TV Suggestions

Stealtharsenal

Junior Member
Sep 3, 2012
21
2
71
Hello all,

I am here looking for some suggestions on a potential tv replacement. First and foremost, I purchased last weekend a Vizio E55-C1 television from Best Buy. I had upgraded from a Sharp Aqous 46" LCD 1080P television. This TV got re-purposed for a renovation project which afforded me the opportunity to upgrade my tv.

Let me bring everything together here is some sort of organized thought process. I have spent the last few nights looking through several threads and getting a boatload of advise with regards to tweaking and calibrating the television to try and get it to where I want it. Keep in mine, that I am fully aware that this is not a crazy feature loaded television.

So what are my issues you might ask.

1. It would seem that in the blacks, I am getting quite a bit of backlight bleed at the bottom of the television.
2. It seems that even after calibration, that the colors and brightness are just off. If I switch the TV into calibrated mode, my whites are yellow and the screen is quite dark. I understand I can raise the backlight, but then we run back into issue No. 1 again. I understand that my old Sharp had a bit of a cool/blueish tint to it, but the image was excellent.
3. Active LED or Backlight seems to be more of a nuisance than a help in the sense that I can actually see the zones turning on and off, especially in a dark room. However, with this feature off, again the screen is way to dark.

So, what have I been able to do thus far. I can remove a majority of the backlight bleed assuming the backlight brightness is down. Running on calibrated mode bothers me. I have my own view on how colors should look (I understand everyone is different) but it just doesn't look right. I can straighten out the white by going to a cool mode and bringing the backlight brightness up. I don't seem to have an issue with the quality of the picture, but rather getting colors and backlight set correctly. With that said, I seem to think that since Vizio does the whole calibration different in a sense that you can't tweak the picture like a Sony or Samsung, I might be better off getting a different and/or better television.

With that said, I can work with it some more, or I can use my 45 day return period with Best Buy and try something different. If I go that route I have selected a few TV's that are appealing to me and I saw in Best Buy as well. Keep in mind I am coming from primarily using Sharp televisions for years and years, so I am a bit biased there.

1. Vizio M55-C2 (4K) - I understand this uses a different panel configuration that aids to brightness and such. 32 active backlight zones. (~$680)
2. Sharp Aquos LC-60TQ15U (60" Aquos Q+) (~$740)
3. Sharp Aquos LC-60EQ10U (60" Aquos Q) ($560)
4. Samsung UN60H6350 (60") ($670)
5. Sony KDL60W630 (60") ($750)

Let me know what your thoughts are. With the Aquos, I understand they are left overs from early this year or late 2014.

Thanks
Chris
 
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Stealtharsenal

Junior Member
Sep 3, 2012
21
2
71
Thanks guys. Was trying to keep this little adventure cheaper than OLED. With that I was looking at, is there any particular preference? I am working on calibrating the Vizio, but just when I think I get it where I want it, an image will pop up and its either too bright, too dark or the colors are washed out. Seems I can't get a happy medium like my old Sharp.
 

Binky

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,046
4
81
Disclaimer - I'm also terrible at tuning my TV. I generally fight with the new TV for a while, then surrender with whatever is there when I finally give up. Which reminds me of a da Vinci quote: "Art is never finished, only abandoned." There always seems like there is one more tweak that will make it better...

Have you tried turning all of the "auto make it better" crap off, then tuning using whatever method you are using (tuning blu-ray maybe?), then tweaking it further to what your eyes perceive to be correct? Every TV is different, every room is different, and perceptions of what looks best are different. I have friends that leave the cartoon features on with crazy high sharpness levels, and they think it looks great. I think it looks like crap. To each their own.
 

Stealtharsenal

Junior Member
Sep 3, 2012
21
2
71
Binky,

You must have read my mind. I always turn the "auto make it better crap off" and start from there. With that said, he is my biggest issues right now. I cannot get an image that is consistent from frame to frame vivid, saturated and "bright". I use the term bright loosely because there are different interpretations of that. For example, if I run calibrated mode on this tv, every image is dark (the blacks are amazing). I turn the backlight up, I get grayscale and backlight bleed, etc. I went ahead last night and threw in both Pacific Rim and Avengers Blu-Rays and the two pictures could not be anymore different. Here I thought I had it setup perfect with Pacific Rim to find out it was all washed out in Avengers. I really can't say I have ever had such a difficult time. I threw in my AVS HD709 thumb drive and everything seems pretty decent, it just doesn't translate.
 

s44

Diamond Member
Oct 13, 2006
9,427
16
81
It looks like you got one of the IPS-paneled E55s. The M55 is all VA and would be the best deal if it weren't 60hz native. M60 is 120hz native and VA, but expensive - best deal now is $1100 from BuyDig/eBay, though there's also a $900 refurb Groupon deal.

For calibration advice I'd check the owners' thread on AVS Forum. People get way more detailed there than here.
 
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Stealtharsenal

Junior Member
Sep 3, 2012
21
2
71
I was able to get the picture looking much better, but of course the drawback is the backlight bleed in the blacks. The black uniformity just isn't there on this vizio. I would be better off with the M55. The 60" Samsung I mentioned above might be the ticket here. I am going to check out the Aquos Q since it will be at the same Best Buy, but I would need to buy the extended warranty for that unit with Sharp selling US to hisense. I had a CNET employee email me and indicate that the Vizios aren't lasing very long which was also disconcerting.
 

chucky2

Lifer
Dec 9, 1999
10,018
37
91
You know, I wonder what you could get a 1080p OLED for now? Yes they have their own issues (what TV doesn't?), but I'd think they'd be far better than the ones you have listed. Reality is, you could wait and save some $ while using your current TV, grabbing a 1080p OLED might be doable depending on how quickly you could save/up you budget.
 

Stealtharsenal

Junior Member
Sep 3, 2012
21
2
71
It's not a saving thing. It's a I don't want to spend that kind of money on a TV. I understand you get what you pay saying, but I just want a half way decent television. I am going out right now to go look at some other avenues and see what I can figure out. Chances are I will be grabbing one of those Aqous units and giving it a whirl but I will see what I see.