A Bright Value

Vizio M65-E0 LCD Ultra HDTV

- Al Griffin

ULTRA HDTVS THAT SUPPORT the display of programs with high dynamic range, also known as HDR, have quickly become the norm. If you’re out and about shopping for a new set, there’s a good chance that you’ll be taking home one of these TVs. Of course, the benefit to a state-of-the-art feature like HDR becoming standard is that prices for sets that include it will drop. How low? How about $1,100? That’s what Vizio charges for their 65-inch M65-E0 LCD Ultra HDTV.

This set certainly comes with an impressive feature list for a budget UHDTV. While most other affordable big-screen LCD models—and even a few of the pricey ones—use an edge-lit backlight, the M65-E0 sports a 32-zone full-array backlight with local dimming. HDR support covers both the HDR10 and Dolby Vision formats, and Vizio claims 96 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color range inside the set’s UHD Rec. 2020 envelope—a big leap from that of the company’s 2016 M series TVs, which were limited to reproducing only Rec. 709 (HDTV) color. (Most UHD Blu-rays are mastered out to the P3 color points.)

Vizio’s SmartCast streaming platform lets you access Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, Hulu, and other services directly from the set’s start screen using the remote control. This is different from 2016’s M series, which included an Android tablet meant for primary remote control duty and for selecting programs to stream to the TV. Like those models, the new sets feature Chromecast built-in, which also lets you “cast” content to the TV directly from Chromecast-enabled apps on your phone or tablet. Currently, there are 1,000 such apps and counting, including popular ones like YouTube, HBO Now, Showtime, and Spotify.