Vizio VO47L LCD HDTV Review
By Alfredo Padilla
Reviewed.com Editorial Staff
September 30, 2008
The Vizio VO47L is a 47-inch LCD HDTV that is at the low end of the market for TVs this size. Despite the entry-level price of under $1400 the Vizio VO47L showed some flashes of solid performance, although there were some drawbacks as well. The Vizio VO47L is a 1080p television, meaning it can handle the highest quality content currently available.
The Vizio VO47L is nothing to moon over, but it’s not ugly either. We were happy to see four HDMI ports on this entry-level HDTV, and the rest of the ports available should satisfy most buyers. It does lack more uncommon ports like USB or a card reader like some other modern TVs do. All of the ports on the Vizio VO47L are located in a single strip on the back, and we found that they can be a bit difficult to reach.
The audio quality of the Vizio VO47L’s built-in speakers were about average. It’s good enough that most consumers who don’t want to invest in a surround sound setup will be satisfied. That said, you will get significantly better audio quality with even a cheap set of surround sound speakers.
The menu system on the Vizio VO47L is simple and straightforward. The remote the TV ships with is a bit larger than we would have liked, but sits comfortably in your hand and the buttons are easy to push. We do wish the labeling were a bit larger and easier to understand, however.
Performance (Read the full performance results at Televisioninfo.com)
One of the nice things about the Vizio VO47L is that the whites are very bright, something a lot of consumers look for. Unfortunately the blacks are not as impressive, an issue for those who want to watch a lot of dark movies. Color performance was generally good, with only a few minor inaccuracies marring otherwise spot-on performance.
The Vizio VO47L did not perform very well in our test of motion. Video was jerkier than other displays, particularly in fast paced action scenes. This is likely because the Vizio VO47L lacks a 120Hz display, one of the costs of going with a budget TV. Viewing angle was decent for an LCD, and we were able to go out to 39 degrees before the contrast ratio fell below 50%.
Comparisons (Read more in-depth comparisons at Televisioninfo.com)
The Vizio VO47L is an entry-level HDTV that makes compromises that you expect from a less expensive product. In some areas it performed as well or better than more expensive models like Sony BRAVIA KDL-46W4100, particularly in terms of viewing angle. It fell down in some typical LCD areas however, most noticeably in the inability to produce deep blacks. Compare it to a Plasma like the Panasonic VIERA TH-46PZ80U and you’ll see the difference like night and day. For less than $1400, however, many will find the compromises easy enough to live with, both of those other TVs will retail for four to five hundred more than the Vizio VO47L.
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