TEST BENCH

Brightness (100-IRE window): 57.4/38.5 ftL Primary Color Point Accuracy vs. SMPTE HD Standard

The SV-470XVT's Movie picture preset delivered the most accurate color when the TV's Normal color temperature was also selected. With those settings active, grayscale tracking ended up being +/- 633 degrees K of the 6, 500-K standard from 30 to 100 IRE - below-average performance. Manual adjustments made to the red, green, and blue controls in the set's Normal color temperature submenu improved grayscale tracking to +/-313 degrees K from 30 to 100 IRE. Color decoder tests revealed only a slight +2.5 percent red push for HDMI, and +2.5 percent red and green push on the component-video inputs. Even with the TV's Color Enhancement mode switched off, its red, green, and blue color points still all showed relatively high levels of oversaturation as compared to the SMPTE HD specification.

Overscan - the amount of picture area hidden behind the edges of the TV's screen - measured 0% for 1080i and 720p-format high-definition signals with the Wide mode selected. The set fully resolved 1080i and 720p test patterns via its HDMI inputs, although a 1080i resolution pattern looked booth softer and noisier with a component-video connection. DVDs watched via the same input showed considerable resolution loss, measuring somewhere around 375 lines - well below the format's full detail level. Screen uniformity was excellent for an LCD display, with gray full-field patterns showing no sign of tinting or uneven brightness. Off-axis viewing was also good, with picture contrast remaining solid up to 30-degrees from center.

Tests of the Vizio's video processing delivered mixed results. It passed all of the tests contained on the Silicon Optix HQV high-def test disc, but failed several tests on the DVD version of the same, performing particularly badly on the flag and detail chapters. The set's noise reduction mode worked well and didn't introduce significant detail loss at any setting.

- Al Griffin