Vizio 47 LCD GV47LF Review
The good: Inexpensive for a 1080p LCD; accurate primary colors; includes user-menu grayscale adjustments; slick styling with touch-sensitive buttons; ample connectivity.
The bad: Produces relatively light color of black; grayscale somewhat blue even after adjustment; no dot-by-dot aspect-ratio mode with 1080i sources.
The bottom line: Although its image quality still can't compete with the plasma competition, the 1080p Vizio GV47LF HDTV is a fine bargain for folks who want an LCD TV.
Native resolution, which on HDTV spec sheets usually refers to the number of physical pixels used to create the picture, comes in two basic flat-panel LCD flavors: 1,366x768 and 1,920x1,080. The latter, known as 1080p, has become increasingly common even among relatively inexpensive models, and Vizio's GV47LF HDTV is one example. Another is the Westinghouse LVM-47w1, which we reviewed last October and considered a good value. The Vizio has better styling and a more consumer-friendly feature set compared to the Westinghouse, and while both offer decent, if not spectacular, picture quality, we give the slight nod to the Westinghouse. Both sets also compete directly against similarly priced 50-inch plasmas, such as Vizio's own P50HDM and Panasonic's TH-50PH9UK, both of which scored better in our performance tests. But if you definitely want a 1080p LCD, and the slicker looks and built-in HDTV tuner of the Vizio appeal to you, then the Vizio 47 LCD GV47LF HDTV is still a solid bargain.
Vizio's 47-inch SV470XVT LCD HDTV reviewed
You may remember Vizio's 47-inch SV470XVT from CES, but given the barrage of releases since then, we're betting not. In order to refresh your memory, we're pointing you to a CNET review that finds the set decent for the price, though not nearly good enough for true videophiles. Granted, that's exactly what we'd expect to hear about a "bargain" set, but we digress. On the plus side, the color was deemed "highly accurate," and the gracious amount of picture adjustments / ports were swooned over. The only digs were its less-than-stellar black level performance, poor off-angle viewing and "somewhat pedestrian design," though we'd argue that last tidbit is mighty subjective. All in all, the HDTV managed a 7.3 out of 10, suggesting that it's probably just right for those not looking for the Grand Poobah.