zacmccormick

zacmccormick: #vizio_xvt_series AMAZING unit. If you want all of the latest technology for $1000 less than the big names, buy this TV. I've owned it for about a month now and I'm completely satisfied. I did tons of research on LCD panels, and to put it simply, there is no other LCD available with these specs for this price ($1399 at SamsClub). The only other LCD panels offering 120Hz technology are all over $2000, most closer to $3000.

Really the only spec this TV is lacking compared to Sony/Samsung/Sharp equivalents is the contrast ratio, which is a complete crock anyways. Notice the term "Dynamic" in the big names marketing materials when referring to contrast ratio, which is another word for "artificial". They are artificially creating contrast by altering the back-light and performing image processing to make it appear to have more contrast. It's somewhat analogous to the digital vs optical zoom in cameras, whereby they are faking better hardware with software tricks. There aren't that many manufacturers of the actual LCD panels themselves, so I would venture to say that it's probable the actual panels are nearly identical between all of the vendors.

I've read numerous reviews (both negative and positive) about the XVT series, and most of the negative reviews I guarantee are the result of low quality video sources/players. This is probably partially due to the type of person that tends to buy the lower-priced products, they aren't going to be as informed as the people buying the $6000 plasmas. For instance, I've seen complaints about picture quality/jaggies while playing DVDs from the Xbox360. This will happen on ANY TV, because a.) The video isn't HD, and b.) the Xbox360 does a poor job at 1080p upscaling. I experienced this exact same thing. When I played a standard-def DVD I was left unimpressed. Then I played a high-bitrate 1080p video and I was completely blown away at the quality. If the quality does get better than this, it would be negligible and certainly NOT worth $1000+.

If you are thinking about dropping the extra $1000 for the Sony/Samsung/etc, take some advice from a technology guru, it aint worth it. You are paying $1000 for extra software/firmware features you dont need (Samsung 120Hz LCDs have an RSS reader built in for NO REASON) and you are also paying for an artificial contrast ratio (trust me, the XVT contrast ratio is stellar). I am incredibly happy with my purchase and it feels great to buy from an American company. Nov 26, 08