Vizio VW46LF Flat Panel LCD TV Review
VW46LF - 46″ Full High Definition Flat Screen LCD Television from Vizio
The Vizio VW series is the entry level line of LCD Televisions by Vizio meant to get the people into the HD world at an affordable price. With a 1080p resolution and HDMI inputs the VWs meet the standards expected out of a modern high-def television, with display specifications comparable to other manufacturers in the high end. Located above the VW series is the Evolution line of sets that offer more HDMI inputs, better specifications with more features such as picture-in-picture and also aims at providing excellent picture quality and aesthetics and at the same time providing good value for money to the consumer . This series was updated early in the year 2008 by the announcement of new additions to VW by Vizio.
Body and design:
The Vizio VW46LF Flat Panel LCD TV has a 46 inch LCD display. It has an extremely stylish looks. It does not look like any of its previous models as VW46LF has a complete piano black bezel frame and weighs an average 53 pounds. This high gloss black frame and stand of the Vizio VW46LF Full High Definition LCD TV is very attractive. The under mounted speakers have a patented V shaped design. The framing bezel is 1.7 inches on top and about 2 inches on the sides and the under mounted speakers being about 4 inches. The total depth of the unit is about 4 inches. The only real drawback with the design is that light reflecting off the frame can be distracting while viewing.
The remote control:
The Vizio remote has an optimal size. It has a glossy black finish which is not usually preferred for a remote control. The backlighting is absent which makes it almost impossible to operate the remote in dark areas. The layout is also not logical, this remote is a failure in many regards.
Connectivity:
The Vizio VW46LF Flat Screen LCD Television has 3 HDMI inputs and it also supports a VGA 15 pin input. NTSC and ATSC are the two colour systems of Vizio VW46LF LCD TV. Connectivity in this model are HDMI 1.3, component, tuner, RGB, S-Video and composite.
The menu:
The Vizio VW46LF Wide Screen LCD TV does not have discrete picture settings for different inputs which is a major drawback. But the manual is good with an attractive layout and design. Numerical values are provided for the picture settings. The menu is easy to navigate only for people who have previous experiences with these kind of menus. There is a lip sync feature included.
Features:
The good looks of Vizio VW46LF is well complimented by its exquisite features too. As is the case of the other wide screen LCD tvs from vizio, VW46LF also features a full 1080p resolution with 1920 x 1080 pixels. LCD comes preset to standard picture quality setting out of the box. The Vizio V46L has a contrast ratio of 2000:1, which is a poor ratio especially for a 1080p TV.
Performance:
Jerky and blur:
The pictures looked good and solid on the Vizio. There are noticeable greenish yellow castes but the contrast made the picture look much better. A lot of jerky motion and blurdity can be noticed during the fast scenes which means there is a lot of concern on the response rate which is not specified by Vizio. Occasionally, the Vizio picture looked washed out during bright scenes. The 1080p picture image also appeared much too flat and less realistic in color presentation. We would expect a three dimensional effect when viewing high def. there was no noticeable bleed in the black bars on top and bottom which also remained black with the help of Hi-Def signal.
Background noise and flickers:
The Vizio VW46LF 46″ LCD Flat TV has a superior video processing chip set and digital comb filter which does a great job by smoothing images from the incoming 480i signal. Little background noise can be noticed but is only very mild. Some pixel flicker is visible from less than 6 feet in a few cases, but overall the scaling and processing component of the Vizio LCD is very impressive.
Awful black level maintenance:
With the 480i signal, Vizio VW46LF struggles to maintain the black levels and some of the dark scenes would look washed out. This issue also increases when the resolution is increased to 1080i or 1080p signals. With a 480i input signal the Vizio LCDs Contrast and Black Levels begin to degrade at a mere 25 degrees again a very poor performance. At 45 degrees the viewer will lose around half of the contrast in the picture and hence you will have to sit right in front of this HDTV in order to enjoy its complete picture quality.
Colour rendition and motion lag:
Talking about the colour rendition, the Vizio VW46LF HD LCD TV calibrated much closer to D6500K which is the optimum colour temperature for viewing. The Vizio VW46LF has issues with the motion lag performance too. It shows motion blur and jerkness evident throughout motion-oriented images even with 1080p signals. The Vizio LCD does not have any problems with False Contouring and Mapping.
No sync with Bluray:
The Vizio VW46LF does not sync with the Blu Ray BDP-S1 DVD player through HDMI output which is completely disappointing. The Vizio flat panel LCD has 4 aspect ratios. The Wide mode can be preferred for most programming.
Audio:
Talking about the audio performance, Vizio’s 10W X 10W speakers sound tinny, distant, and hollow. The quality and output of the volume was awful.
The Vizio VW46L LCD has very limited extra feature options.
Verdict:
Since Vizio VW46L has way more than acceptable performance issues, we do not recommend this LCD TV. Vizio offers one year warranty for this LCD television.
Vizio VW46LF 46-inch LCD HDTV - Technical Specification Table
| Manufacturer | Vizio |
| Model Name | Vizio VW46LF |
| Dimensions (W x H x D) | 44.3″ x 29.4″ x 4.0″ |
| Weight | 53 pounds |
| Display | Wide Screen, Color TFT Active Matrix LCD |
| Display size | 46″ Diagonal |
| Colours | 16.77 million |
| Image aspect ratio | 16:9 |
| Dynamic contrast ratio | 10,000:1 (w/DCR) |
| Colour Temperature | 6500K (standard), 5400K and 9300K |
| HDTV compatible | FULL HDTV (1080P) |
| Response time | 7ms |
| Viewable Angle | 178° (horizontal and vertical) |
| Supported TV Formats | 1080p, 1080i, 720p, 720i, 480p, 480i |
| Connectivity | RF (F Connector for internal tuner): 1 HDMI with HDCP: 3 Analog Stereo Audio for HDMI Inputs: 1 Component YPbPr plus Stereo Audio: 2 Composite Video: 1 S-Video plus Stereo Audio: 1 Computer RGB plus Stereo Audio: 1 Analog Audio out (RCA): 1 5.1 SPDIF Digital Optical Audio: 1 |
| Audio | 2 Built-in 10W speakers |
| Sound enhancement | Yes |
| Remote control | Yes |
| Power Consumption | 340W average |
| Warranty | One Year Parts & Labor Free Lifetime Technical Support Free On-Site Repair on VIZIO Televisions 30″ and above |
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