Vizio VM60PHDTV

You can always count on Vizio to offer high-quality and good performing HDTVs at extremely low price range. The Vizio VM60PHDTV is a 60-inch plasma that could catapult this set to new heights given the increasing popularity of plasma TVs. The Vizio holds its own and offers an excellent feature set, including an unprecedented four HDMI inputs.

First, let’s look at this set’s design. The first thing that you’ll probably notice is the VM60PHDTV’s frame color. Most flat-panel televisions sport a black or silver colored frame. The VM60PHDTV on the other hand has a bronze, brushed metallic frame. Its not really that bad but it will definitely turn a few heads because of its irregularity.

As a 60-inch plasma, the VM60PHDTV is quite imposing. The panel weighs at a massive 179 pounds with stand attached, and measures 56.3×37.2×13.4 inches deep. Divested of the stand, the panel itself measures 56.3×34.4×4.9 inches.

As for its features, the Vizio has a native resolution of 1,366×768. The 1080p would probably lend some extra sharpness at this screen size, depending on your seating distance. As with all other fixed-pixel displays, the Vizio VM60PHDTV converts all incoming sources, whether HDTV, DVD, standard-def TV, or computer, to fit the native resolution.

On this set, there are four picture presets in addition to a custom mode. You can’t adjust any of the preset modes, and the custom mode is not independent per input. As a result, you can’t adjust the display differently for different sources.

In addition to the standards like contrast, brightness, and the rest, Vizio throws in some additional options. There are three color temperature presets as well as a Custom mode that lets you adjust the grayscale somewhat. There are also options for Noise Reduction; Fleshtone; and Dynamic Contrast. The selection of aspect ratio modes is rather small. You get just two choices with HD sources and four with standard-def.

Vizio throws in the requisite conveniences, starting with a picture-in-picture mode that allows a good number of combinations between the two windows. The ATSC tuner is on board but, as expected from a TV built to hit a low price point, CableCard is not.

The most impressive part of the Vizio VM60PHDTV’s spec sheet is its connectivity, highlighted by four HDMI inputs. The back panel also sports two component-video inputs; two A/V inputs with composite and S-Video; a VGA input for computers (1,366×768 resolution); one RF-style input for antenna or cable; an optical digital audio output; and a standard analog audio out.

The Vizio VM60PHDTV holds its own against other plasma sets in the market. However, some flaws are evident on this set. The Vizio has a difficult time with color because its grayscale is not linear. In all of the color temperature presets, the bottom end of the scale was skewed toward red while the top end was skewed toward blue.

Skin tones in midlight areas, appeared a bit too red. The set does present accurate color decoding, although primary colors, especially the somewhat yellowish green, could be improved.

In terms of detail, the Vizio VM60PHDTV looked plenty sharp, and all of the fine areas of the excellent HD DVD came through well. The Vizio handled 1080i and 720p sources equally well.

Sources:
http://www.hdtvlounge.net
http://reviews.digitaltrends.com
http://www.reviewzine.com