Vizio M series: Great 4K picture quality at an affordable price
TVs
[MUSIC]
Ever since 4K TVs have been available for sale.
I've been telling people they aren't worth the money.
Now, with Visio's new M Series, I'm changing my tune.
That's in part because 4Ks are getting cheaper, and this Visio is one of the least expensive 4K TVs you can buy.
It also happens to have excellent picture quality, whether it's displaying 4K content, which is very rare today.
Or good old high-def content, which will be around for years to come.
It outperforms most 1080p TVs I've tested and quite a few 4k ones as well, including ones that cost hundreds more.
Talk more about that impressive picture in a bit, but let's start with the least impressive part of the M-Series, its styling.
The series ranges in size from 43 to 80 inches, this is a 65 incher, in case you're wondering.
And all of them have the same silver border around the frame and bright silver legs.
The overall look is kind of generic compared to some other 4K TVs and the silver isn't exactly understated.
Features on the M Series are minimal for the breed, but that's not a bad thing.
There's a lot to like in the design of its uncluttered, simple Smart TV system, and I didn't miss not having a web browser, motion remote, or voice control for example.
The remotes one extra is a backlit qwerty keyboard on the flip side which can make app logins and searches easier.
The second stream 4K shows and movies from Amazon, Netflix and Ultraflix.
But unlike some competitors, it won't stream 4K from YouTube.
Only one of the Vizio's five HDMI inputs can handle the highest bandwidth 4K content and two of the five won't work with the latest copy protected content.
On the other hand, such content is rare enough that most users won't mind the omission now or in the next few years.
The main thing that does pay dividends now on the M series is excellent picture quality.
It has deeper black levels and better contrast than most 4K TVs we've tested, including more expensive competitors from Samsung and Sony.
That's because it uses full array local dimming which selectively dims independent sections of the screen in response to picture content.
It works great on the M-Series and conjunction with this TV's accurate and solid video processing makes for an impressive picture, in deed.
Especially at this price.
[MUSIC]
That was a look at the Vizio M-Series 4k TV for 2015, I'm David Katzmaier for CNET.
[MUSIC]
