TV Reviews

Full-On/Full-Off Contrast Ratio: 17,800:1

Pre-calibration measurements were made in Dark Calibration mode at the default settings. Post-calibration measurements were made in the same mode. With the Vizio E65-C3’s Active LED Zones setting on, its black level measured 0.002 foot-lamberts and peak white 35.6 ft-L, for a contrast ratio of 17,800:1. When the Active LED Zones was switched off, the Vizio’s black level measured 0.022 ft-L and peak white 72.92 ft-L, for a contrast ratio of 3,314:1. Highest peak brightness was delivered by the default settings in the Computer mode: a retina-searing 93.4 ft-L.

Before calibration, the Vizio’s grayscale was mostly even at all IRE levels. The Delta E of its pre-cal grayscale averaged out to an impressive 1.9; calibration improved things slightly to 1.6, with a high of 2.4 at 80% brightness. (Delta E is a figure of merit that indicates how closely a display adheres to the Rec. 709 HD color standard. Experts generally agree that levels below 3 are visibly indistinguishable from perfect color tracking.)

The Delta E of the Vizio’s color points in the Dark Calibration mode’s default settings averaged 3.1. Calibration using the set’s color management system adjustments improved that a bit to 2.0.

With the 2.2 Gamma preset selected, gamma in the Dark Calibration mode averaged 2.1. Post-calibration, it remained basically the same, with some non-linearity showing at 90 IRE.

The Vizio passed all of our standard- and high-def video- processing tests, Chroma Multiburst excepted (a not terribly unusual result).—AG