Note that there are different variants of the V Series, some of which include local dimming. See our table of differences between sizes and variants.
Our Verdict
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a good mixed usage TV. This budget TV is a very good option for playing video games thanks to its reasonably fast response time and low input lag. It's also good for watching TV shows thanks to its good reflection handling that allows you to watch TV during the day without too much glare. Unfortunately, it's only decent for movies and sports due to its lack of a local dimming feature and fairly narrow viewing angles, making it difficult for a large group of people to all get an accurate image while watching.
- Deep uniform blacks.
- Low input lag.
- Can't get very bright.
- HDR doesn't add much.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a decent TV for watching movies. Its contrast is excellent, so it can deliver rich blacks when watching in a dark room, which is great. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a local dimming feature to improve its black levels even more, and its overall peak brightness isn't the best, especially with HDR content. On the bright side, it does an excellent job of upscaling 1080p content, great if you watch a lot of Blu-rays.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a good TV for watching TV shows. It does a good job at reflection handling, so even in a moderately sunny room, you should be able to watch TV during the day without too much glare. While the TV does a good job at upscaling 1080p content, it's only decent with 720p, which is what a lot of cable TV is.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is decent for watching sports. It has a fast response time that leaves a small blur trail behind fast-moving objects, and although this makes motion look smooth, it is not good for watching sports. It can handle reflections well, but it can't get very bright, so it's better suited for an average lit room with a few small windows. The TV has decent gray uniformity with some dirty screen effect, which might disappoint demanding sports fans but is okay for most people. The image remains relatively accurate when viewed from the side, but this might not be enough to accommodate a big group of friends.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a good TV for playing video games. It has a low input lag, which is great for casual gaming but might not be enough for competitive gaming. The response time is fast, but a small blur trail is visible behind fast-moving objects. Although this makes motion smoother, it might annoy more hardcore gamers that need crisper motion. Unfortunately, the TV doesn't support any advanced gaming features, like FreeSync.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is decent for watching HDR movies. It has a good dark room performance thanks to the deep uniform blacks, but this version lacks a local dimming feature to further improve picture quality. It can't get very bright in HDR and doesn't have a wide color gamut, so it can't display HDR content with saturated colors and bright highlights.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a good TV for playing HDR games, mainly because it has a low input lag in HDR. The response time is fast and leaves a small blur trail behind fast-moving content, which might bother you in 60fps games. Unfortunately, the TV can't get very bright in HDR and doesn't have a wide color gamut, so it can't produce an HDR image with vivid colors and highlights that pop.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a very good TV for use as a PC monitor. It has a low input lag and can display most common resolutions with proper chroma 4:4:4. The response time is fast, but you'll notice a small blur trail when you move the mouse. If you sit up close, you might notice some subpixel dithering and some uniformity issues at the sides. The TV is free from temporary image retention or permanent burn-in thanks to its VA panel.
Changelog
- Updated May 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.5.
- Updated Feb 21, 2020: Converted to Test Bench 1.4.
- Updated May 23, 2019: Review published.
- Updated May 21, 2019: Our testers have started testing this product.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the 50" (V505-G9). For the most part, we expect our review to be valid for the 40" (V405-G9), 43" (V435-G0), 55" (V555-G1), 58" (V658-G1), 60" (V605-G3), 65" (V655-G9), 70" (V705-G3), and 75" (V765-G4) versions.
Vizio released three more variants of the V Series: the 43" (V436-G1), the 55" (V556-G1), and the 65" (V656-G4). These models support local dimming and are expected to have higher peak brightness. However, since we haven't tested any of these we can't be sure.
If someone comes across a different type of panel or if their Vizio V Series 2019 doesn't correspond to our review, let us know and we will update the review.
| Size | Model | Local Dimming Zones |
Clear Action |
Effective Refresh Rate |
Real Refresh Rate |
HDMI Inputs |
| 43" | V436-G1 | 10 | 180 | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 55" | V556-G1 | 10 | 180 | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 65" | V656-G4 | 12 | 180 | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 40" | V405-G9 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 43" | V435-G0 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 50" | V505-G9 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 55" | V555-G1 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 58" | V585-G1 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 60" | V605-G3 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 65" | V655-G9 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 70" | V705-G3 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
| 75" | V755-G4 | - | - | 120Hz | 60Hz | 3 |
This is the label of the 50" (V505-G9) Vizio V Series that we tested.
Popular TV Comparisons
The Vizio V Series 2019 is a good entry-level TV that can deliver a decent picture quality. It lacks a lot of high-end features and its peak brightness is on the low side, but its viewing angles are above average when compared to other TVs with a VA panel. For other options, see our recommendations for the best budget TVs, the best 4k TVs, and the best smart TVs.
The Vizio V Series 2019 and the Samsung NU6900 are both decent TVs for different uses. The Vizio has slightly better contrast, better black uniformity, and wider viewing angles. It also shows fewer reflections, making it better for moderately well-lit rooms, and has a slightly wider color gamut, though neither are wide enough to properly display HDR content. The motion handling of the Vizio is also better thanks to it's much better flicker-free performance. On the other hand, the Samsung has more accurate colors out-of-the-box, better gradient performance, an optional Black Frame Insertion feature, and better built-in speakers. While the Samsung can get marginally brighter with HDR, neither TVs are a great choice for watching a ton of HDR content as they can't get bright enough for highlights to pop.
The Vizio E Series 2018 is better than the Vizio V Series 2019. The E Series 2018 has a local dimming feature that enhances dark room performance. It also has a faster response time that leaves less blur trail behind fast-moving content. The E Series also includes a Black Frame Insertion feature that helps make motion even crisper. The Vizio V Series 2019 has slightly wider viewing angles.
The Vizio V Series 2019 is marginally better than the Vizio V Series 2020. The 2019 has a higher contrast ratio, faster response time, and it gets a lot brighter. The 2020 has better reflection handling and much lower input lag.
The Vizio D Series 4k 2018 and the Vizio V Series 2019 both have very similar performance. The Vizio V Series 2019 has a marginally higher contrast ratio that delivers deeper and more uniform blacks, which is great for watching movies in a dark room. The Vizio D Series 4k 2018 is marginally brighter and has a slightly better response time that produces crisper motion.
We buy and test dozens of TVs yearly, taking an objective, data-driven approach to deliver results you can trust. Our testing process is complex, with hundreds of individual tests that take over a week to complete. Most of our tests use specially designed test patterns that mimic real content, but we also use the same sources you have at home to ensure our results match the real-world experience. We use two main tools for our testing: a Colorimetry Research CR-100 colorimeter and a CR-250 spectroradiometer.
Test Results
Older Test Bench: This product has been tested using an older TV test methodology, before a major update. Some of the test results below aren't directly comparable with other TVs. Learn more
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