Official Vizio VMM26 thread. The ultimate LCD monitor?

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Freezebyte

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Well, I just got back from getting a few things from the local Costco when I saw this brand new and mouth watering display that I nearly got a hard on in my pants after seeing it. I snapped a few cell phone pics so I could gawk at it later.

UPDATED: Stopped by earlier today to get a better look at it with some newer pics and hands on impressions

Product Link
http://www.vizio.com/productDetails.aspx?id=2466&pid=1508

OMG, its big, its beautiful and its glossy! Me want!
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Hmmm sexy box and price to boot
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Specs seem nice enough
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According to the specs, the main screen has a "anti glare" coating on the main part of the LCD. After viewing it from an angle, its easy to see. You can also see the main ventilation panel on the bottom. Specs also state 3G *Anti scratch* coating on plastic which is good to know. I rubbed my finger on a corner and didn't notice any markings or hairline scratches from doing so, so this will be able to be cleaned without worrying about ruining the finish cause its a big fingerprint magnet all around
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Plenty of inputs. Specs say HDMI is only the 1.0 though FYI. USB 2.0 hub built in to boot if anyone likes that sorta thing along with "Stereo" speakers
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Additional side plug ins, USB, #2 HDMI and headphones
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Something that is a MUST for every LCD IMO, the ability to change height and angle of screen. Dunno why more manufacturers don't do this. It moves smooth and easily enough without feeling like it will wear out after playing with it. Nice and stable stand too.
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Touch panel is built into the screen. Played with it for a few minutes and it was pretty responsive to light touch with your basic menus and options like most LCD's. Switching two different inputs could be kinda of a pain if your doing multiple feeds. Again, the screen is a fingerprint magnet all around, have a nice cloth handy to keep it looking good! To power screen off, you hold power button for 3 seconds with a counter that appears on screen, vice versa turning ong
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I"ve been waiting for the day for some company to release a nice big display that has the glossy front cover as I've seen so many nice laptops with them including my girlfriends new one and I just love how it makes the colors and contrast so much nicer but I just didnt' come across any up until now.

I realize of course I simply can't trust the specs for accurate information. I"m curious if anyone has had experience with Vizio monitors, specifically this one. I do light game nowawdays, mostly WoW with some FPS here and their. I'm upgrading my machine next week and eventually the video card so i'm not planning on running COD4 at max settings or anything.

I"m pretty damn set on purchasing it later this week and give it hands on test and comparison to my VX2025. I'll update this accordingly if I do.

UPDATE: Setup and Initial impressions

Allright today was payday so I flew over to Costco and picked up a nice box that was in the back that I knew nobody messed with. Raced back home and heres my setup and initial impressions, enjoy.

Big box and cute Halloween kitty
bigbox.jpg


The goodies inside
open.jpg


Nice and easy setup sheet
phamphelt.jpg


VGA, DVI, USB and audio cable, no HDMI though.
cables.jpg


Stand parts are a heavy steel cept plastic cover
stand.jpg


Simply slide arm into base and attach with thumbscrew. Easy!
installstand.jpg


Monitor is completely covered in protective plastic, kudos to Vizio
backpanel.jpg


Its like christmas!
unwrap.jpg


Do same with arm to main monitor
finalstand.jpg


Snap on cover
cover.jpg


Back label, your basic stuff
label.jpg


Lets set it up and.....gawd damn thats huge!
compare.jpg


Fired up monitor with 1680x1050 rez for starters. Hard to get comparison with camera but you get idea
gamma.jpg


Your welcome Kyle
hardscreen.jpg


1080P HDWMV feeds.
hdfeed.jpg

hdfeed2.jpg


Vertical viewing angle, its definently at TN panel. Owell...
angle.jpg


Some WoW shots in action. Again, the difference in contrast and huge is from camera but the Vizio definently displays are much more "blue" hue then the Viewsonic VX2025
wow1.jpg

wow2.jpg



Some shot of BF1942 in action. Again, you can see a hue/contrast difference between the two panels.
bf1942.jpg

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Dead pixel buddy didn't find any dead pixels. A major plus. Forgot green test pic, sue me
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blue.jpg


Problems found:

I was pleased to find no dead pixels on this massive monitor. However, after about an hour I spotted something curious on the right side of the panel, what appears to be a peice of "plastic" or edging sticking out from behind the glass panel. Grrrrr, dunno if thats self fixable yet or not
scratch.jpg


Upon deeper inspection with a flashlight I found "markings" on the inner panel screen, almost as if it was handled at the factory. These arn't viewable unless you have a bright light directy on them. Hmmmm...
scratches3.jpg

scratches1.jpg


At this point in time I have the following impressions of the VMM26

Pluses

UPDATE: Viewing Angles

I decided to give this panel a real test in regards to the viewing angles as TN panels have a real issue with this, and sadly, this panel is no different as the pictures will show

Heres a straight on shot of the panel
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And here it is at a few inches down angle. Ouch.....
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Big bold and beautiful, the glass screen makes the images really sharp and contrasty
No dead pixels, kudos for Vizio
Well packaged and protected in box
Nice assortment of cables minus HDMI
Touch screen controls are easy to use
Very sharp and clear all around

Minuses:

TN panel gives restrictive vertical viewing angles
"Blueness" hue is somewhat annoying, havn't toyed with tweaking much to see if I can limit it
Scratches on inside panel and plastic fray are annoying and question quality of product. Not sure wether I want to just exchange or attempt self fix at this point in time
Some ghosting noticed from fast dark/light transitions

I'll keep this continually updated as I use/tweak with the monitor some more in the next coming days. At this point I haven't decided yay or nay yet. If you want me to run some further tests, please inform me and I'll do them the best I can.

Update: The vertical viewing angle is a killer, especially when my old Viewsonic VX2025 does a much better job and I move and turn alot when i'm on the computer. This is a big negative on this monitor
 
I saw this at my Sam's Club and it rocks. I want it for my Xbox 360 but not sure if the image will stretch being at 1920x1200.
 
Viewing angles 160/170, must be a TN panel. So not very ultimate at all. I love my 42" Vizio, but a TN POS it is not.
 
cslogical said:
Me too. My friend got one and it is really nice. :)
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Can you give us some insider information please? What is he using it for? How even is the backlighting? What games does he play? Ghosting issues? Info damn you, info! :D

I'm actually going to head back to Costco today and gawk at it some more without the girlfriend in tow
 
Well hooked up to his pc it looks really good. Sharp text, blacklight bleed is pretty good (tn panels all have some). Played Counter Strike Source and it didn't seem to lag at all. Hooked up Xbox 360 to hdmi and vga (seperately of course)and played Halo 3 and it looked awesome and played solid. For $399 it's totally worth it. I'm waiting for them to come back in stock though in my neighborhood.
 
looks alright but I am a cheapo

Since this is a new model, we can expect it to drop somewhat within a few weeks

OP, are you wearing a vest over a t-shirt in that photo?
 
He's not wearing anything above the waist.
.......... just got back from getting a few things ..........
Click to expand...
He probably means that he was just reverting back to David Banner (hence the green reflection).:p
 
needmorecarnitine said:
OP, are you wearing a vest over a t-shirt in that photo?
Click to expand...

Yes, why? Are you fashion critic? Are you going to tell Joan Collins on me?

InToGraphics said:
He's not wearing anything above the waist.He probably means that he was just reverting back to David Banner (hence the green reflection).:p
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EDIT: Upon rethinking, I realized it wasnt' a reflection but a picture
Huh? It was a photo that was moving/phasing out of the monitor, quit giving me shit :p:

FYI: Updated the original post.
 
Forgive me for intruding here and my general negativity, but the below quote:

Huh? It was a reflection of another monitor, quit giving me shit
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Is exactly why I will never purchase a glossy LCD. My wife got one of these with her Dell laptop - she can't stand it, neither can I - unless the room is terribly dark its very hard to avoid the reflections.

Good luck trying to color-calibrate it, and good luck seeing consistent colors out of the thing if it is indeed a TN screen. (to check, move your head up and down while looking at the screen) - Do you get darker/lighter patches or a yellowish tint? Most of these style screens also suffer from using only 6 bits per color channel.

It's OK for consumers I guess and I'd have a hard time talking my mom out of buying one for what she uses a computer, but you're gonna have to pry my 19" CRT Samsung out of my cold dead hands.

Vizio is Walmart garbage - and you get exactly what you pay for.
 
Is exactly why I will never purchase a glossy LCD. My wife got one of these with her Dell laptop - she can't stand it, neither can I - unless the room is terribly dark its very hard to avoid the reflections.
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Meh, its a preference thing, I rather like the glossy.

Good luck trying to color-calibrate it, and good luck seeing consistent colors out of the thing if it is indeed a TN screen. (to check, move your head up and down while looking at the screen) - Do you get darker/lighter patches or a yellowish tint? Most of these style screens also suffer from using only 6 bits per color channel.
Click to expand...

Didn't check color angles. Video feed was a single picture slideshow so I couldn't tell you on color accuracy or angle. Guess another visit is in order. I'm not sure in regards to panel time according to specs on Vizios site
Panel Type: 26" Diagonal*, 16:10 Wide Screen, Color TFT Active Matrix LCD

It's OK for consumers I guess and I'd have a hard time talking my mom out of buying one for what she uses a computer, but you're gonna have to pry my 19" CRT Samsung out of my cold dead hands.
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Ahhhh your one of those diehard monitor quality image peeps, glad im not as anal about such things. No LCD is perfect, especially if you keep comparing them to CRT's which heydays are long since dead and LCD's are now and the future. Your choice though, i'll never go back to CRT's.
Vizio is Walmart garbage - and you get exactly what you pay for.
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*shrug* Again, another personal perspective. One mans trash is another treasure. Getting what you pay for is typically true but sometimes you get diamonds in the rough.
 
Freezebyte said:
Didn't check color angles. Video feed was a single picture slideshow so I couldn't tell you on color accuracy or angle.
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It should be easy to check if it's a TN - look up at it from below, and if the display turns close to black, then it's TN. Neither *VA nor IPS have such pronounced shifts.
 
My cousin has one, so second-hand, but I have worked on it once or twice. Very nice. It is glossy, but I like that and for gaming, which he does a lot, he loves it.

I have a Vizio LCD tv, which I like but I know that is different.
 
Mithent said:
It should be easy to check if it's a TN - look up at it from below, and if the display turns close to black, then it's TN. Neither *VA nor IPS have such pronounced shifts.
Click to expand...

I'll try and check next time im out that way

Eckerman said:
My cousin has one, so second-hand, but I have worked on it once or twice. Very nice. It is glossy, but I like that and for gaming, which he does a lot, he loves it.

I have a Vizio LCD tv, which I like but I know that is different.
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Coolio, I may just burn up my credit card this week and see if I like it and give my impressions on here. Besides, Costco has always been easy on returns :D
 
Mithent said:
It should be easy to check if it's a TN - look up at it from below, and if the display turns close to black, then it's TN. Neither *VA nor IPS have such pronounced shifts.
Click to expand...
160 viewing angle is a dead giveaway. Non-TNs are usually 178/178.
 
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

can u try and optimize it then post some more comparison shots? id get one but i think the blueness might be a deal breaker. can u try and calibrate it a little?


edit: also, do u have to have some type of membership to buy from costco?
 
mnewxcv said:
http://www.lagom.nl/lcd-test/

can u try and optimize it then post some more comparison shots? id get one but i think the blueness might be a deal breaker. can u try and calibrate it a little?


edit: also, do u have to have some type of membership to buy from costco?
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I"ll try and do a bit more calibration. Yes, you must be member to purchase from Costco, about $50 a year for basic membership
 
Freezebyte said:
Some WoW shots in action. Again, the difference in contrast and huge is from camera but the Vizio definently displays are much more "blue" hue then the Viewsonic VX2025[/B]
wow1.jpg

wow2.jpg



Some shot of BF1942 in action. Again, you can see a hue/contrast difference between the two panels.
bf1942.jpg

bf19422.jpg
Click to expand...

Your new monitor looks to suffer from too much brightness, and just a little too much contrast (but this could also come from your camera or my monitor), and defintely lack of yellow and red. I picked the photos where this shows up the most.
You can get rid of the blue cast :
  • if the OSD offers you contrast brightness, and separate RGB sliders for adjustement. When not, try the second option.
    Lower the contrast just a little bit, and the brightness as low as to still allow normal viewing. Don't adjust the blue slider down (unless it's almost at full). Adjust both the green and red sliders up in small steps (to reenforce). But not too much or you'll introduce other colour casts. While doing this, try to display the same picture on your other monitor for reference.
  • or in one way or another, lay your hands on a i1D2 (or Spyder 3, or WHY) calibrator. One that calibrates wide gamut (for future use).
 
Took it back later today. The horrid viewing angles of the TN panel were driving me nuts, couldn't believe the difference between that and my VX2025 panel at different angles. Guess you really do get what you pay for.
 
Thanks for sharing your experience, Freeze. I was almost tempted to pick one up. Had a 26" Vizio television for the bedroom, but that one buzzed if the brightness was set at any level under 100%. "Once bitten, twice shy".
 
Too bad mate.
At least you gave it a shot. It's not hard to get disappointed over an LCD monitor. There is so much crap at every price point.
 
That's too bad, but selfishly thanks for posting and checking it out. My cousin has a VMM26 he loves and I'm considering getting one myself. I don't move around all that much so the angle really isn't much of a factor for me and the rest looked pretty good especially for that price.
 
Eckerman said:
That's too bad, but selfishly thanks for posting and checking it out. My cousin has a VMM26 he loves and I'm considering getting one myself. I don't move around all that much so the angle really isn't much of a factor for me and the rest looked pretty good especially for that price.
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Yeah, just depends what your wants/demands are for monitors
 
I too have a VX2025WM. Looking at the side by side, I like the VX2025WM much better.
 
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