Vizio M Series Quantum 2019
TV REVIEW
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 is a great 4k TV with a VA panel. It delivers great picture quality, with deep, uniform blacks, an outstanding color gamut, very good gradient handling, and decent HDR peak brightness. It has good overall motion handling with an excellent response time, but the backlight isn't flicker-free and it doesn't have a motion interpolation feature. Unfortunately, like most TVs with VA panels, the image degrades when viewed at an angle, and it has noticeable uniformity issues.
- Deep, uniform blacks.
- Impressive color gamut.
- Excellent low input lag.
- Mediocre dirty screen effect (DSE).
| Design | 7.0 |
| Picture Quality | 8.1 |
| Motion | 7.6 |
| Inputs | 8.9 |
| Sound Quality | 6.9 |
| Smart Features | 6.8 |
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Market Context
The Vizio M Series Quantum is a mid-range 4k Vizio TV, and it directly replaces the Vizio M Series 2018. It's available in two variants: the M**7 variant, and the M**8 variant. The M Series Quantum's main competitors are the Samsung RU8000, Sony X850F, and LG SM8600.
Design
The Vizio M Series Quantum has a decent design. The borders and frame are thin, and it doesn't stick out much when wall-mounted. It has a minimalist stand that supports the TV well, but doesn't completely prevent the TV from wobbling and it requires a large table.
The back of the TV is very plain, and looks very similar to last year's M Series 2018, but with an all-black finish. The inputs face towards the side and bottom of the TV, and are easy to access when wall-mounted.
Unfortunately, there is no cable management.
The 2019 model is a bit thicker than last year's model, but still looks good. There is a slight backwards lean, but this isn't very noticeable. We don't know if this is by design, or a defect. The M Series 2018 did not have a tilt.
The Vizio M Series Quantum has decent build quality. It's very similar to other Vizio TVs, and the exterior panels are made of plastic. The stand supports the TV well, but it still wobbles a bit. There is a slight backwards tilt; this isn't very noticeable with normal viewing, and we don't know if this is a defect or by design.
Picture Quality
The Vizio M Series Quantum delivers great picture quality. It looks great in a dark room, as the impressive contrast ratio and good local dimming features delivers deep, inky blacks. It also has an outstanding color gamut, with Rec. 2020 coverage that is almost as good as the Vizio P Series Quantum X 2019, and great gradient performance, with very little banding in areas of similar color. In SDR, the M658-G1 has great peak brightness, but in HDR it isn't bright enough to deliver the creator's intent. Unfortunately, like most TVs with VA panels, the image degrades when viewed at an angle, and our unit has noticeable uniformity issues.
The M Series Quantum has an outstanding native contrast ratio, similar to the Vizio V Series 2019. This results in excellent deep blacks, great for dark-room viewing. With local dimming enabled, the contrast ratio is boosted significantly, similar to the Samsung Q70R.
The M Series Quantum has a good local dimming feature, slightly better than the Q70R but not quite as good as the P Series Quantum 2018. It reacts decently well to fast scene changes, but the leading edge and some small, bright objects can appear dimmer than the rest.
Higher settings on the TV cause the TV's overall brightness to increase. Although we normally recommend the 'Medium' setting, it might be too bright for some environments, in which case the 'Low' setting might be better.
Note that the M**7 variants (M507-G1, M557-G0, M657-G0) have a more limited local dimming feature, with between 12 and 20 dimming zones. We don't know for sure how it performs, though.
The Vizio M658-G1 has great peak brightness, but it isn't quite as bright as the M Series 2018. There is some variation in brightness with different content (ABL), but it shouldn't cause any issues for most people.
We measured the peak brightness after calibration, with the 'Calibrated Dark' Picture Mode, and the Color Temperature set to 'Normal'.
The local dimming feature affects the TV's peak brightness, and higher settings result in a higher peak brightness. We measured the peak brightness with the Active Full Array setting on 'Medium'. Lower settings result in a lower peak brightness, so you may need to adjust this setting depending on your viewing conditions. The 'High' setting resulted in a dimmer image with some real content.
If you prefer a brighter image, or a colder color temperature over an accurate one, with the 'Vivid' Picture Mode and the 'Cool' Color Temperature, we measured a peak brightness of 634 cd/m² for a short period of time, as measured on the 10% test window.
Note that the M**7 variants are advertised with a lower peak brightness. We don't know how bright they actually are.
Decent peak HDR brightness, slightly worse than last year's models.
We tested the HDR peak brightness with no calibration settings, using the 'Calibrated Dark' Picture Mode, with the Backlight set to '50'.
The local dimming feature affects the TV's peak brightness, and higher settings result in a higher peak brightness. We measured the peak brightness with the Active Full Array setting on 'Medium'. Lower settings result in a lower peak brightness, so you may need to adjust this setting depending on your viewing conditions. The 'High' setting resulted in a dimmer image with some real content.
If accuracy isn't as important to you, or if you prefer a colder color temperature, the 'Vivid' Picture Mode hit a peak brightness of 581 cd/m² for a short period of time, with the Backlight set to '100', Color Temperature set to 'cool', and local dimming on 'High'.
Note that the M**7 variants are advertised with a lower peak brightness. We don't know how bright they actually are.
Decent gray uniformity. Subjectively, it looks worse than the current score. There are noticeable vertical bands throughout the entire screen, which can be very distracting with some content. These results are closer to the TCL R617, but with less vignetting.
Like most VA panels, the M Series Quantum 2019 has disappointing viewing angles. When viewing off-angle, the image appears washed out and colors shift noticeably and lose accuracy.
Unlike the P Series Quantum X 2019, there is no Enhanced Viewing Angle feature.
With our pre-calibration settings, the M Series Quantum 2019 has good accuracy. Gamma mostly follows the target curve, but some really bright scenes are noticeably over-brightened. There are some minor inaccuracies in colors, but most people won't notice anything. The color temperature is warm, giving the white point a slight red-yellow tint.
After calibration, this TV has excellent accuracy. Gamma follows the target perfectly, with almost no variation from 2.2. Color errors are almost completely corrected, and any remaining inaccuracies are completely unnoticeable. The color temperature is extremely close to our target of 6500 K, and the white balance is essentially perfect.
You can see our recommended settings here.
4k content is displayed perfectly, with no pixel issues or sub-pixel dimming. Unlike the higher-end Vizio TVs, like the P Series Quantum X 2019, there is no Enhanced Viewing Angle feature, so there is no spatial dithering.
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 has an impressive color gamut, one of the widest we've ever measured.
The EOTF doesn't follow the PQ Curve very well. Darker scenes are displayed accurately, but it starts tone mapping very early, and all scenes above around 100 cd/m² appear darker than they should be. In 'Game' mode, the backlight defaults to '100', which causes the EOTF to display darker scenes brighter than they should be, as shown by this EOTF. With the backlight set to '50', the EOTF more closely tracks the PQ curve.
If you find HDR too dim, changing the Backlight to '100' results in a brighter image, as shown by this EOTF. If you want an even brighter image, decreasing the gamma will probably improve the brightness a bit more, but we don't expect it to impact the apparent brightness as much as the backlight setting.
We don't expect VA panels to experience permanent image retention, as the VA panel in our long-term test appears immune.
Motion
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 has good motion handling. It has an excellent response time, delivering clear motion with very little blur behind fast-moving objects. There are noticeable duplications, though, due to the TV's 480Hz backlight flicker, which is present at all brightness levels below max. This TV has an optional black frame insertion feature, which improves the appearance of motion by reducing the backlight flicker frequency to 60Hz. Unfortunately, this TV has no motion interpolation feature, and it's limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which might disappoint some people.
This TV has an excellent response time. There is some slight overshoot in most transitions, but this isn't very noticeable. There are duplications in motion, as seen in the above photo, due to the flicker of the backlight.
The M Series Quantum 2019 uses PWM to dim its backlight, and there is flicker at all backlight levels below 100. The 480Hz flicker is identical to last year's M Series 2018, but behaves very differently from the 120Hz flicker on the Vizio P Series Quantum X 2019. This high flicker frequency does cause noticeable duplications in motion, which can be seen in our response time photo.
Unfortunately, this TV does not have a motion interpolation feature.
Due to the TV's fast response time, there is some noticeable stutter when watching 24p content, like movies. This is especially noticeable with slow-panning shots.
The M Series Quantum 2019 can remove judder from 24p sources and from the native apps, as long as Film Mode is enabled. Unfortunately, it can't remove judder from 24p content sent through a 60p/i source, like a cable box.
This TV has a 60Hz panel, but doesn't support any advanced variable refresh rate features, like FreeSync or HDMI Forum's VRR feature.
Inputs
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 has outstanding low input lag, which is important for a responsive gaming experience, or for use as a PC monitor. This TV has limited support for different resolutions, and it only accepts 4k or 1080p signals at 60Hz; it does not support 1440p, or 120Hz inputs. The M Series supports Dolby Vision, but doesn't support HDR10+.
The M Series Quantum 2019 has excellent low input lag, as long as Game Low Latency is enabled. Unlike many top Vizio TVs, including the Vizio P Series Quantum X 2019, there is no dedicated low latency port. Instead, all four HDMI ports have the same low latency.
See our recommended settings for gaming here.
This TV supports 1080p and 4k inputs, but only at 60Hz. It doesn't support a 120Hz input or 1440p. Chroma 4:4:4 is displayed properly, as long as the Picture Mode is set to 'Computer'. Higher bandwidth formats, like 4k @ 60Hz 4:4;4 requires that the Full UHD Color setting be enabled for the port in use.
See our recommended settings for PC gaming here.
This TV supports Dolby Vision from all sources, but doesn't support HDR10+.
The M Series Quantum 2019 supports ARC over HDMI port 1, but it doesn't support eARC. It can pass DTS and Dolby Digital over ARC, but for DTS to work over optical, the Digital Audio Out setting must be set to 'Bitstream'.
Sound Quality
The Vizio M Series Quantum delivers decent overall sound quality. The low-frequency extension (LFE) is high, resulting in bass with no thump or rumble and very little punch. Dialog is clear, though, and this TV gets loud enough for most environments. For a better sound, a soundbar or dedicated speaker system is recommended.
Decent frequency response. The low-frequency extension (LFE) is bad, resulting in very limited bass, with no thump or rumble and very little punch. The response above the LFE is good, and dialog is clear, but it lacks airiness a bit. It can get quite loud, but unfortunately, there is significant pumping and compression at louder volumes.
Smart Features
Like most Vizio TVs, the M Series Quantum has decent smart features. The interface is well-organized and polished, but isn't very smooth, and it's a bit slow. It has a decent selection of apps, but unfortunately, it isn't possible to add new apps.
The interface is visually appealing and easy to use, but unfortunately, it's not very smooth. Some basic tasks can take a long time to do, including just navigating and launching an app.
Like other Vizio TVs we've tested, there are no ads. There is a row of suggested content, though, on the main page, and this can't be disabled.
Differences between Sizes and Variants
We tested the 65" M Series Quantum 2019, version M658-G1, and we expect our results to be valid for the 55" (M558-G1) model as well. The 43" (M437-G1), 50" (M507-G1), 55" (M557-G0), and 65" (M657-G0) are a bit different, as they aren't as bright, and have a more limited local dimming feature. They may perform differently in other ways, but we don't know.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their M Series Quantum 2019 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review. Note that some tests, such as the gray uniformity, may vary between individual units.
| Size | Model | Peak Brightness | Dimming Zones |
| 43" | M437-G1 | 400 | 12 |
| 50" | M507-G1 | 400 | 16 |
| 55" | M557-G0 | 400 | 16 |
| 55" | M558-G1 | 600 | 90 |
| 65" | M657-G0 | 400 | 20 |
| 65" | M658-G1 | 600 | 90 |
We don't know the manufacturing date of our M658-G1, but the label is available here.
Compared to other TVs
The M Series Quantum 2019 is a great TV, and outperforms many similarly-priced models. See our recommendations for the best TVs, the best 4k TVs, the best 4k gaming TVs.
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 and the TCL R617 are very similar overall. The M Series has a better local dimming feature and much better black uniformity, so it's a better choice for a dark room. The R617 is a lot brighter, and has an optional motion interpolation feature.
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 is very similar to the Samsung RU8000. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses. The M Series Quantum has better contrast, a full array local dimming feature, and a much better color gamut, making the Vizio a better choice for HDR. The RU8000, on the other hand, has a motion interpolation feature, and some better gaming features, including support for AMD FreeSync variable refresh rate technology.
The Vizio P Series Quantum 2019 is a bit better than the Vizio M Series Quantum 2019. The P Series has a better response time, and it can interpolate lower frame rate content as high as 120 fps. The M Series has no motion interpolation feature but has better black uniformity.
The Vizio P Series Quantum 2018 is much better than the Vizio M Series Quantum. The P Series is significantly brighter, has better reflection handling, a faster response time, and it has an optional motion interpolation feature.
The Hisense H9F is a bit better than the M**8 variants of the Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 for most uses, and is likely a lot better than the M**7 variants, although we haven't tested them. The H9F is a lot brighter and it has a faster response time, which is great for gaming. The H9F can also interpolate motion up to 120Hz, whereas the M Series Quantum 2019 has no motion interpolation feature. The M Series Quantum 2019, on the other hand, has much better black uniformity, and a more versatile black frame insertion feature, making it a slightly better choice for a completely dark room.
The Vizio M Series Quantum 2019 is better than the Vizio M Series 2018. The M Series Quantum 2019 has better contrast, a better local dimming system, and a much better color gamut.