seeing more of them.
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by suade907 (see profile) -
April 3, 2006
8 out of 10 - Excellent A very good unit that comes with both standard and HDTV tuners.
I like this set. I think some of the complaints that the CNET reviewers list are quite minor. All-in-all I ...
I like this set. I think some of the complaints that the CNET reviewers list are quite minor. All-in-all I think this is a very good set for the price.
I don't have cable or satellite service; I rely on broadcast signals to get my HDTV. I live near Chicago; I installed a high-quality roof-top antenna and am extremely pleased about the reception and the picture I receive. I tend to agree with the reviewer about how the set may perform better at 720p than at 1080i, but the picture at 1080i is still fine, if not fantastic. Also, the remote is rather difficult to use because of the button size and layout, but nothing that you can't get used to.
I have had the set for about a month and a half and couldn't be happier. I'll never go back to SDTV again.
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by apocaplyseThen (see profile) -
April 12, 2006
11 out of 11 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular This LCD HDTV is NICE!
OK. I have to put my two cents in on this subject. I love this TV! I have only delt ...
OK. I have to put my two cents in on this subject. I love this TV! I have only delt with a Panasonic 42" Plasma and a RCA 32" LCD. All I know is that this TV has a very good picture and sound. This set kills the RCA hands down!!!! I also like the picture better on the LCD than on the plasma because the the picture is so much brighter. I think it has much better sound than the RCA and par with the Panasonic. It has PIP and POP. I love the POP and think I'll be using that most of the time. with PIP I hate that one corner is always covered up at all times. With POP you have two smaller pictures side by side whitch is what I like better. Now too the remote! It is rock solid. I was going to purchase the Logitech Universal Learning Remote for around $120 dollars so I could get all of the menus and other buttons to work unlike other remotes that just give you basic features. The univerasal remote worked on my Cable Bos/DVR, DVD Player and VCR and I got everything to work. NO JOKE! The speed button for the VCR work, all of the setup menus for my equipment worked and all of the extra features for the DVR worked. WOW. Yesterday I put all of my remotes back in my dressser to free up some space and now I don't have to pay so much for all of the batteries used. This is the best part. It was on sale at Walmart for $896 I think? All for under $1000 dollars. I don't think there is any deal out there better than this. I think for anyone this would be a very good HDTV for any where in the house. Hope you like it as much as I do.
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by mekaone (see profile) -
May 8, 2006
4 out of 4 users found this user opinion helpful.
10 out of 10 - Perfect Happy I bought this one
I deliberated for a year and read everything available. I was going to buy the Samsung LNS3251D but my son (...
I deliberated for a year and read everything available. I was going to buy the Samsung LNS3251D but my son (who works in the business)advised me to buy the Vizio. I thought I would be settling for the Yugo car of flat panels. This thing is super. It delivers excellent colors that are vivid. Like others, I bought it at Costco for $ 699. I'm convinced that reviewers like CNET have the best intentions when they write "The bad: Subpar black-level performance; inconsistent grayscale tracking..". Man, I'm sure not seeing it. I have the Vizio connected to a Cox set top box via RGB cables. Watching the Discovery channel is like going to the IMAX. Sold my Sony 27" Wega tube TV on Craigslist for $140 and bought this. One year warranty from Vizio plus Costco friendly return policy makes this a great first step to move into the world of High Def without mortgaging the house.
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by ddudleysr (see profile) -
February 6, 2007
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular Love it..!
$799.00 with built in tuner! Can?t find better for the price. Used in bedroom with a Sony HD ...
$799.00 with built in tuner! Can?t find better for the price. Used in bedroom with a Sony HD 3000 box with DVI to HDMI. Picture is much clearer then in store (CostCo). Grant it it's not as clear as the Sony but its not $1400.00+ either. I will purchase a second one for my daughter?s room. Two 32? LCD for under $1600.00 how can you justify spending more.
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by Twosubmerg (see profile) -
August 19, 2006
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
7 out of 10 - Very good Just picked one up. Happy so far...
I just picked mine up 2 days ago from Wal-Mart, and am quite happy with it so far. It was ...
I just picked mine up 2 days ago from Wal-Mart, and am quite happy with it so far. It was sticker priced at $884, which came to $939 with michigan 6% sales tax. I was a little worried because I've been reading mixed reviews about the set. But I asked Wal-Mart and they said if I wasn't happy with it, I could return it as long as I had the original box and receipt.
I've heard some people complaining about the "black" not being black. Mine does pitch black just fine. My colors are bright and beautiful. My main uses for it are my PC and my XBOX-360. I run both into the VGA port on the back and the results are just beautiful. This is the first LCD system I've owned, so I really have nothing to compare it to. But like I said, I'm quite happy with it so far.
I'm really not going to use it for much TV, because I only get over the air broadcasting. I cancelled the cable a while ago to save a few bucks. I'm sure with a digital cable box it would look tons better, but the over the air viewing isn't anything to brag about. Perhaps if I had one of those newer antennas for it it would be better. If I pick one up, I'll edit my review and let you know how much improvement I get from it.
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by chipps (see profile) -
May 22, 2006
2 out of 2 users found this user opinion helpful.
3 out of 10 - Poor TV died 5 days after one year warranty
Purchased Vizio 32 TV on August 6, 2006 - it died on August 10, 2007. I called the Vizio support ...
Purchased Vizio 32 TV on August 6, 2006 - it died on August 10, 2007. I called the Vizio support desk ( held for 45 minutes) - their answer was "its past the one year warranty - too bad". I did not know Vizio then, but thought it was safe purchase at Sams Club - wish that I had bought another brand
If you buy this unit - get the extended warranty - otherwise you are screwed -
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by JB786 (see profile) -
September 25, 2007
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
8 out of 10 - Excellent So far so good!
I bought the 32" a week ago at Costco, and I'm a happy camper! My roommate's b/f ...
I bought the 32" a week ago at Costco, and I'm a happy camper! My roommate's b/f had bought her one for her b'day last month. I saw it and liked it. Now we each have one in our bedrooms. We were thinking about putting a 42" plasma in the living room but now we're rethinking the 50" Vizio, at less than half the cost of the plasma. We upgraded our Dish service to HD, but even with analog, the picture was great, now it's awesome. For the price, we couldn't ask for better TV. I've got mine connected to a surround sound system, but even without it, the audio is pretty good. My roomie's son plays his X-Box on her set, and the gaming is great. All-in-all, this is a nice TV, and hopefully I won't have to find out how good (or bad) customer service is.
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by akbweb (see profile) -
October 1, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular After reading all the user views and finally purchasing one, I agree this tv ROCKS
After reading some reviews and then checking it out at Costco, I had to get this tv. Costco even had ...
After reading some reviews and then checking it out at Costco, I had to get this tv. Costco even had a $100 dollars off macking this a $700 dollar steal.
I got home and was amazed on the quality of the packaging. If you ever purchase a server this is exactly how they are packaged. I first tried over the air HD, and I got a good picture, not great, but good. I then hooked up the cable, (digital) and had the tv scan for sources. At first i was disappointed, but realized I connected the cable not via my Digital Cable Box, but directly into the TV/CABLE RCA so the TV did not recognize a DTR signal. I change the set up and again very good picture.
My favorite out of the box display was the Vivid 3 setting with the picture set to panormaic.
Now on to HD content. I then connected it via HDMI to my HDTV Converter Box and all I CAN SAY was WOW!!! The performance and image was better then the plasmas at the local Fox Sports Bar. The colors where true(no articfial red, green or blue), crisp on HD and non-HD signals. The only issue was I dont have all my channels in HD. The HD channels consume the entire screen and are surrounded by a gray bar or graphic when commercials or non-HD content is broadcast if you are worried about burn in. The same for non-HD channels. I spent 4 hours just watching ESPNHD and DISCOVER HD. If the 50 inch version is as good as this one, I got a perm replacement for my entertainment room.
DVD image was amazing via S-video, which thankfully my cord was long enough to reach the side, but like I said this became a non issue very quickly. I then set up this tv with a home theater system using an HDMI switcher to control switching of HDMI sources between the cable converter and dvd. My DVD does up-convert the signal so that the tv does not have to.
By this TV you will be amazed and I have yet to run it through a home theater DVD setup to fine tune it.
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by ferrerep (see profile) -
August 28, 2006
1 out of 1 users found this user opinion helpful.
9 out of 10 - Spectacular GREAT so far! $799 @ Sams Club
As a woman on a budget, watching a 20" Apex I wanted a new HDTV that I could afford on ...
As a woman on a budget, watching a 20" Apex I wanted a new HDTV that I could afford on my small budget. I bought the LG 30" CRT for $759 @ Best Buy but had a very bad experience with 2 bad sets (would not power on) and BB customer service. Based on the Cnet review of this set I took a trip to my local Sams and saw the set priced at $799. Sam's was playing sub-par dvd that did not look as good as the more expensive name brand sets but I thought "you get what you can pay for". Since this TV was my budget I decided to settle for 2nd best.
I got the set home, carried it in all by myself, and installed the cable from my digital cable box. I have to admit that I was prepared for a TV that would only be mediocre. I found that I was plesantly surprised. The picture is great. The only drawback I see so far is the quality of the sound; hopefully I will be able to adjust once I have the opportunity to read the manual.
All in all I am pleased. In view of some other consumer reviews I did buy the 3 year service plan for $79 but thought it was a good price since BB and CC are almost $250. 32" LCD HDTV, including the service plan, for less that $900......fantastic.
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by 1redglove (see profile) -
August 8, 2006
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