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The Vizio SV470XVT generally performed well across most of our tests for performance with a couple of noticeable exceptions. The biggest issue we saw was an unimpressive black level, which also impacted the HDTVs contrast. We also found that there were some problems in the color gamut, especially in greens, which may not be reproduced exactly as they should be. Most of the Vizio SV470XVT's scores were above average, however, and we were particularly impressed by its ability to reproduce whites accurately across a range of levels.
Calibration
When you take your HDTV out of the box and turn it on for the first time we recommend that you take some time to calibrate your television. It is the rare HDTV where the factory settings will give you the best picture. Although you can pay a professional to come to your house and calibrate your TV you can also use our settings below and probably significantly improve your viewing experience without paying any money. To determine these calibrated settings we use professional software that is used by many HDTV manufacturers called DisplayMate.
| Setting |
Default (custom mode) |
Calibrated (custom mode) |
| Backlight |
90 |
100 |
| Brightness |
50 |
54 |
| Contrast |
50 |
28 |
Color Enhancement
|
Normal |
Off |
Advanced Adaptive Luma
|
Medium |
Off |
Smooth Motion
|
Off |
Low/Off |
One note about our calibrated settings specifically related to the Smooth Motion feature. This is found under the advanced Picture settings in the menu. We had some mixed experiences with this feature. We found that it could significantly improve blurring produced by motion, however we also noted that it could produce some artifacts when dealing with complex patterns. This may be a feature you want to turn on when you're watching a fast-paced movie or sports, but turn off otherwise.
Video Modes
The Vizio SV470XVT offers a wide selection of video modes, most of whom are targeted at various sports.
| Mode |
What it Does |
| Standard |
Reduces backlight to 80
|
| Movie |
Significantly reduces the backlight and makes slight adjustments to sharpness. Also activates the Advanced Adaptive Luma feature which counteracts large areas of darkness.
|
| Game |
Brightness is significantly reduced and sharpness increased. Color enhancement is activated and set to produce rich colors. Advanced adaptive luma is turned on to strong, which counteracts large black areas that make the image look too dark.
|
| Vivid |
The Backlight is turned up and Color Enhancement is turned on to Rich Color mode. Enhanced Adaptive Luma is also activated to counteract large areas of darkenss.
|
| Football |
Backlight is turned down as is sharpness. Color Enhancement is activated and set to enhance Green and Flesh tones, for somewhat obvious reasons.
|
| Golf |
Backlight is turned down and sharpness is turned up. Color Enhancement is turned on to enhance greens and blues.
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| Basketball |
Backlight and sharpness are turned down. Color enhancement is turned on and set to produce rich colors. Advanced Adaptive Luma is also turned on to counteract large areas of darkness on the screen.
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| Baseball |
Backlight and sharpness are turned down. Color enhancement is turned on to enhance green and flesh. Advanced Adaptive Luma is turned on to low to enhance large areas of darkness.
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 Dot Pattern
Just for kicks we use a 20x microscope to take a closer look at the elements that make up the dot pattern on the Vizio SV470XVT. You can see to the right how elements are arranged in groups of three, one red, one green and one blue. Each of this collection of three makes up one "dot" or pixel on the display. Different combinations of red, green and blue light are combined to produce different colors. What you're seeing here is how the elements look when producing white. These elements have the typical angled-bar patterns that we see on many LCD displays. We didn't note any problem pixels in our close examination of the Vizio SV470XVT.
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