vizio

Vizio unveils plasmas with built-in HQV

Vizio may be known as the bargain brand found at Costco, but AV enthusiasts might want to take Vizio's new series of plasmas more seriously. Vizio announced two new plasma displays, the 50-inch Vizio VP504F and the 60-inch Vizio VP605F, both of which have HQV processing built into the panel. For those that don't memorize every home theater acronym, HQV processing is a third-party video chip that, in our experience, delivers excellent video quality for scaling lower-resolution sources--like DVDs--to the native resolution of the panel. Usually HQV processing is included in receivers or high-def disc players, but the … Read more

Samsung regains TV lead; Vizio back to No. 2

A sense of order has been restored to the North American TV market this quarter.

A few months after newcomer Vizio stunned the flat-panel television industry by ranking No. 1 in market share for the second quarter of 2007, the old stalwarts have reclaimed their positions. Samsung moved back to No. 1 in overall flat-panel shipments with 11.8 percent of the total market, according to DisplaySearch. Vizio fell to No. 2 with a 10.2-percent share, down from 12 percent the previous quarter. The rest of the list includes Sharp at 10 percent, Sony at 8.6, and Funai (… Read more

HDTV makers want consumers to do their homework

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif.--To borrow from the real estate cliche, selling the "HD experience" is about education, education, education, according to the top-tier TV manufacturers.

Mainstream consumers, apparently, still don't quite get it, and the blame falls squarely on the shoulders of TV manufacturers, according to Randy Waynick, senior vice president of marketing for Sony's home products division.

"In the past year, if we were to grade ourselves, we were barely passing as an industry," he told an audience at the DisplaySearch HDTV conference here. Citing a study by Best Buy, 40 percent of … Read more

Will Vizio lose its No. 1 crown in TVs this quarter?

Update--Vizio stunned the consumer electronics world when it became the No. 1 seller of flat-panel TVs in North America.

But it may be only a temporary victory.

During the second quarter, Costco and Sam's Club, the two primary retailers of Vizio TVs, asked the company for more TVs than normal to increase their own inventories, according to a Vizio spokesman. The store chains typically had been carrying one to two weeks of inventory. They requested that the inventory be increased to three to four weeks. (Costco, by the way, declined to comment.)

As a result, Vizio experienced a sudden … Read more

Vizio tops in LCD TV sales in second quarter

For all the clout and brand-recognition that accompanies names like Sony and Samsung, it was Vizio, a virtual unknown a year ago, that topped all LCD TV makers in the second quarter of this year.

Vizio sold 606,402 TVs in North America in the second quarter, a 76 percent jump from the previous quarter, according to a report by iSuppli released Monday. That brings the low-price TV seller's market share to 14.5 percent, up from 9.4 percent.

Former market-share leader Samsung dropped to second place, shipping 467,210 units compared with 445,683 the previous quarter. … Read more

It's TV time with the Vizio VP42HDTV

Like me, many people have been holding off on upgrading their household TV, and getting into the world of plasma because prices have been to high. Fortunately, Vizio has broken the four figure barrier by offering their VP42HDTV for $999.99. At 42-inches, the Vizio VP42HDTV can hold its own against the other, more expensive, players in the plasma arena. If you've been longing for a fresh breath in your TV viewing, but have been waiting for something that wouldn't put a huge dent in your bank account - Now's your chance.

Big screen for the big game: Vizio P50HDTV

It's still not too late to gear up for the Super Bowl this weekend. If you want to upgrade to a big screen, check out this deal from Circuit City. They're offering the Vizio P50HDTV Plasma HDTV for only $1,699 (tax not included). There also is a $200 mail-in rebate (expires February 3, 2007) on this TV, and with free shipping, the total price would be a mere $1,499. Our editors like this TV, as do the users who've reviewed it on our site.

Vizio busts out a 60-inch plasma for $2,999

Vizio is at it again. The price-busting flat-panel TV specialist has set its sights on the huge-screen category with a 60-inch plasma TV, the VM60P HDTV, that will retail for $2,999 when it hits stores in February. That price is the best I've seen for any flat-panel TV larger than 50 inches, and it helps people shopping for a massive picture consider something other than rear-projection sets. The closest comparable HDTV I can think of, Panasonic's 58-inch TH-58PX600U, costs more and has a smaller screen, although if Panasonic's excellent track record is any indication, its picture … Read more

Vizio's latest TV: 47 inches, $1,900

We told you so. Vizio had promised to come out with a 47-inch LCD television with the highest resolution (1080p) for under $2,000, and it has.

The $1,900 TV is the latest of Vizio's "Gallevia" line, as well as the latest salvo fired in its trench warfare with other relative newcomers in the flat TV business--namely Westinghouse, which has a competing product around the same price.

In a recent interview with News.com, Vizio CEO William Wang said, "We don't believe anyone can call $3,000 affordable" for a 1080p TV. For … Read more

Vizio jumps into the 1080p fray

Vizio, known for low-buck LCD and plasma TVs available from places like Costco and Sam's Club, told CNET's News.com that its first 1080p product, the GV47L FHDTV (pictured, $1,999), would hit stores soon. According to the rep at Vizio we spoke with, it could arrive as early as the first week of January. The company had been avoiding butting heads with the 1080p competition because it was waiting for the right price. Apparently, 47 inches for just less than two grand is right enough for Vizio.

We reviewed a good-performing 47-inch 1080p TV in October, the … Read more