The Vizio SV470XVT is a 47-inch LCD HDTV that marks new territory for this low-end manufacturer;  priced at between $1300 and $1400, it’s more expensive than their other models, but is still much cheaper than the premium lines of most manufacturers. The Vizio SV470XVT is not a particularly attractive TV, but it’s not ugly either. There’s a glossy black bezel around the display and three speakers are arranged below the bezel. Controls are found on the left side while ports are found on the back and the right.

The ports found on the right side of the Vizio SV470XVT include two HDMI, one component video, an analog video and analog audio inputs. All the other ports, including two more HDMI inputs and an optical audio out are found on the back of the TV on a single strip near the bottom. The ports on the back are not easy to reach, but the ones on the right are if you have devices that you regularly want to connect and disconnect, such as camcorders or cameras.

The Vizio SV470XVT supports full 1080p resolution, which means it will be able to display the highest quality HD content currently available from devices that support it, such as most Blu-Ray players.  Advanced media and connectivity options like a card reader or streaming internet content are not supported, but that’s not surprising for an entry-level HDTV.

The Vizio SV470XVT’s remote is angular and we found it did not balance well in the hand. The buttons are large and clearly labeled. We did find that the infrared sensor on the TV itself was not very sensitive; generally you need to make sure you are pointing the remote directly at the infrared sensor to get a response. The Vizio SV470XVT’s on-screen menu interface was something we liked; it was simple and  attractive, but still offered a reasonable selection of advanced options for tweaking the image quality. We were also happy with the audio quality from the Vizio SV470XVT’s built-in speakers; they produced decent sound at a good volume level.

Performance (Read the full lab performance results at Televisioninfo.com)

The Vizio SV470XVT’s performance in our test of blacks and whites was a mixed bag. We were very happy with the very bright whites we saw and were particularly impressed by how smoothly whites transitioned across brightness levels.

Unfortunately the deepest blacks on the Vizio SV470XVT were not particularly impressive: the deepest blacks were somewhat bright, meaning that dark and gloomy scenes in movies are going to look more like grey and foggy ones. LCD displays like the SV470XVT generally doesn’t produce blacks as deep as well as Plasmas. This poor black level meant that despite the excellent peak brightness the Vizio SV470XVT’s contrast ratio was only middling.

The Vizio SV470XVT did well in our color tests, producing accurate whites and accurately representing different shades of red, green and blue. The range of colors that could be reproduce was not as good, however, with some inaccuracy in the greens. The viewing angle on the Vizio SV470XVT was decent for an LCD display and the matte coating of the screen did not produce any major problems with reflections.
We were very happy with how the Vizio SV470XVT handled motion. Because this is a 120Hz television, we detected only slight blurring and no major artifacts, particularly when we turned on the Smooth Motion features. We would recommend only using this when you are watching content with a lot of motion, however, and keep it on low as things start to turn a bit cartoonish when it is turned up too high.

Power consumption on the Vizio SV470XVT was slightly above average. Using a typical usage of five hours of TV a day with the backlight turned up to a middling level you can expect to pay about $40 per year for electricity.

Comparisons (Read more in-depth comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)

The Vizio SV470XVT performed remarkably well in our tests. The biggest issues were a mediocre black level and a remote that didn’t feel that comfortable in the hand. But for a 47-inch HDTV at this price point ($1300-$1400), these issues were minor, and we were extremely impressed with its overall performance. In fact the Vizio SV470XVT produced brighter, more accurate whites than much more expensive HDTVs like the Samsung LN46A750.

Perhaps more interesting is that it performed better than its sister HDTV the Vizio VO47L across the board, and we weren’t unhappy with that HDTVs performance. Given that the SV470XVT is only a two or three hundred dollars more,  the Vizio SV470XVT a much better pick for those who care about image qualityand an excellent value across the board.