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  • Introduction

  • Tour & Design

  • Blacks & Whites

  • Color Accuracy

  • Motion

  • Viewing Effects

  • Calibration

  • Remote Control

  • Connectivity

  • Audio & Menus

  • Formats & Media

  • Power Consumption

  • Vs LG 32LH20

  • Vs Samsung LN32B360

  • Vs Panasonic TCP42X1

  • Conclusion

  • Series Comparison

  • Introduction
  • Tour & Design
  • Blacks & Whites
  • Color Accuracy
  • Motion
  • Viewing Effects
  • Calibration
  • Remote Control
  • Connectivity
  • Audio & Menus
  • Formats & Media
  • Power Consumption
  • Vs LG 32LH20
  • Vs Samsung LN32B360
  • Vs Panasonic TCP42X1
  • Conclusion
  • Series Comparison

Introduction

Tour & Design

Front


The front of the Vizio VO320E has a glossy black edging around the display, and then turns into a dotted, matte black bezel. The Vizio logo underneath the display lights up, while the speakers are built into the bezel along the bottom.

 

Back


On the back of the Vizio VO320E you find the power input on the left side and a collection of ports on the right side. You also find the mounting points for mounting the VO320E on a wall. For information about the ports on the back of the Vizio VO320E see our Connectivity section.

 

Sides


There are no features on the right side of the Vizio VO320E. On the left side you find the on-tv controls and a small selection of ports. For information about the ports on the side of the Vizio VO320E see our Connectivity section.

 

Stand/Mount


The Vizio VO320E's stand slots simply into the bottom of the television and does not rotate.

 

Controls


The on-tv controls for the Vizio VO320E are found on the right side of the television, recessed slightly behind the display and sitting just above the ports found on that side. The buttons themselves look somewhat like keys from a piano, and are glossy black. They are built to press 'in' towards the front of the television, so you can easily reach around and press them. Unfortunately they are all exactly the same, so you can't tell what button you are pressing by feel.

 

Remote Control


The Vizio VO320E's remote controls is a small and simple glossy black affair. As far as looks, well let's just say it's not the most attractive remote we've ever seen.

In The Box*(7.0)*


The Vizio VO320E ships with the bare minimum, a manual, remote control and batteries. There's no cleaning cloth or HDMI cable included. There is some assembly required for the Vizio VO320E, but the base slots very easily into the display, and is held in place by a single screw that can be tightened by hand.

 

Aesthetics*(4.0)*


The Vizio VO320E is not a particularly attractive television. They style is somewhat blocky and we don't particularly like the bezel. That said it's not going to stand out as an eyesore as the simple black design should blend into your decor easily.

Blacks & Whites

Black Level*(5.10)*


We measured the Vizio VO320E's black level at an unimpressive 0.38 candelas per meter squared (cd/m2). This is significantly worse than our average HDTV, and you can see below that all three of our comparison models have significantly lower black levels. What this means is that you will likely lose some detail in dark areas with the VO320E.

 

Peak Brightness*(8.78)*


The Vizio VO320E proved plenty bright, measuring 342.51 cd/m2 in our testing. This is plenty bright for almost any situation, unless you're shining a light directly on the display you won't have any problems, and in most situations you'll probably want to turn the backlight down a bit. You can see below that the VO320E compares favorably with other HDTVs.

 

Contrast*(5.87)*


Due to the poor black level on the Vizio VO320E it's contrast ratio is a lackluster 901:1. This is significantly below average and compares very poorly to the LG 32LH20 and Samsung LN32B360, as you can see below. It's about the same as the Panasonic TC-P42X1, although in that case it's the poor peak brightness that led to a poor contrast ratio.

 

Tunnel Contrast*(9.63)*


In this test we look at how well the black level holds up as there is progressively less black displayed on the screen. This is important because you don't want the black level to vary as this will have a significant impact on your contrast ratio as the content on the television changes. Thankfully this is not a problem for the Vizio VO320E. You can see from the chart below that the black level stays rock solid as the amount of black on the display goes from 100% to 5%.

 

White Falloff*(9.81)*


This test is the opposite of the previous one. Here we look at how well the peak brightness holds up as progressively less white is displayed on the screen. Once again the Vizio VO320E performs well, as the chart below makes clear.

 

Uniformity*(8.25)*


Here we look at the uniformity of the Vizio VO320E's display, using both a black and white screen. What we're looking for are problems with dimming or brightness along the edges and corners, or blotches in the middle of the screen. We found that the Vizio VO320E did very well in this test. The center of the screen was smooth in both the black and white screens, while dimming and brightness in the corners was minimal.

 

Greyscale Gamma*(5.93)*


Gamma is the curve along which a television makes adjustments from light to dark. A higher gamma means the television is more aggressive, while a lower one means it is more gradual. The Vizio VO320E's gamma was measured at 2.88, which is significantly higher than our ideal of 2.1 to 2.2. What this means is that you are likely to lose detail at the extremes of light and dark, where subtle changes in brightness occur.

 

Resolution Scaling*(6.07)*


The Vizio VO320E is a 720p HDTV, which means it has a native resolution of 1366 x 768. Most content that you will watch on the television doesn't come at this resolution, and in this section we look at how well the VO320E handles the scaling of content at other resolutions.

480p*(8.2)*

This is the resolution at which standard definition content comes into your television. This is used by both standard definition television broadcasts, as well as DVDs. The Vizio VO320E did a good job scaling this content up to it's native resolution. We saw some overscan, with about 3% of the content being lost along every edge. There were no problems with legibility or resolution, but we did notice some issues with moire patterns. These occur when the television has problems processing and then scaling complex patterns.

1080i*(5.0)*

This is the highest resolution of content widely available at 1920 x 1080, but the 'i' at the end means that the 1080 vertical lines are interlaced, with two alternating sets of 540 lines. The Vizio VO320E had some serious problems with 1080i content, with terrible moire patterns appearing, poor legibility and some problems with fine resolution. This is a serious concern as most HD content that you get from cable and broadcast providers comes in at 1080i, so if you're going to watch HD content on the VO320E you need to be concerned about whether it will be properly processed.

1080p*(5.0)*

Like 1080i, 1080p content comes in at a resolution of 1920 x 1080. Unlike 1080i, however, 1080p content displays all 1080 vertical lines at the same time, thus the 'p' stands for progressive. This usually produces a better picture, which is why Blu-ray discs use this format. Unfortunately the Vizio VO320E had just as many problems with 1080p as it did with 1080i, with terrible moire patterns and poor resolution and legibility.

 

Color Accuracy

Color Temperature*(5.2)*


The Vizio VO320E had significant problems keeping the color temperature of the display stable. Like any other object that emits light an HDTVs display can have a yellowish or bluish cast depending on the color temperature. With the Vizio VO320E we found that the color temperature varied widely across the range from light to dark, mostly in the direction of causing a yellowish cast, as you can see from the chart below.

 

RGB Curves*(7.18)*


The Vizio VO320E did a reasonable job producing accurate reds, greens and blues. This is important because all of the colors your television produces are created by mixing these three primary colors. Below you can see a graph of the three colors plotted against intensity and normalized.

You can see that the curves are relatively smooth throughought most of the range of intensities, but do get a bit bumpier at the higher end. In particuarl we saw some minor peaking with the reds and the blues, which  means the television struggles to differentiate between bright versions of these colors, however this was a minor problem. Below you can see each of the three colors compared to other televisions.

 

 

 

 

Color Gamut*(6.2)*


Every television is supposed to adhere to an international standard for color gamut, known as Rec.709. What this standard does is make sure that colors look the same on every television. Frankly we've found in our testing that most televisions struggle to match this standard exactly, and as you can see below the Vizio VO320E does have innacuracies in several areas.

There are obvious innaccuracies in green and blue, but the red is almost spot on. Compared to other HDTVs this is pretty good performance, and above average over all. For those geeky enough to care you can see the exact color coordinates we measured in the table below.

 

Motion

Motion Smoothness*(3.13)*


Like most entry-level HDTVs the Vizio VO320E uses the standard 60Hz refresh rate rather than the 120Hz or 240Hz you find on more expensive televisions. This means you can expect motion blur to be worse on the VO320E, but we found that it's not just worse, it's much, much worse. Faces turn into a muddy mess on the display, and solid objects have large trailing shadows. This isn't a television you want if you're really into fast action movies.

 

Motion Artifacting*(3.13)*


Artifacts are things that appear on the display due to errors in processing and aren't in the original picture. The Vizio VO320E had some serious problems with artifacts. First of all there's a very noticeable rolling shutter effect in areas of black and white. What's more there are visible distortions in even relatively static objects, and there are leading bright areas as the display struggles to create more controst on moving objects. All in all not a very impressive performance.

 

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps*(8.5)*


3:2 pulldown is the process by which a television takes a signal that comes in at 60 frames per second (fps) and converts it to 24 fps. This is done to give content a film-like look. The Vizio VO320E does a reasonable job here, with only minor glitches in our test patterns as it performed this process. The television is also able to take content that comes in natively at 24 fps, from a DVD or Blu-ray player.

 

Viewing Effects

Viewing Angle*(4.6)*


The Vizio VO320E does not have a particularly impressive viewing angle, which we measured at 19.52 degrees from center. This is the point at which the contrast ratio on the display will fall below 50% of maximum. Below you can see the VO320E's viewing angle compared to other HDTVs. It actually is the best of the LCD bunch, not surprising as these are all low-end models and rarely do low-end LCDs have a good viewing angle. With the Panasonic TC-P42X1, however, you can see the big benefit that plasma televisions get in viewing angle.

Despite the poor viewing angle for contrast we did find that colors held up reasonably well as the viewing angle changed, with no solarization or inversion of colors occuring.

 

Reflectance*(4.25)*


The Vizio VO320E's display makes a valiant effort to diffuse light, but the unfortunate result is a large messy bright spot on the screen, something that is very annoying, especially when watching dark movies. We recommend you place your lights carefully in the room with this television.

 

Video Processing*(2.0)*


As with most HDTVs the Vizio VO320E offes a variety of different video processing options that are meant to help improve picture quality in certain situations. In the table below we look at each of these options and describe what we saw.

As you can see the noise reduction feature can be a significant help, especially with broadcast channels that have a lot of noise. The other features had minor or no effects in our time with the television.

 

Calibration

Calibration


[

](http://www.displaymate.com/)In order to ensure that we test HDTVs under optimal conditions we take the time to calibrate them first. Our calibration is done using DisplayMate software, which is the same software used by many television manufacturers. Few televisions come out of the box ready to produce the best picture so this calibration process is very important, not just for us but for consumers as well. You can pay someone to come to your home to calibrate your television, or you can use our settings, which we list below.

 

 

 

 

You'll note we had to significantly turn down the contrast ratio. This was done to ensure that we got accurate colors from dark to light. When necessary we prioritize color accuracy over brightness during the calibration process.

 

Video Modes


As with most HDTVs the Vizio VO320E offers a variety of different video modes that are supposed to adjust settings for different viewing situations. Below you can see all the video modes offered on the Vizio VO320E. Unfortunately Vizio doesn't provide in depth explanations for what the modes do, but most are self-explanatory.

Remote Control

Ergonomics & Durability*(4.0)*


The Vizio VO320E's remote is a small, block black plastic affair that fits comfortably into your hands, but doesn't do much on the design front. In fact it feels pretty cheap, and we wouldn't vouch for it's durability over the long term.

 

Button Layout & Use*(6.5)*


There aren't a lot of buttons on the Vizio VO320E's remote. This, combined with the small size of the remote, mean accessing the buttons you want is a simple affair, with the directional pad along with volume and channel controls in easy reach. The buttons themselves are hard plastic with decent key travel.

 

Programming & Flexibility*(0.0)*


The Vizio VO320E's remote cannot be programmed to control other devices.

Connectivity

Input Ports*(6.5)*


The Vizio VO320E has ports on both the back and the left side. On the back all of the ports are arranged in a single group on the right side when facing the back. Here you will find two HDMI ports with an associated analog audio input, one component video input and one composite video input as well as an S-Video and VGA input. You'll also find the RF input for cable/antenna, analog audio inputs for the composite and component video inputs and a 3.5mm audio in for the VGA port.

On the left side you will find another Component and Composite inputs, which share a single analog audio input. There's also a USB port here, but it's only used for service.

 

Output Ports*(2.0)*


As with most HDTVs the only output ports on the Vizio VO320E are for audio. The first is an optical audio out located on the back and just below it is an analog audio out. We're happy to see the latter as some other HDTVs we've reviewed recently have omitted it.

 

Other Connections*(0.0)*


The Vizio VO320E doesn't offer any additional connectivity options.

 

Media*(0.0)*


The Vizio VO320E doesn't have any ports that support direct media playback like a USB port or memory card reader.

 

Placement*(7.0)*


The Vizio VO320E's ports are reasonabley well placed. The ones located on the left side are easy to access in any situations. The ports on the back should be easy to access if the television is on a stand, given how small it is you won't have trouble moving it despite the non-rotating stand. If you have it mounted on a wall, however, the ports on the back will be harder to access, especially as they are recessed rather deeply.

Audio & Menus

Audio Quality*(7.5)*


Audio from the Vizio VO320E's built-in speakers is clear, but rather flat. This can be somewhat improved by turning on the simulated surround sound feature, which adds some depth, but even with this feature on the audio quality is nowhere near as good as even a cheap set of surround sound speakers. Still, if you're not an audiophile the audio quality should be fine.

 

Menu Interface*(6.25)*


The Vizio VO320E's menu interface is the same that we've seen on other modern Vizio televisions. Pressing the menu button will give you a simple top level interface where you can adjust the picture and audio modes. Entering deeper into the menus will give you finer controls.

The picuture menu doesn't include as many advanced features as we've seen on some other displays, but there are controls for white balance, which allow you fine grained control over RGB response.

Overall the menu system is attractive and easy to use.

 

Manual*(8.0)*


The Vizio VO320E's manual comes in a magazine sized booklet that does a good job walking you through setup and all the television's controls.

Formats & Media

Formats*(6.0)*


The Vizio VO320E is a 720p television, which means it has a native resolution of 1366 x 768. This is lower than the highest HD resolution of 1080p, so the television is forced to scale content down. It doesn't do a great job of this, unfortunately, as you can see in our Blacks & Whites section. The television does do a good job converting content via the 3:2 pulldown process to give you a film-like look and it also handles native 24fps content.

 

Photo Playback*(0.0)*


The Vizio VO320E does not support playback of photos from a connected USB device or memory card.

 

Music & Video Playback*(0.0)*


The VO320E does not support playback of music or video from connected USB devices.

 

Streaming Playback*(0.0)*


The Vizio VO320E cannot connect to the internet to access streaming media content.

 

Other Media*(0.0)*


There are no additional media features available on the Vizio VO320E like a DVD player.

Power Consumption

Power Consumption*(9.32)*


The Vizio VO320E's does a good job keeping power consumption down. In our tests we found that when calibrated to 200 candelas per meter squared, which is our standard for this test, it uses an average of 69.6 watts, which works out to an annual cost of $13.59 for the average family. Below you can see the power usage with the backlight turned all the way up and all the way down as well.

Below you can see that the Vizio VO320E's performance in this area is comparable to other 32-inch HDTVs.

Vs LG 32LH20

Value Comparison Summary


The Vizio VO320E and LG 32LH20 are comparable in many ways. Both are priced around $450, both have a 720p resolution and both are 32-inch displays. From a performance standpoint, however, the 32LH20 beats out the VO320E almost across the board, making it the better value of the two.

Blacks & Whites


The LG 32LH20 is the clear winner here as it sports a significantly lower black level with a peak brightness very similar to the Vizio VO320E. This means it has a much better contrast ratio, as you can see below.

 

Color Accuracy


The LG 32LH20 has a rock solid color temperature, something that's a problem on the VO320E. It also performs slightly better in terms of color accuracy and color gamut.

 

 

 

Motion


Neither television has the high refresh rates you see on more expensive models, but the LG 32LH20 nonetheless comes off with significantly less blurring than the VO320E. It also produces fewer artifacts, although it doesn't do a great job in that area either.

 

Viewing Effects


Both televisions have poor viewing angles, but the LG 32LH20 is remarkably bad in this area, while the Vizio VO320E is only bad.

 

Connectivity


The Vizio VO320E offers slightly better connectivity options, with an additional component and composite input over the LG 32LH20 as well as an S-Video port and analog audio out that the LG model lacks.

 

Other Comparisons


We liked the look and feel of the LG 32LH20's remote a lot better than the Vizio VO320E. Both television offer reasonable audio quality, with the VO320E just slightly better.

Vs Samsung LN32B360

Value Comparison Summary


The Samsung LN32B360 is our top-rated 32-inch LCD television, and for only $30 more than the Vizio VO320E is offers both better performance in many areas. That doesn't mean it's perfect, the VO320E has better connectivity options and better audio quality from the built-in speakers. But if push came to shove we'd go with the Samsung here due to it's far superior contrast ratio.

Blacks & Whites


This is the area where the Samsung LN32B360 blows away the Vizio VO320E, with much deeper blacks and a contrast ratio almost five times as wide as the Vizio model.

 

Color Accuracy


The Vizio VO320E did a better job matching the industry standard for color gamut, while RGB performance was very similar between it and the Samsung LN32B360. The Samsung model, however, did a far better job keeping the color temperature steady, which means you won't get strange color casts to your content.

 

 

 

Motion


Both television have the standard 60Hz refresh rate, but the Samsung model did much better with both motion blur and motion artifacts than the Vizio VO320E.

Viewing Effects


Poor viewing angles on both televisions, but the Vizio VO320E did slightly better here than the Samsung model.

Connectivity


The Vizio VO320E offers slightly better connectivity options, with an S-Video port that the Samsung LN32B360 lacks and additional composite and component video inputs.

Other Comparisons


The Vizio VO320E did a significantly better job with audio quality.

Vs Panasonic TCP42X1

Value Comparison Summary


Despite being significantly larger, the 42-inch Panasonic TC-P42X1 is not that much more expensive than the Vizio VO320E at about $550. It's also a Plasma display, which means it has much deeper blacks than the VO320E and handles motion much better. Although the Vizio does perform better in several areas, including more accurate RGB, a much brighter display and better audio quality. It's a close call here, frankly neither television is what we would call impressive, but we'll take the much larger display of the Panasonic for only about $100 more.

Blacks & Whites


This is an interesting comparison as the Panasonic model offers much deeper blacks, but the Vizio offers much more brightness. The two pretty much cancel out and both televisions have remarkably similar contrast ratios. Neither television, therefore, is particulary good here. Normally we'd take deep blacks over brightness, but the Panasonic is so dim that we can't recommend it strongly.

 

Color Accuracy


This is a mixed bag, with the Panasonic offering a much more stable color temperature than the Vizio VO320E, while the latter offers better color accuracy.

 

 

 

Motion


Plasma televisions traditionally do a much better job with motion performance than LCD displays, and this is certainly the case here as the Panasonic TC-P42X1 does a much better job with motion blur and artifacting than the Vizio VO320E.

 

Viewing Effects


This is another area where Plasma televisions perform better than LCD's on average, and in this case the difference is dramatic as the Panasonic model offers a viewing angle over three times better than the Vizio VO320E.

 

Connectivity


The Panasonic model offers significantly better connectivity options than the Vizio VO320E, with one extra HDMI port and a slot for SD cards so you can view photos stored on the card on your display.

 

Other Comparisons


There are no other comparisons we'd like to highlight here.

Conclusion

 

 

Series Comparison

Vizio VOXX0E Series


There are only two models in Vizio's VOxx0E series of televisions, the 32-inch model we reviewed here and a 42-inch model. The key differences aside from size is that the 42-inch models sports a full 1080p resolution, while the 32-inch model has only a 720p resolution and the 42-inch model has an additional HDMI port.

Meet the tester

Alfredo Padilla

Alfredo Padilla

Editor

Alfredo Padilla is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

See all of Alfredo Padilla's reviews

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