When you go to shows like CES every year, you get used to seeing concept products that never make it into production. So when I saw VIZIO showing off a 120-inch 4K Ultra HD TV, complete with Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range capabilities in Vegas a couple of years ago, I thought, "Cool TV. Too bad it will never see the light of day." Looks like I was mistaken.
Yesterday, at a press event in New York City, VIZIO and Dolby jointly showed off not just one but two different flat panel Ultra HD TVs with Dolby Vision: the 65-inch RS65-B2 ($5,999.99) and that whopping 120-inch RS120-B3 ($129,999.99). These may seem expensive. And they are. The big one costs about as much as a fully loaded Tesla Model X. But those prices include white glove delivery and wall-mount installation, assuming you have a wall that will support this 385-pound, 107-inch wide behemoth.
So, what makes these new Reference Series TVs from VIZIO so special? They're the first TVs to support Dolby Vision, a High Dynamic Range (HDR) technology which allows video content to approach the color spectrum and brightness range of real life. And before you can say, "but what about content?", that's available now too, with more on the way. Warner Brothers has announced 16 titles, and VUDU is in the process of delivering these titles in Dolby Vision UHD format already via their online streaming service. Sony Pictures has also announced support for Dolby Vision as has Netflix, beginning with season 2 of the original series "Marco Polo." And the upcoming Ultra HD Blu-ray format also includes support for Dolby Vision as an option.
We've said since the launch of 4K/UHD TV that simply having more pixels (more detail) wasn't enough of an advantage over HDTV to convince buyers to part with their hard-earned cash. We need better pixels. And the VIZIO reference series has better pixels in the form of extended color gamut and higher contrast (a greater difference between blackest black and brightest white).
Key in the Reference Series' ability to create high quality, dynamic images is the presence of a full array LED backlight with 384 zones of lighting and local dimming technology. This allows areas of the screen to stay completely black while other areas are extremely bright. A gas lamp burning in a darkened alley, a bright sun rising over a dark mountain peak, a field of tiny stars twinkling against a pitch black sky -- these are the types of scenes that stand out on a set that's capable of high dynamic range. While the set is capable of higher brightness than traditional HD or UHD TVs (the manufacturer claims 800 nits of peak brightness, even with a full white field on the screen), it's the ability to simultaneously reproduce deep blacks and bright colors on the screen at the same time that can give an image a real sense of depth, without having to wear those pesky 3D glasses.
In terms of color reproduction, both the 65-inch and the 120-inch sets offer a much wider color palette than the current REC 709 HD TV standard. According to VIZIO, the 65-inch model uses quantum dot technology to reproduce 120% of the Digital Cinema/P3 color standard and an impressive 87% of the challenging REC.2020 color gamut. The manufacturer tells us that quantum dot filters are simply not available in screen sizes large enough for the 120-inch panel, but even without quantum dots, the RS120 is capable of reproducing 96% of the DCI/P3 color gamut and about 73% of REC.2020.
Watching a variety of Dolby Vision content on the two sets, and comparing this to regular 4K UHD sets without Dolby Vision, the Reference Series images had more vivid, more vibrant colors and just seemed more true-to-life than the competition. In "Man of Steel" an alien skull with molten liquid pulsing through fissures resembled a tiny active volcano. Meanwhile the same scene on a non-Dolby Vision-capable set looked dull and subdued. On "Mad Max: Fury Road," flames shooting out of a guitarist's axe virtually leapt off the screen while the non-HDR version just looked like a point-and-shoot camera's picture of a flame. The differences were not subtle.
Additional features of VIZIO's 2015 Reference Series include:
You won't find these sets in stores just yet, but if you want one, you can submit an order request on VIZIO's web site for either model. Orders will be followed up directly by a local custom installer who is qualified to do the TV's white glove delivery and installation.
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