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Entered CNET Catalog: 07/13/2004
SKU: RP56
Manufacturer: VIZIO, Inc.
Manufacturer description
Utilizing Texas Instruments DLP (Digital Light Processing) technology, the VIZIO RP56 56" Rear Projection Television delivers outstanding images to your home or business with stunning picture quality.Product summary
The good: Relatively inexpensive; excellent connectivity; versatile PIP; bright, incredibly detailed image; robust, low-maintenance technology; wide viewing angle.
The bad: Ho-hum styling; pricier than similar-size CRT rear projectors and some comparable DLPs; rainbow effects; grayish blacks in darker scenes; inaccurate color.
The bottom line: The decent performance of this DLP HDTV is overshadowed by its unattractive styling and high price.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 07/30/2004
Editor's note: We have changed the rating in this review to reflect recent changes in our rating scale. Click here to find out more.
The main place where the RP56 diverges from the Gateway is the color of its skin. We described Gateway's set as a "black hole," while the RP56 is silver. The same expanse of molded plastic houses the 56-inch diagonal screen, which sits atop a separate section of cabinet that holds the speakers. A line of buttons allows control of many of the set's functions, as well as menu access.Despite its large screen, this TV isn't furniture in its own right. You'll need to place it on a stand or a low bench to raise the display to eye level. Thanks to DLP technology, the set measures only 19 inches deep and weighs a mere 130 pounds. Its build quality seems a little light as well, but at least the jack connections are solid.
We liked the large, blue-backlit remote, though we would have preferred fewer buttons and tighter organization; novices may find this clicker confusing. Dedicated keys provide direct access to groups of inputs; for example, Comp cycles between the two component-video ins. A second, smaller remote is provided for the RP56's well-appointed picture-in-picture control (see Features). The rudimentary, text-only internal menu system can be a challenge to navigate.
One unusual trait of DLP TVs is that they don't turn on immediately. After we hit the power button, the RP56's screen took an average of nearly 40 seconds to light up with a picture. The delay was quite a bit longer than what we experienced with Samsung's HLN467W. And the Vizio has another weird characteristic: You have to press the power key twice to turn off the set. Two major features stick out on the spec sheet: picture-in-picture (PIP) function. The set's DLP engine incorporates Texas Instruments' HD2 chip, which has a native resolution of 1,280x720--enough to display every pixel of a 720p high-definition signal. Like any fixed-pixel set, the Vizio converts 1080i HDTV; DVD; VHS; standard cable, antenna, and satellite television; and all other resolutions to fit its native resolution. You'll need to attach a separate HDTV tuner to watch high-def programming.
The Vizio has one of the most useful PIP features we've ever seen. The television comes with two remotes, so you and your spouse can independently change channels, swap sources, and even adjust the volume; the second window is linked to a dedicated headphone jack with a volume control. The PIP function's main limitation comes up with cable and satellite boxes; you'll need two boxes to access all channels in both windows. DVI and RGB (computer) images must appear in the main display, but otherwise, any source can appear alongside any other.
Our favorite performance-enhancing feature, independent input memories, enables you to adjust contrast, brightness, and other parameters for each source (except DVI; see Performance). You also get a choice of three color temperatures, while four aspect-ratio choices let you resize images on the wide screen. Along with 4:3 and 16:9, you get Zoom for nonanamorphic DVDs and Panorama for stretching the picture's sides more than its center. Choices for HD sources are limited to two: only 4:3 and 16:9 are active when the incoming signal is 1080i or 720p.
The RP56's jack pack is quite impressive. Its DVI input has HDCP copy protection for compatibility with HDTV receivers and DVI-equipped DVD players. Both of the rear component-video hookups can accept standard, 480p, and HDTV signals. A flip-out bay on the face's left side holds one A/V connection, and the back provides two more with S-Video. That front-panel compartment also hosts a headphone jack for each PIP window and one of the two VGA inputs for your computer (the second is on the back panel). Finally, there's a full set of A/V outputs, complete with S-Video. The only missing link is an HDMI input. Overall, the Vizio RP56 delivers an average DLP picture. Its use of the older Texas Instruments HD2 chip, as opposed to forthcoming DLPs that will use the HD2+ chip, will be an issue for future-looking videophiles, but we'll reserve judgment until we actually review one of the new DLPs. In the meantime, the V's image-quality strengths include the ability to produce relatively deep blacks--as deep as those of any LCD-based set we've seen--and fairly good video processing. It shares with other fixed-pixel rear-projection TVs a wide side-to-side viewing angle and excellent sharpness with high-res material. On the downside, its color isn't very accurate, its DVI input lacks full picture controls, and it suffers from the rainbow effect (see below).
During one of our favorite black-level torture tests, the opening of Alien, the RP56 acquitted itself relatively well. The rings around the planet appeared clean, with only minor false contouring in the transitions between the greenish brown of the ring and the (somewhat) black void of space. On the other hand, we did see more false contouring on the V than on the ViewSonic VPW4255 plasma, and, more troublesome to some viewers, the white lettering of the titles brought out a good deal of rainbowing. As we looked back and forth between the slowly assembling title Alien at the top of the screen and the credits in the middle, we noticed trails of color following the white letters. This wasn't an acid flashback: single-chip DLP TVs like this and the Samsungs are subject to these rainbow artifacts. Some people notice them, and some do not. Another strange anomaly: The edges of some objects and especially onscreen text appeared slightly discolored, as if shadowed by an off-color double.
The RP56 passed our test for 2:3 pull-down detection, but we still recommend you mate it with a progressive-scan DVD player. Switching between the interlaced and the progressive output of our reference Denon DVD-2900, we noticed the interlaced feed caused the TV to render things less smoothly; the onscreen text description of the Nostromo spaceship, for example, crawled with irregularities along the edges of the letters. The letters became slightly more stable when we switched to Bravo's own D2 DVD player, running 720p via the DVI output, but that introduced a major problem: the TV had only contrast and brightness control via DVI. To adjust color, we had to use the controls inside the DVD player, which were quite coarse. We would have preferred to have full control of every picture parameter on the DVI input via the TV, and any precision picture adjustment, such as DIY or professional calibration, will be difficult without those controls.
Unlike most sets we've seen, the RP56 actually deaccentuated reds by a good deal, so again we had to reduce the color control to avoid, for example, overly green facial tones. We also found it impossible to get a passable grayscale in calibration, due to lack of control, but the out-of-box grayscale in Warm color temperature mode wasn't terrible (see the geek box for details).
We watched plenty of HDTV from our DirecTV satellite feed, and naturally it looked great. Native 720p material from ESPN HD was rock solid, and the conversion of the other 1080i channels to the chip's 720p resolution didn't harm the image noticeably. We didn't do any formal testing with computer sources, but the set's pair of VGA inputs worked well during our casual hookups. You'll want to set your PC's output to 1,280x720 to take advantage of the RP56's native resolution.
| Before color temp (20/100) | 6,628/7,824K | Average |
| After color temp (20/100) | 7,288/7,190K | Poor |
| Before grayscale variation | +/- 747K | Average |
| After grayscale variation | +/- 310K | Poor |
| Overscan | 4% | Average |
| Color decoder error: red | -20% | Poor |
| Color decoder error: green | 0% | Good |
| DC restoration | Gray pattern stable | Average |
| 2:3 pull-down, 24fps | Y | Good |
| Defeatable edge enhancement | Y | Good |
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 User Rating: 
9/10
Great HDTV Can't Beat The Price
Pros: I've had mine for a year without any problems, great HD picture bright and sharp, more inputs than you can use including a DVI input when used with a DVI capable DVD player you get near HD quality
Cons: a couple of times when turning on picture was dark but rebooted and everything was fine.
User Rating: 
3/10
Buyer Beware! Returned Unit to Costco after 3 Months
Pros: Absolutely Beautiful Picture
Cons: Color Wheel Noise that will drive you crazy. Audio problems.
Bought a 56" Samsung DLP and the picture is great and there IS NO COLOR WHEEL HUM! Also no audio problems either.
It's a shame that Vizio can't control these quality issues because the picture was terrific.
User Rating: 9/10
excellent picture - bright and sharp. great tech. support
Pros: very quiet operation, universal remote, perfect picture
Cons: was noisy once but tech. service repaired it beautifully
User Rating: 
4/10
Poor Quality Control
Pros: Good and sharp picture. Great brightness under high backgroud light. Lots of input options.
Cons: High fan noise. Poor quality control. The audio board blew within three months of sub-normal use.
User Rating: 3/10
Bad Buy...Thankfully Costco Has a Great Return Policy
Pros: DLP set with very good picture quality at a very decent price.
Cons: "Hummmmmmmmm..." There was a noticeable humming noise on the set that got worse the longer we had the TV. It was very noticeable especially during lower volume scenes in movies etc. Also, after about a month and a half we noticed the volume was deterior
User Rating: 
6/10
Great HD picture, when it works
Pros: HD broadcasts are stunning on this set.
Cons: A robust design it is not. I'm on my forth set since 7-04. Set 1: after viewing for an hour or so, the picture went completely dark, but the lamp was still on. Set 2: wouldn't power up ater a month and a half. Set 3: After viewing for a while, the brightn
User Rating: 
5/10
It broke.. twice
Pros: We liked the price and the feature set seemed comparable to others.
Cons: We bought the tv and with two weeks (using the tv 3 times) the lamp broke. We returned it to the store, and brought home a new one. This time after just one week and one viewing, it broke again. This time the image was gone. We could only see a vague p
User Rating: 9/10
A Great Value, and a Very Good Picture!!
Pros: Ease of use, it's ready to go!! I like the two button off, it prevents accidental powering off. Pairing with good/great cables, the picture is wonderful!!
Cons: I would have liked to see a built in HD tuner, but it is not that big of a deal.
User Rating: 9/10
More TV for less $
Pros: Great picture, Lots of inputs, Awesome picture in picture capabilities, Lower price that competing products with similar features
Cons: Cabinet quality could be better, but average for this product category
