Digital Trends

Vizio VO32L June 10th, 2008 | by David Elrich

Performance and Use

The VO32L is a 32-inch LCD 720p HDTV (1366x768 pixels) but it will handle all sources--even 1080p--but display them at lower resolution. This is not a super fast panel rated at 120 Hertz to cut down on image lag like the high-end sets. It has a response time of 8 milliseconds which is decent but top-quality LCD HDTVs are rated 4 and 6ms. Again we’re talking about an affordable HDTV, not the centerpiece of a home theater in a McMansion. The set has a built-in ATSC/QAM/NTSC tuner to receive in-the-clear broadcasts but most will hook it up to a cable or sat system.

I connected the Vizio to a number of sources to see how it could handle them including a Verizon FiOS HDTV cable box and a Panasonic DMP-BD30 Blu-ray player. I must state upfront I own—and love--a 50-inch Panasonic TH-50PZ750U 1080p plasma HDTV, purchasing this technology even after being exposed to the best LCDs out there including the Sony XBR6 and Samsung 81 series sets. I just find the color more accurate and lifelike with no screen-door effect or hard edges, a bugaboo for LCD HDTVs. With this built-in skepticism I powered up the Vizio and tuned to ESPN HD and the MHD channels that practically leap off the plasma display.

Before the videophiles cry out, I made sure the output signal on the set-top box was 720p and then quickly accessed the set’s custom picture parameters to make adjustments. I was very pleasantly surprised how much picture quality could be tweaked. You can change backlight, brightness, contrast, color, tint and sharpness. In the advanced section you can adjust noise reduction, color enhancement, advanced adaptive luma, enhanced contrast ratio and color temperature. Here you change between cool (9300 degrees Kelvin), 5400K and 6500K (the best for movie viewing). Another bonus: once you set parameters for each source, they’ll remain that way as you switch from HDTV to Blu-ray to games and so on.

If this sort of tweaking has no appeal, the VO32L has eight Picture Modes including Standard, Movie, Game, Vivid, Football, Golf, Baseball and Basketball. Guess they figure sports fans are the key buyers of HDTVs! It is a bit much asking the buyer of a sub $600 HDTV to be a card-carrying member of the Imaging Science Foundation or a denizen of AVS Forums. That said I had a lot of fun adjusting the settings. Be aware the Owner’s Manual is a bit misleading as it shows a variety of numbers for the different picture settings; they are just there as art work not the suggested parameters. As a matter of fact, the manual could use a nice redesign with better photos to enhance the user experience. Using the Monster Cable/ISF disc to calibrate the set, specs to my taste were 51 Brightness, 49 Contrast, Tint zero, Color 39, Sharpness 3 and Lip Sync 2. This last one is a real plus since many HDTV programs have these annoying issues where lips do not match the dialog on screen. It’s a set-and-forget adjustment you’ll want to make.

Image Courtesy of Vizio