After wowing us with value last year, Vizio is making some serious changes for its new TV lineup displayed at CES 2019, including a shakeup of its P-series and M-Series TVs, a rebranding of its E-series (now called V-Series), and no mention at all of its fully budget lineup of D-Series TVs. Is Vizio going premium on us?
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Along with massively bright displays at the top of the line — and some souped-up technologies in the middle — Vizio has also added on to its SmartCast 3.0 interface. Like Samsung’s 2019 TVs, Vizio is adding Apple support to its smart TV interface, including support for Apple Homekit, as well as AirPlay 2, allowing iPhone and iPad users to send video, photos, and audio to 2019 Vizio TVs to make it easier than ever to incorporate the small screens with the big one.
Pricing and release dates have yet to be disclosed for all of Vizio’s 2019 lineup, but the TVs are slated to begin rolling out in spring 2019.
P-Series Quantum X
As Vizio’s new flagship, the P-Series Quantum 4K HDR TVs have added an “X” to the name, and along with it comes Ultrabright 2900, which offers a mad 2,900 nits of peak brightness for strikingly bright high dynamic range (HDR) highlights. The TVs also offer Quantum Color, the latest generation of Vizio’s quantum dot technology, which are essentially tiny particles that glow when you shine light on them to offer improved color vibrancy and accuracy.
On top of blazing brightness and better colors, the P-Series Quantum X models also offer up to 480 zones of dynamic, full-array local dimming, which should allow for richer blacks with less haloing and better contrast to further enhance that brighter screen. The TVs also offer Dolby Vision HDR to go along with HDR10 for versatility across all your HDR content and a bezel-less, aluminum design with diamond cutting. The P-Series Quantum X will be offered only in 65-inch and 75-inch models.
P-Series Quantum
Like the P-Series Quantum X, the new P-Series Quantum 4K HDR TVs offer only 65-inch and 75-inch models. Like its pricier sibling, the P-Series Quantum TVs will offer Quantum Color for increased color vibrancy, but they come down to earth a bit when it comes to peak brightness, offering 1,000 nits in the brightest moments. Still, that’s enough sparkle to be considered a premium 4K HDR TV.
The 75-inch P-Series Quantum models will also serve up 240 zones of local-dimming — half of what’s offered by the 75-inch P-Series Quantum X, but still impressive (the 65-inch version offers 200 zones). For reference, the 2018 65-inch P-Series TV we reviewed offered 100 local dimming zones, and that was plenty enough for impressive contrast and rich black levels. As with the 2018 P-Series models, the P-Series Quantum TVs offer a three-sided bezel-less design and sleek aluminum bodies.
M-Series
Seeing that Vizio’s midrange TV line now also offers Quantum Color technology, it seems this may be the TV to pick up for most budget-savvy buyers — we’ll have to wait for pricing to find out just how much the new P-Series Quantum TVs cost to see where that line is drawn.
That said, Vizio’s M-Series has always punched above its price point for performance, and with even better colors, 600 nits of peak brightness, and up to 90 zones of local dimming in the largest 65-inch model, the M-Series should turn plenty of heads this year. The M-Series is also much more versatile than its P-Series siblings, offered in a 43-inch model at the bottom end, along with features like Dolby Vision HDR and an aluminum frame.
V-Series
Sitting at the bottom rung of Vizio’s new slimmed down TV lineup, the company is calling its new V-Series the “E-Series reimagined” (the D-Series models will live on, but only in 1080p HD versions). The V-Series starts at 40-inches and goes all the way up to 75-inches, and while it doesn’t offer Vizio’s Quantum Color quantum dot tech, it does offer some impressive specs for an entry-level series, including a respectable 400 nits of peak brightness, Dolby Vision HDR, and up to 16 zones of full-array local backlighting.
Updated 1-7-2019: Added additional information about dimming zones.
