52″ LCD below $2500 shipped available this year.
Monday, June 25th, 2007
Vizio GV52L
| Westinghouse | Vizio | Sharp | |
| TX-52F480S | GV52L | LC-52D62U | |
| Availability | September 2007 (Bestbuy will be the first to have them. | Before Aug 20, 2007 (Costco will be the first to have them. | Available now in bestbuy, costco and online retailer. |
| Price | $2499 (mentioned in April, 2007, subject to change) | $1899 (with $200 costco coupon (8/20-8/26) = $1699) | around $2450 from reputable online retailer like buydig.com |
| Response Time (ms) | 6.5 | 8 (uncertain) | 6.5 (they market it as 4 but it’s not true 4 |
| Refresh Rate (Hz) | 60 | 120 (uncertain) | 60 |
| Contrast Ratio (Static) | 1200:1 (uncertain) | 800:1 (uncertain) | 2000:1 |
| Contrast Ratio (Dynamic ) | 5000:1 | 1600:1 (uncertain) | 10000:1 |
| PIP, POP | may be, but the 47 version don’t have it. | yes | no |
| ATSC tuners | yes | yes | yes |
| HDMI ports | 4 | 4 | 2 |
| VGA in | yes | yes | no |
| Processor | ??? | Genesis’ Cortez-Advanced FLI8638 or FLI8668 (Faroudja DCDi Cinema)[info link] | ??? |
| Brightness | 500 cd/m2 | 500 cd/m2 | 450 cd/m2 |
| Lamp Life | 50,000 hours | 60,000 hours | |
| Auto source switching | yes | ??? | No |
| Watch out for | Since the 47″ has only 2 channel audio from its optical out, the 52″ might have the same deal. | The 47″ has audio hum, audio sync issues. Don’t know if this will have same issues. | A lot of complaints about banding (video sample) |
Vizio has poor Contrast ratio at 800:1 static while rumors have it being 3200:1 dynamic. At $1.7k, it seems so far off from its competitors. Note that it’s processor is one of the top chips which provides better scaling/deinterlacing than a lot of set on the street.
However, Westinghouse’s proposed price might not be too far off from reality at launch date as it was announced half a year ago and $2500 was a decent price point at that time, not anymore.
Sharp has awesome contrast which its black is comparable to some plasma. Its technology is 1 year old and it doesn’t have 4 hdmi inputs (why do one need 4? 1 for computer, 1 for up convert dvd or hd-dvd or bluray player, 1 for ps3, one for xbox 360, all used up)
A peek at Costco’s system with proof of Vizio 52″ being $1899 before $200 coupon: (Thank you timmyboywonder from avsforum for this image)
Costco coupon that is sent to your mailbox if you were a costco member:
Interesting findings:
- With PIP features, it really doesn’t make sense to route your video through your receiver or you are loosing it’s PIP/POP capability.
