Vizio 60 Plasma (the MAXIMVS)

The TV is available at Costco for $2999.99. We have only seen this model available at the store. Now we know its not a complete review since were not able to calibrate the TV but we still think its valuable if you  can not see one for yourself at a local Costco. Also, since the TV was next to other plasmas displaying the same content we were able to compare it relatively to a 63 inch Philips Plasma and a 50 inch Panasonic plasma.

The MAXIMVS features include:

• 60" diagonal / 16 X 9 wide screen aspect ratio.
• High Definition 1366 X 768 native resolution.
• Compatible input formats: 1080P, 1080i, 720P, 480P, 480i.
• Supports high definition gaming systems.
• Support for over 1 billion colors.
• 7000:1 contrast ratio.
• Built-in digital HDTV & standard TV combined tuner.
• 4X HDMI inputs.

We watched the TV on the local Costco feed that included movie trailers, HD instructional videos from CNET, and sample sporting events. We noticed right off the bat that the Panasonic (the Panasonic has a 10,000:1 CR) had more detail and a much sharper picture than the other two TVs. The Philips TV had a similar CR as the Panasonic but did not look anywhere near as sharp. Just for the record at the first Costco that we went to, the Vizio had a horrid picture. Being sure there was no way a TV with a picture so bad could ever be approved by any engineering organization we figured it was an issue with that particular TV. So it was on to the Tustin Costco. Just a short 10 minute drive up Interstate 5.  This is where the in store evaluation took place. The Vizio at the Tustin store was better but the colors were not as vivid as any of the other plasmas.  We've said in the past that unless you have two TVs side by side its hard to remember that one had a sharper picture than the other. That's not the case with this TV. You can tell that the picture is not as clear as it should be, well it is to anyone who has seen HDTV for a while.

The TV did a decent job in dark scenes. It actually did as good as the other two TVs with this type of content. And like all plasmas, off angle viewing was not an issue.

Now with that said, we are sure that we could improve the picture to an acceptable level if we could calibrate the TV. But consider that out of the box the Philips and the Panasonic provided a better picture and after calibration they both would far exceed the picture quality of the Vizio. The Philips costs $700 more and the Panasinc costs $1000 less but is only 50 inches.  Life is a trade off in this case we would apply the $1000 towards a good receiver and forgo the extra ten inches.

 

Interactive Digital Cable Ready

There's a new acronym emerging that we want to give you a heads-up on.  This new label will start to appear on HDTVs, in off-the-shelf DVRs, and maybe even HTPCs in the near future.  It's called 'iDCR' and stands for 'Interactive Digital Cable Ready. When you see this new moniker on the front of your new TV you'll know that the TV has the built in ability to do anything your Cable Set-Top-Box can do, and maybe even more ... but we'll get into that later.  That means you'll be able to watch all the standard definition and high definition digital cable channels, even the encrypted ones, without the need for an STB.

And, of course, we can't miss that little i at the beginning of the acronym.  That tells us our new TV will also support all the interactivity features of digital cable such as on screen programming guides, pay-per-view and video on demand.  From what we can tell, iDCR is just a fancy marketing term for the emerging OCAP or Consumer  OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP) standard developed by CableLabs.  It makes sense, though.  People understand cable ready, they get digital cable ready, now we just add interactive digital cable ready and we're all set.  That's a whole lot easier than trying to explain to your subscribers what the new OpenCable Application Platform will do for them.

But what will the new OCAP standard do?  At it's core, the OCAP is like an operating system for cable ready devices.  Think of it like a special version of Windows or Linux, made just for TVs that want to display digital cable programs.   Of course, being an operating system, it provides the way for application developers to create programs that will use the hardware and core software in the TV.  Vendors will be able to create their own custom applications that tie in directly to the digital cable service.  These programs might offer interactive TV functionality, eCommerce capabilities, or access to your cable account, right through the TV.

Depending on who gets their way, home users may be able to add or remove any program they want on the OCAP enabled device.  This is what the CEA is hoping for.  You could add the HT Guys eCommerce application that that whenever you see a product advertised on TV, you could just click a button and buy it from the HT Guys store.  The Cable companies, on the other hand, would rather have complete control of the system, so that they can block access to applications that may compete with services they offer.  Of course, our belief is that competition is always a good thing, so opeing the platform up for third party applications would be great.  It would force the Cable companies to produce applications that are better than what one could get elsewhere.  Otherwise, if they have you locked in, why would they care?

Regardless of who wins that debate, not having to pay a ton of money every month to lease an STB for every room is a wonderful concept.  And it's about to come true.  Samsung recently announced the HL-S5686C Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP) compliant DLP HDTV.  The set will include iDCP and is available for Comcast subscribers (meaning it has been tested and known to work) in New York.  The service should be expanding to other Comcast service areas soon.  Samsung will also be selling an iDCR set top box, in the same markets, for those who already own the HDTV, but want an OCAP capable STB without having to lease it from Comcast.  No word yet on pricing.