Introduction
Tour & Design
The front of the TV is all screen and glossy black bezel. The bezel is pretty thick for a 32-inch HDTV.
The TV's back has a cluster of ports off to its right-hand side.
For information about the ports on the back of the Vizio E320VL see our Connectivity section.
The left side of the TV has the on-set controls and the TV's USB port. The right side is featureless.
For information about the ports on the sides of the Vizio E320VL see our Connectivity section.
The Vizio E320VL's stand is a bit on the plasticky side, but it does the trick.
The TV's controls are located on the set's left side and cover the basic functionality. The buttons are large and angled, so they're pretty easy to hit. They're a bit close together, however.
The TV's remote control is very basic: the only non-standard button present is the Media button, which is a shortcut to the USB picture viewer.
The TV comes assembled, with a remote, batteries, and manuals. You won't find any extras in the box.
The Vizio E320VL isn't an attractive TV. It's thick, has a significant bezel, and looks like a big rectangle of glossy black cheapness. It's a budget option: you really shouldn't expect the most beautiful piece of technology on the market.
Black & White
The Vizio E320VL didn't have a very low black level. Typically our metric for whether or not a black level is "good" is 0.10 candelas per square meter (cd/m2): anything lower is amazing, anything higher is increasingly mediocre. Typically our standard for "bad" is anything over 0.20 cd/m2, which is the bracket the E320VL falls solidly into. (More on how we test Black Level.)
The E320VL's peak brightness was pretty bright. You really only need 200 cd/m2 for adequate viewing, and the E320VL is almost twice as bright. You shouldn't have any issues with external light washing out the screen, and the TV's brightness won't be to blame for a lack of detailing in intense colors. (More on how we test Peak Brightness.)
The Vizio E320VL doesn't have a very high contrast ratio. Even though it's a fairly bright TV, its black level is downright horrible. We measured the TV's contrast ratio at 1130:1, which isn't the worst we've measured, but can't compare to some of the higher-end HDTVs. (More on how we test Contrast.)
The E320VL has a pretty big problem maintaining its black level during bright scenes. The darkest black got almost three times as bright when it made up a minority of the screen. Since the TV's black level isn't great as it is, it's a bit disheartening to see it get so washed out. That's right: disheartening. If this TV's tunnel contrast doesn't outright dampen your mood, we call your cinephilia into question. (More on how we test Tunnel Contrast.)
Thankfully, the TV's white levels remain pretty unchanged by the displayed content. It doesn't matter if you're looking at a retina-destroying pure white screen or a pinprick or white, the TV's brightness will remain consistent. (More on how we test White Falloff.)
The screen of the E320VL had some issues with unifromity; in our tests loking at pure white and black screens, we noticed some problems. On black screens, the corners of the screens were significantly ligher than the center, and on white screens the left side of the screen was darker than the rest. We don't expect a display to be perfect, but the differences were significant, and could be seen when watching a normal video. (More on how we test Uniformity.)
The TV's greyscale gamma was a bit aggressive, meaning the difference between intensity levels is a bit more than it should be. Also, there's very little differentiation between darker colors, as evinced by the curve flattening out towards the lower intensities. (More on how we test Greyscale Gamma.)
Color Accuracy
The TV's color temperature doesn't really shift that much. It shifts a bit cool towards the darker end of the spectrum, but it isn't by a very perceptible amount. (More on how we test Color Temperature.)
The main problem with the E320VL's color performance was that the colors all peaked far, far too early. If the curves simply spanned the spectrum they should have, the E320VL would have had great color performance. As it is, most of the bright colors will look really flat and have no detail past a certain point. There will also be too much differentiation between colors throughout the rest of the spectrum, making it hard for colors to gradually fade into each other. This leads to an effect where a sunset looks like a series of concentric circles of color. (More on how we test RGB Curves.)
The gradient strips below are representations of the red, green, and blue curves from the graph above. We've included a strip of the ideal performance along with the performances of several competing models.
Although the TV's color performance wasn't the best, its color gamut was actually one of the most accurate we've ever seen. The red, green, blue, and white points were all almost perfectly spot on. (More on how we test Color Gamut.)
In the graph below you'll find our measurements for the E320VL's red, green, blue, and white points, along with the rec. 709 standard measurements for those points.
Motion
The Vizio E320VL doesn't have the 120Hz or 240Hz motion processing that many other models have, and this shows in the motion, which looks jerky and jumpy next to a model with better processing. Motion just wasn't smooth; anything that moved at high speed across the screen, and the subtle details were lost. One of our tests uses a series of grey lines moving across the screen, and these just collapsed into each other; the pattern turned into a grey mush. (More on how we test Motion.)
We also saw some artifacting in motion as well; some colors (particularly greens) had trails behind them as they moved across the screen, and some sharp edges became rather broken and jagged.
Mnay broadcasters use a system called 3:2 pulldown to give their TV shows a more filmic look, and the VO370M had no problem detecting and processing this effect in our tests; we saw smooth results, and only an occasional glitch in the image that indicated that it was having an issue. Overall, it did a very decent job; the resulting video have an attractive, clean look. The VO370M also had no problem displaying a true 24 frames per second image produced by a high-end DVD player. (More on how we test 3:2 Pulldown and 24fps.)
The E320VL is a 720p display, meaning it has to do some extra processing to display 1080p and 1080i content. Since you aren't always going to feed the TV a 720p signal, we test it on other resoutions as well. (More on how we test Resolution Scaling.)
480p
The E320VL did a decent job with 480p signals (standard definition). We saw a small amount of overscan, but otherwise the TV had no issues with 480p content.
1080i
The TV should handle broadcast HD content fairly well. We saw some details lost due to the interlacing and some minor flickering as fine patterns entered the screen, but it wasn't a particularly obnoxious effect.
1080p
The 1080p signals did not look very good. There was a very noticeable amount of detail getting lost, and we saw a lot of artifacting on fine patterns.
Viewing Effects
The Vizio E320VL is a 720p HDTV, meaning it isn't the highest HD format available.
The E320VL has a decent viewing angle for an LCD. You'll be able to get out to 32° and still have over 50% of the TV's contrast ratio in tact. While good for an LCD, plasma TVs can get to 170° or more before falling below 50% contrast. (More on how we test Viewing Angle.)
External light shining on the TV will create a large, diffuse glow. This will definitely wash out the screen at lower backlight levels, so you should turn up the backlight if you find the effect too distracting. (More on how we test Reflectance.)
There are four different video processing features on the E320VL, but the only one we'd recommend is the Noise Reduction feature.
Calibration
[
](http://www.displaymate.com/)The Vizio E320VL doesn't come out of the box particularly well calibrated. Before we run our tests, we want to optimize the unit's settings so they are at their peak performance. To do this we use a CS-200 ChromaMeter and the DisplayMate calibration software.
The Vizio E320VL has a handful of video modes available, but doesn't offer an explanation for any of them. The modes are: Standard, Movie, Game, Vivid, Football, Golf, Basketball, and Baseball.
Remote Control
Ergonomics & Durability*(4.00)*
The remote that comes with the Vizio E320VL is small, plasticky, and has a giant, angular d-pad. The sides are curved, which lets the remote sit comfortably in hand. It doesn't come off as very durable, however, like part of it will break or shatter if you drop it onto your hardwood floor.
The E320VL has a pretty simple remote. The only non-standard button is the Media button, which lets you shortcut to the namesake menu. Otherwise the buttons are pretty straight forward, both in layout and in functionality. The remote lacks a backlight, however, so if you're watching TV in the dark you'll have to depend on touch navigation.
Programming & Flexibility*(0.0)*
The E320VL isn't a universal remote, but a handful of its buttons did work on an LG we had in house. Unfortunately, we do not award points for the "some buttons also work with at least one LG TV" feature.
Connectivity
The Vizio E320VL doesn't have very many ports. It has two HDMI ports split between its back and side, and one of the rest of the basic ports, with an analog audio input to go with each. This isn't a great TV for hooking up a lot of devices. If you have more than one device with component inputs, for example, you'll have to get a switcher.
The E320VL has two output ports: an analog and a digital audio out.
The E320VL doesn't have any other connections.
The E320VL does have a USB port, which it can use to playback photos from a USB memory device.
The Vizio E320VL has a small gathering of ports off to the right side of the back of the TV, indented a bit from the edge. This is where all the ports are located. The ports are labeled well overall, but they're also labeled according to the video quality you should expect from each: the composite video inputs and accompanying analog audio ins are labeled "good," Different groups of ports are outlined by different colors, which are labeled "good," "better," and "best." This seems sort of like a ploy to convince people who don't know any better that they need an HDMI cable, but who knows, it might be helpful to some people.
Audio & Menus
The speakers built into the front of the Vizio E320VL weren't particularly good. Since this is a budget TV, we weren't expecting them to be great: even high-end TVs have poor built-in speakers. Like most other TVs, the E320VL doesn't have much to its bass response. The normal sound mode sounds a bit tinny, which is somewhat alleviated by turning on the surround sound mode. We'd recommend keeping this mode on, even though it doesn't actually create a surround sound effect, because the audio simply sounds better and has a fuller frequency response.
As a general rule, if you want good sound from your TV, regardless of make or model, you'll likely need to buy some external speakers.
The E320VL's menu interface is pretty intuitive and straight-forward with only a few exceptions. The main menu features a grid of different menu items which you can select with the remote's d-pad and select button.
The picture settings mode will let you tweak most of the settings, but if you want to alter the backlight level you'll have to first go into the Advanced Picture setting menu and disable the Ambient Light Sensor.
The only awkward part of the menu is the media interface. In order to exit the media menu, you'll have to press the Media button on the remote; the exit and return buttons don't work.
The E320VL's manual is adequate. It features decent pictures and write-ups, although both are a bit small. You can find the Vizio E320VL's manual online here.
Multimedia & Internet
The Vizio E320VL doesn't have any online features.
The Vizio E320VL doesn't have any photo playback functionality. Its USB port is for service or firmware updates.
The E320VL doesn't have any music or video playback features either.
The TV doesn't have any other media features.
Power Consumption
Small TVs don't tend to draw much power, and neither do LCDs. Small LCDs, one might correctly assume, draw the least power. The Vizio E320VL follows along with this trend by only consuming $20 in electricity with its backlight going full bore. This isn't a particularly expensive TV to keep around. (More on how we test Power Consumption.)
Below we've compared the Vizio E320VL to a few similar models. As you can see, none of the TVs are very expensive.
Vs LG 32LD350
Value Comparison Summary
If you don't mind spending an extra $50 for a decent hike in picture quality, the LG is a better value for your cash.
Blacks & Whites
The LG's black level was more than twice as dark as the Vizio's, and it was almost as bright, resulting in a significantly larger contrast ratio.
Color Accuracy
Neither TV had an issue with color temperature, but the LG had much more accurate RGB representation.
Motion
The LG had less motion blurring than the Vizio and, although we did see some motion artifacting on the LG, it wasn't as bad as what we saw on the Vizio.
Viewing Effects
The Vizio had a wider viewing angle than the LG, which had poor performance even by LCD standards.
Connectivity
The LG and Vizio have roughly the same connectivity options.
Vs Sony KDL-32EX700
Value Comparison Summary
This match-up is a battle of the budgets. The Vizio is a much less expensive option, but it also looks cheaper, has worse video quality, and lacks online connectivity. If you just want a 32-inch set and don't want to shell out too much money for it, the Vizio will meet your needs. If you want a TV with good picture quality and don't mind paying extra for the best in online content, you'll probably find the Sony to be worth the investment.
Blacks & Whites
The Sony had a much deeper black level and was brighter than the Vizio. It also had a significantly higher contrast ratio.
Color Accuracy
The Vizio's color temperature was more solid than the Sony's, but the Sony had much more accurate RGB representation.
Motion
The Sony outclassed the Vizio on our motion tests. It had less motion blur and fewer instances of motion artifacting.
Viewing Effects
The Sony doesn't have a great viewing angle, but it isn't that much smaller than the Vizio's. Any given plasma would blow both of these LCDs out of the water, however, because in this analogy the TVs are seaworthy and viewing angle is apparently some sort of nautical weapons system.
Connectivity
The Sony has two extra port options over the Vizio and also has an ethernet port for online connectivity. Sony currently offers the best online content suite, so that ethernet port holds a lot of value.
Vs Samsung LN32C350
Value Comparison Summary
The Samsung offered better performance than the Vizio almost across the board. It also has a slightly better-looking design overall. What the Vizio offers is a price reduction: you save about $140 over the Samsung. If you're just looking for a small TV and don't care much about picture quality, the Vizio is the more attractive option. If you don't mind spending a bit more for a significant step up in quality, however, the Samsung is probably the better choice.
Blacks & Whites
The Samsung had a much deeper black level than the Vizio, but the Vizio was a bit brighter. The darker black level gave the Samsung a significantly higher contrast ratio, however.
Color Accuracy
While neither TV had any real issues with color temperature, the Samsung had a much better RGB performance.
Motion
The Samsung didn't have nearly as much motion blur as the Vizio, but both TVs had a substantial aount of motion artifacting.
Viewing Effects
The Vizio has a slightly larger viewing angle compared to the Samsung, but not by a significant amount. For all intents and purposes, their viewing angles were the same.
Connectivity
The Vizio has a few more analog audio inputs than the Samsung, but otherwise they had identical connectivity.
Conclusion
Series Comparison
Exx0VL Series
The Exx0VL series is an entry-level series that doesn't have any features. The larger sizes feature a 120Hz framerate.
Meet the tester
Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.
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