Introduction

Overall Design

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The Vizio E322VL is a bit ugly, like most Vizios: extremely boxy with lots of black plastic. Some TVs try to hide their bulk. This one almost accentuates it.

Front

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The front of the Vizio E322VL has a light-up Vizio logo in the front, as well as the IR receptor for the remote control.

Back

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The back of the Vizio E322VL houses most of the ports, grouped together on one side for easier access. The AC cord can be removed completely. It plugs in on the other side.

Sides

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The Vizio E322VL is not particularly thin, thanks to the older CCFL backlighting technology. Newer LED backlighting allows TVs to be thinner, like the Sony KDL-32EX700. The fat sides of the Vizio allow room for onboard controls and ports, however.

Stand/Mount

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The Vizio E322VL's stand mounts with a single screw – not a real confidence builder. Fortunately, the TV panel is very lightweight, so we're not too worried. The construction of the base does not allow the TV panel to pivot, which sadly limits it maneuverability.

Controls

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The remote control is very basic and gets the job done. Unfortunately, it's not programmable with other AV devices.

Remote Control

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The onboard controls on the Vizio E322VL are the same that you'd find on nearly any TV. Each button is a thin, hard plastic strip that offers a confirming click when you hit it.

In the Box

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The Vizio E322VL ships with the base, AC cable, remote control batteries, instruction manual, and other documentation. Because the TV panel is so lightweight, it's quite easy to assemble.

Black Level

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The Vizio E322VL did not perform very well in our black level tests. As you can see in the chart below, the black level measured approximately 0.42 cd/m2, far brighter than similar models from Samsung and Sony. An LG television did produce similar results. It appears that, like many LGs, this Vizio focuses more on color performance than maximizing the contrast ratio. More on how we test black level.

Peak Brightness

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The Vizio E322VL managed a peak brightness of 328.63 cd/m2, which is perfectly bright for most room environments. More on how we test peak brightness.

Contrast

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The Vizio E322VL's contrast ratio of 782:1 is certainly a let down, by most standards. What hurt it was the terrible black level performance. Granted, Vizio only claims a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 on its website, while Samsung and Sony frequently claim 1,000,000:1 or higher. Once these are re-scaled for reality, we suspected there might be a performance gap like this. Overall, though, we're not too disappointed because the Vizio's color performance was quite good. More on how we test contrast.

Tunnel Contrast

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The Vizio E322VL had a hard time maintaining a consistent black level as the amount of bright white on the screen increased. This is typically a problem that plasmas, not LCDs, suffer, and we can only guess that there's some processing going on that we're not aware of and unable to disable. In everyday viewing, you can expect that shadows in a mostly bright screen, like a snowy field, will not be nearly as dark as the same shadows in a mostly dark scene. More on how we test tunnel contrast.

White Falloff

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The Vizio E322VL had no problems maintaining a consistent white level. More on how we test white falloff.

Uniformity

Greyscale Gamma

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The greyscale gamma indicates how well a TV transitions from black to white. The chart below tells us a few things. First, the curve is not entirely straight and smooth. The flatter portion in the lower left indicates that the Vizio E322VL has a little trouble displaying detail in the shadows. Variations and gradations may be lost. However, the rest of the curve looks smooth. Secondly, there's the slope of the curve. A slope of 2.49 is a bit steep. Ideally, we're looking for a slope between 2.1 and 2.2. The Vizio E322VL's performance likely loses some of the finer gradations throughout the greyscale. More on how we test greyscale gamma.

Color Temperature

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The Vizio E322VL had no real problems with maintaining a consistent color temperature. As you can see from the chart below, the color temperature wavers up and down constantly. However, it almost never ranges outside the limits of imperceptibility, so you probably won't notice. More on how we test color temperature.

RGB Curves

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The Vizio E322VL proved to have very good color performance, overall. If you look at the charts below, the curves are extremely smooth. The only problem is the blue channel, which peaks early and loses dinner in the highlights. We noticed this during calibration, but the only way to retrieve detail here would have us lower the Contrast setting very low, which would have had an adverse effect on many other aspects of picture quality. More on how we test RGB curves.

The color strips below are digital recreations of the performances seen in detail above. You can see how the Vizio E322VL compares to three similar TVs, as well as an ideal response curve.

Motion Performance

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Motion Smoothness (6.0)

The Vizio E322VL managed a pretty good motion performance. The performance was about as smooth as most LCD TVs. Note that this model lacks the motion smoothing features found in some more expensive Vizios like the 3SV series.

Motion Artifacting (6.0)

The Vizio E322VL displayed the typical motion artifacts of an LCD TV. There were obvious instances of color trailing and flickering, which killed some of the fine detail. Smooth color gradations could become blocky when an object was in motion. But it was no more egregious what normal. More on how we test motion performance.

3:2 Pulldown & 24fps

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The Vizio E322VL is certainly capable of displaying native 24fps content, as you might see from a Blu-Ray movie. However, the picture could look a little choppy, particularly horizontal camera pans. There's a feature on the TV called Film Mode that is meant to improve performance, and that's definitely true. Leave it in Auto mode, but don't expect perfection. More on how we test 3:2 pulldown and 24fps.

Resolution Scaling

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The Vizio E322VL has a native resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080), but most of the content you'll be watching will probably be of a lower resolution. It's up to the TV's internal processing to rescale that picture to fit on the screen. Overall, theVizio E322VL is very good at this task. More on how we test resolution scaling.

480p

When we looked at 480p content, there was a 3% loss of top and bottom and a 2% loss of sides due to overscan.

720p

With 720 content, there were some slight Moires that appeared in areas of high contrast and high frequency.

1080i

The 1080i content was nearly identical to the 720p content.

Formats

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The Vizio E322VL has a native resolution of 1080p (1920 x 1080), but can display all standard NTSC formats.

Viewing Angle

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The Vizio E322VL's viewing angle measures approximately 60 degrees in total (or 30 degrees from center in either direction). Anyone sitting at a more extreme angle than that is going to lose too much of the contrast ratio. LCDs are not known for their great viewing angles, so this is an average to better-than-average performance. If you need great viewing angles, look for a plasma display.

Reflectance

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When strong outside light hits the Vizio E322VL straight on, a wide, diffuse glow is cast on the screen. It's enough to complete ruin the viewing experience. But f you can change the angle of the light even a little, the reflection is greatly diminished.

Video Processing

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The Vizio E322VL has a handful of processing features. Notably, it lacks the motion smoothing features of some more expensive Vizios.

Calibration

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To get the Vizio E322VL's performing its best, put it in Movie mode. After that, we make the following suggestions:

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All of our calibration is done in conjunction with the DisplayMate software.

](http://www.displaymate.com/)

Video Modes

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The Vizio E322VL has several video modes, including: Standard, Movie, Game, Vivid, Football, Golf, Basketball, Baseball, and Custom. There are, however, no descriptions of what they do or how they differ from one another.

Ergonomics & Durability

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The Vizio E322VL's included remote control is a little wider than most remotes, but perfectly adequate for the task. It feels comfortable enough in your hand, and the buttons are clearly labeled. If you drop it, you can trust that it will live to work for another day.

Button Layout & Use

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The buttons are made of a soft rubber, which feels comfortable to press. The buttons are distinct enough from one another in shape that, with enough time, you'd be able to tell them apart without looking down at your hand. The response time can be very slow, depending on the function you're using, but that's clearly to do with the TV's processing time and not the remote control itself.

Programming & Flexibility

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The remote cannot be programmed for any other devices.

Connectivity

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Input Ports (5.0)

The Vizio E322VL is no wonderland of ports, which might be a challenge if you're looking for a home entertainment hub. There are 3 HDMI ports, but just 1 component and 1 composite input. That does not leave much room for legacy devices like standard def DVD players, VCRs, older game systems, and the like. Conversely, though, it's a high tech wonder with a LAN port port and built-in WiFi for connecting to streaming content. What a strange beast!

Most of the ports are on the back, with a small selection of ports on the side. There's a USB port that's supposed to play back photos, but we could not get the TV to recognize anything we plugged in.

Output Ports (2.0)

The Vizio E322VL has an analog audio output and a digital audio output. This is great, because it means you have the option to plug in older audio systems if you want to.

Other Connections (5.0)

The Vizio E322VL has a LAN ethernet port and built-in 802.11n WiFi. With either of these, you can connect to Vizio's collection of streaming content and apps. There is no DLNA support. More details here.

Media (1.0)

The Vizio E322VL has a USB port that supposedly connects to FAT32 formatted drives. We tried but could not get the TV to recognize a device.

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Placement

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The ports on the Vizio E322VL are extremely well-labeled and fairly easy to access. In fact, Vizio has made it as easy as possible for n00bs by labeling the composite port "Good," the component port "Better," and the HDMI ports "Best." Display connection technology, explained in a nutshell.

Audio Quality

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The Vizio E322VL has surprisingly good audio performance for a TV in its size. Granted, the bass response is atrocious, creating a papery rumble. But midtones and conversation sound great. There are plenty of features in the menu to tweak audio performance.

| Feature | *What It Does (according to Vizio) |
| SRS TruSurround HD | When watching TV or a movie, TruSurround HD creates an immersive surround sound experience from only two speakers and provides rich bass, clear dialog and high frequency detail. Choose from On or Off. |
| SRS TruVolume | When the programming switches to a commercial or when changing occur. |
| Lip Sync | Lip Sync is designed to adjust the audio of the program being viewed so that it matches the movement of the lips of someone talking on the screen. |
| Audio Mode | A series of equalizer presets: Flat, Rock, Pop, Classic, and Jazz. |
| Equalizer | A 5-channel equalizer. |

Menu Interface

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The menu on the Vizio E322VL has one simple feature that we think is great and should be copied by all the other manufacturers. Typically, when you open a menu, a huge graphic takes up most of the screen and blocks what you were watching. This particular Vizio gives you the option of shrinking and rescaling the screen so the menu is on one side and your TV show is on the other (see picture below). It's one of those ideas that's so simple yet so obvious. And yet, Vizio doesn't even offer it on all its own TVs.

The overall menu interface is fine. Options are clearly laid out and you can also hit the Back or Exit button on the remote if you get lost.

Instruction Manual

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The Vizio manuals are always a big hit with the staff here because the product photography is so bizarre and amateur compared to any instruction manual you see from any other electronic manufacturer. And yet, it gets the point across, which is really more important than polish. What we can't forgive is Vizio withholding information. There are several features here that get no explanation. You can find the Vizio E322VL's manual online here.

Internet Features

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The E322VL features Vizio's suite of Internet Apps. The collection pales in comparison to what Sony was offering prior to September '10, and now with the Sony Google TV, there's really no contest. Sony is completely dominating in the field of internet features right now. But Vizio does offer Netflix, which probably covers 90% of what you want, anyway. Other features include Amazon Video on Demand, Flickr, Pandora, Rhapsody, Vudu, Facebook, and a few more.

The interface is terrible due to the incredibly slow response time. The menu pops up along the bottom of the screen and you scroll horizontally to view your options. Frequently, you hit the "right" button and nothing happens. You think the remote control is not responding, so you hit "right" five more times. Several seconds later, the menu goes flying by six items to the right. It's like using a busted old computer, fresh out of the box.

Local Media Playback

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The Vizio E322VL supposedly plays photos if you plug a FAT32-formatted device into the USB port, but we couldn't get it to work. There are no instructions, or even hints, in the instruction manual (yet another reason we gave that a low score, as well).

The Vizio E322VL does not play music or video files from the USB port, at least according to the manual.

Other Media

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The Vizio E322VL does not play any other types of media.

Power Consumption

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The Vizio E322VL uses slightly more power than similarly sized LCD TVs, but not so much more as to make a sizable impact in the cost of ownership. We estimate it will cost $16.14 per year in electricity.

Value Comparison

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The LG 32LD450 is a good TV, on the whole. The contrast ratio and black level are far weaker than similar Sonys and Samsungs, but the color performance is among the best. We liked the look and feel of the LG, but the Vizio beats the pants off it, dollar-for-dollar, thanks to a much lower price tag and access to streaming content.

Blacks & Whites

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Neither the Vizio E322VL nor the LG 32LD450 were champions in producing a deep black level, which killed their chances at a decent contrast ratio.

Color Accuracy

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The Vizio E322VL and LG 32LD450 were both excellent color performers. However, the Vizio's blue channel peaked too early, losing some detail in the highlights. The LG had no such problems.

Motion

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The Vizio E322VL and LG 32LD450 both performed decently in our motion tests.

Viewing Effects

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The Vizio E322VL has a slightly wider viewing angle than the LG 32LD450, but neither come close to the average performance of a plasma display.

Connectivity

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The Vizio E322VL has one more HDMI, but one less component AV. However, the LG doesn't allow you to connect to streaming content, while the Vizio has both LAN and WiFi.

Value Comparison

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The Samsung LN32C350 is a good, cheap TV. The core performance is solid and the design is a attractive. It's scant on frills, but feels like it retains some of the quality of more expensive Vizios. The Vizio E322VL is $100 more. You get great features like the LAN port and WiFi for streaming content, but it definitely feels and looks cheaper. The Samsung also has far better contrast ratio, but is limited to a 720 resolution. It's a tough call between these two. We recommend you read both reviews before you decide.

Blacks & Whites

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The Samsung LN32C350 offers a far superior black level to the Vizio E322VL, making for a contrast ratio nearly three times as wide.

Color Accuracy

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The Samsung LN32C350 produced a beautiful color performance, rivaling the Vizio E322VL.

Motion

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The Samsung LN32C350 produced smoother motion performance, but was plagued with a lot of motion artifacts.

Viewing Effects

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The Samsung LN32C350 has a virtually identical viewing angle to the Vizio E322VL.

Connectivity

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The Samsung LN32C350 is as shy on AV inputs as the Vizio E322VL. However, the Vizio has a LAN port and built-in WiFi for connection to streaming content.

Value Comparison

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The Sony EX700 series is very good, making this 32-inch version one of the best in its class. Sure, it's $300 more than the Vizio E322VL, but you get a super-slim TV with outstanding performance, the best selection of streaming content, and a great interface.

Blacks & Whites

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The Sony 32EX700 has great black level and contrast ratio, over four times wider than the Vizio E322VL.

Color Accuracy

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The Vizio E322VL slightly outperforms the Vizio E322VL in color performance, overall.

Motion

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The Sony 32EX700 has a much better motion performance than the Vizio, or indeed most TVs in its class.

Viewing Effects

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The Sony EX700 had the narrowest viewing angle of any of the TVs we pulled in for comparison.

Connectivity

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The Sony 32EX700 has one more HDMI than the Vizio E322VL, but the same number of composite and component inputs. Both TVs offer a LAN input, but only the Vizio has built-in WiFi.

Other Comparisons

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Both TVs have streaming content, but Sony's interface is much better and its content offerings are more diverse.

Conclusion

Vizios certainly do not emanate an air of quality. They're boxy and cheap looking, with an emphasis on keeping costs down. But we've been pleasantly surprised a few times this year by finding some models that offer great performance. The Vizio E322VL ($599 MSRP) is among them.

The TV is one of the few in its class to offer built-in WiFi as well as a LAN port for connecting to streaming content. Vizio doesn't offer nearly as much content as Sony, but with Netflix, Facebook, Flickr, and Rhapsody, a lot of the bases are covered. They did seem to cheap out, though, by not including DLNA support.

The color performance is great, but the black level and contrast ratio are quite bad. You can lower the backlight to deepen the blacks, but expect the color performance to suffer. Motion performance and viewing angles were average.

The Vizio E322VL is a one-off model, meaning there are no other models in this series. It seems to be nothing more than a successful experiment on Vizio's part. You can check out the closely related Exx0VL series, but be aware that you'll lose the internet connectivity.

Overall, this is outstanding bargain for the price, and a good choice for the holiday shopper.

Model Series Comparison

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There are no other TVs in the Exx2VL series. However, there's a closely related Exx0VL series that lacks the internet features. Many other features are the same, though. To read a whole review of a model in the Exx0VL series, read the Vizio E320VL.

Photo Gallery

{{photo_gallery "Front Tour Image", "Back Tour Image", "Sides Tour Image", "Stand Photo", "Controls Photo", "Remote Control Photo", "Connectivity Tour Image 1", "Connectivity Tour Image 2", "Connectivity Extra Photo", "Menu Main Photo", "Menu 2 Photo", "Internet Features 1 Photo", "Internet Features 2 Photo", "Internet Features 3 Photo", "Local Media Playback 1 Photo", "Local Media Playback 2 Photo"}}

Ratings & Specs

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