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Entered CNET Catalog: 08/14/2003
SKU: DVIZIOP4
Manufacturer: VIZIO, Inc.
Manufacturer description
Experience outstanding entertainment with the VIZIO P4, a 46-inch 16: 9 Plasma Panel Television! This Plasma display brings larger-than-life, stunning video signals into your boardroom or home with 20% more viewing area and 3.5 inches wider than a 42-inch Plasma display.Product summary
The good: Solid feature package with individual memory for each input; great color decoding; decent video processing with 3:2 pull-down; relatively inexpensive.
The bad: Inadequate picture controls; poor black-level performance; significant noise and false-contouring artifacts; low resolution.
The bottom line: V's low-resolution 46-inch plasma has some picture-quality issues, but its price is pretty attractive.
CNET editors' review
- Editors' Choice: No
- Reviewed on: 10/09/2003
The 46-inch screen's silver frame has a large V logo at the bottom center. A few function buttons are strung along the lower right. The panel is 3.75 inches deep, so you can easily wall-mount it with its $199 special bracket. The unit can also rest on a tabletop; unlike Gateway, V includes a stand.
On the other hand, Gateway's remote is quite a bit more impressive than V's, which is smallish, has tiny buttons, and lacks illumination. Scrolling to your desired input is a chore, and the menu system is a frustrating jumble of icons and often grayed-out picture controls. The V and BenQ 46-inchers come with identical remotes.
With an 852x480-pixel native resolution, the P4 can handle every DVD detail but, like almost all plasmas, can't fully resolve HDTV. Of course, the panel can still accept and display HDTV, TV, and computer sources. Because the set has a 42-inch model's pixel count but is considerably bigger, the pixels are larger and more visible.
For a plasma, the P4 does have a nice feature package. Its built-in NTSC tuner, for receiving standard television signals, is complete with PIP (picture in picture). High-definition TV requires a separate tuner. There's also an onboard audio system with internal speakers. You can set the color temperature to Warm, Standard, Cool, or User; the last option lets a technician tweak the grayscale. Each input has independent memory, so you can individually optimize the pictures of different video sources.
One set of component-video inputs and one DVI jack with HDCP copy protection head up the connectivity list. Finishing off the ins are two for A/V (one with S-Video), one for 15-pin D-Sub VGA computer hookup, and one for RF antenna connection. Finally, you get an RS232 control port.
A good input selection means little if the jacks are improperly implemented. As part of our viewing tests, we calibrated the panel and watched some scenes from Charlotte Gray. On the DVI in, we were disappointed to discover a complete lack of control over contrast, brightness, and other such parameters. You need the ability to tweak these basics to get a good picture; otherwise, the DVI hookup is next to useless for home theater. For both DVD and HDTV, we had to use the component input, and sharpness was again out of our hands. Though color saturation was excellent, significant edge enhancement appeared as rings around objects. When we switched to S-Video and completely turned off the sharpness adjustment, we got a quieter, smoother picture but sacrificed some color resolution.
The P4's color decoding was top-notch, making for great saturation at the proper color settings. Grayscale tracking was also pretty good, particularly for such a budget display. Calibration improved the grayscale's bottom end from its original 7,900K to 6,175K; the top end went from a blue 8,425K to a nearly perfect 6,475K (6,500K is ideal). The panel's video processing had solid 3:2 pull-down detection, a feature that reduces jagged lines and other motion artifacts in film-based material such as DVD movies.
Black looked more like dark gray. Significant false-contouring artifacts appeared as pools of unnatural color and video noise in shadows, and as moving patches of noise during bright scenes.
When we watched the 1080i D-VHS tape of X-Men on our JVC HM-DH3000U, color saturation was impressive, but false-contouring artifacts and noise from edge enhancement were still factors.
User opinions
Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 User Rating: 
5/10
Very good TV when it is working
Pros: It worked well with home theatre system and enjoyed it much
Cons: Mine popped while watching after only 14 months.
User Rating: 
8/10
Use a DVD up converter for better picture
Pros: Love the size for the bedroom
Cons: Black shows waves, not clear, ghosting
User Rating: 8/10
Great picture w/ great price nice size
Pros: Great picture w/ great price nice size easy menu.
Cons: Bad black level nosiy fan
User Rating: 
3/10
hard to get picture right
Pros: nothing works rigyht, it's like having a tv from the 60's & 70's you are always trying to get a better picture.it does not focus with 1 button, you have to many buttons to fool with. they do not tell you this when you buy it.
Cons:
User Rating: 
7/10
Bought it and enjoy it
Pros: easy to set up and use, controls are not hard to figure out. Picture quality is not the best but better than regular TV from DirectTV
Cons: Mismatch with sattlelite control, the two don't seem to work together, have to use both for total control
User Rating: 7/10
Love it !!
Pros: Bought from Costco in September of 2004 for $2499 (includes optional 10" external speakers, TV & speaker stands). Picture is great in DVD. Through cable signal, it's acceptable (I plan to buy a HDTV receiver to optimize picture quality). I would recom
Cons:
User Rating: 
6/10
Nice Plasma or the money, good Entry Plasma
Pros: Nice looks clean lines,very easy set up. good picture, large viewing area. the best value for the entry level enthusiast.
Cons: Best value, not necessarily the best Plasma TV.
User Rating: 5/10
Keep looking!
Pros: relatively low price, attractive styling, easy set-up, easy & efficient remote control.
Cons: Bought this TV with moderate expectations because of the price, and even my conservative hopes were not met. The first one I brought home had defective external speaker wiring hardware. I could not get one of the external speakers to work. The speaker tha
User Rating: 
9/10
Recommend
Pros: Great picture quality. Ease of setup and use.
Cons: Background hissing, when attached to digital TV. Should be able to clean up sound with other vendor attachments. DVD sound is excellent
