Vizio VBR220 Blu-ray Disc player review

A gem in the rough: handsome chassis, nice feature set, good value

article first published on 10.24.2010 | printer-friendly format    

Introduction

Founded in 2003, Vizio is a relatively new brand in consumer electronics and is one of the few American brands in HDTV.  Vizio has enjoyed tremendous growth and is now a household name in flat panel HDTVs.  This is a large part due to the founder's idea that the everyday consumer deserves to own the latest technology.

So did they succeed with Blu-ray Disc players?  Time will tell, but they have a good start.  This $158 mid-level player offers bang for the buck and leading edge technology with its built-in dual-band wireless-n Wi-Fi capability.  More on that later.  Is it perfect?  No.  There are a few proverbial "rough edges".  Probably because Vizio has only started making Blu-ray Disc players since 2009, and this is only a second generation product for them.  But even despite its rough edges, the Vizio VBR220 offers a fair amount of features in this mid-level player.  The Vizio VBR220 is aimed squarely at the everyday consumer who does not need 3D Blu-ray Disc playback, but has a home theater, wants to connect wirelessly with Wi-Fi to the internet for Blu-ray Disc BonusView or BD-Live content, Netflix streaming, VUDU streaming, Pandora internet radio, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, and other internet content.

Note, while I did not evaluate the Vizio VBR220 first hand, I did have hands-on experience with the Vizio VBR231 model, which was introduced a month later and the only difference is the addition of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz dual-band Wi-Fi 802.11n.  Other than that, the two units are identical as part of the same product line.

Distinguishing Features: What makes this player different?

• VUDU streaming is an included app

Design

The VBR220 comes in a handsome chassis, with an industrial design that picks up queues from Apple Computer.  Adorned with a Vizio raised top panel, it is slightly thicker than most slim-box designs from the likes of Samsung and Sony.  The front panel sports a glossy black piano finish with a chrome-looking though clearly plastic disc tray lid.  Not to be out done by Samsung's nifty Touch Sensor controls like those on the Samsung BD-C5500, the Vizio has five touch sensitive controls: eject, play/pause, stop, previous and next chapter/track.  The power on/off button is also touch sensitive and is located on the far left.  Its bezel design mirrors the front-panel USB port, located on the far right.  Nice symmetry.  Because of its elegant industrial design, it deserve a thorough visual study... I find myself admiring this box, even when it sits on my handsome, though dated Sony DVP-S7700 DVD-Video player.

Directly underneath the disc tray is an LED indicator of the Wi-Fi status: it would glow blue confirming the Wi-Fi home network is on, and would glow orange when the Wi-Fi network is off.  Strangely enough though, it does not have an LED display for track number and elapse time information.  And I did not even realize that it was missing until I was listening to some audio CDs with this unit.  Without the HDTV on, I looked over to see what track was playing, and behold: nothing.  How odd.  I guess Vizio assumes that most consumers would have their HDTVs on at all times?  Even when they are just listening to music?  Or this that form over function?

Looking at the rear panel, the VBR220 has a fair complement of outputs: an Ethernet port for a wired network connection (though most would opt for its built-in Wi-Fi capability), an HDMI output, component video table, composite video output, optical and coaxial digital output (for older AV receivers), and analog stereo audio output.

Usability: Ease of Set Up

Opening the Vizio VBR220 box was an unexpected pleasure.  I have not seen packaging with this level quality for a long time.  Santa Claus would be proud to give this Blu-ray Disc player for Christmas.  Setting up the Vizio Blu-ray Disc player was easy, thanks to the glossy Quick Start Guide that was included in the package.  I used an HDMI cable to hook it up to my Onkyo TX-NR5007 AV receiver, which takes care of both the video and audio signals.  (My Onkyo AV receiver does the HDMI switching and sends the video signal to my Epson 1080p projector and decodes the requisite surround sound formats).  I plugged it into an AC outlet and turned it on.  Pulling up the player's menu system, I selected Network, then Wireless, then chose my Wi-Fi home network SSD name from the Network List, then entered my Wi-Fi passphrase, the press Connect.  That was all it took to start enjoying Blu-ray Disc movies.  Vizio pre-configured the VBR220 with default factory settings for an 16:9 aspect ratio HDTV display and surround sound system.

While Vizio did not include a hardcopy of the instruction manual in the box (it is available for download as a PDF file), it is very well written with nice color pictures.  I guess if you don't have to print it, you can "afford" to use color pictures in the electronic version.  Anyways, kudos to Vizio again for a well-written instruction manual.  I guess that's one of the benefits of an American brand, though the big-name Japanese and Korean consumer electronics companies have made tremendous strides towards readable instruction manuals over the past few decades.

Usability: On-Screen User Interface

Vizio's graphical user interface is very nice and intuitive.  I was able to simply configure everything through the on-screen user interface, without having to refer (much) to the instruction manual.

Usability: Remote Control

The remote control is well designed.  The menu navigation and disc transport buttons are clearly laid out.  The silver Play/Pause button is unmistakable with its central location and large round shape that seems to naturally land under your thumb.  The only problems are that the buttons are generally more difficult than necessary to activate (tactile feel is too strong) and those buttons in the lower half of the remote control are really small.  The lack of backlighting was not a huge issue, because of the remote control's logical layout and the protruding Play/Pause button serving to orient your thumb so it can intuitively find the other related buttons nearby.

Performance

Blu-ray Disc picture quality: Blu-ray Disc picture quality through the HDMI as 1080p is great!  With a well-produced Blu-ray Disc action movie, nothing can beat the clarity, detail, color, and brilliance of the Blu-ray Disc format, and the VBR220 certainly brings it to life.

Blu-ray Disc sound quality: Blu-ray Disc sound quality through the HDMI output using the Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio is awesome.  For action movies, my system's Onkyo AV receiver and B&W CDM CNT loudspeakers literally rocked the home theater with a bit-for-bit rendition of the original studio master soundtrack.  I have never heard surround sound any better, including that in commercial movie theaters.

DVD-Video picture quality: During playback of DVD-Video's native 480p resolution, the Sony up-converted the picture very nicely to 1080p resolution.  As can be expected, the picture looked soft  and lacked the same color depth and brilliance of Blu-ray Disc movies at native 1080p resolution.  But the picture up-converted by this Blu-ray Disc player generally looks better than that from a DVD-Video player.  The more well mastered DVD movies will convert up very nicely, without much video artifacts.  Those that were poorly encoded did not show much improvement, as the proverbial "garbage in is garbage out" saying goes.

DVD-Video sound quality: Both Dolby Digital and DTS sound tracks sound good, comparable to what a DVD-Video player would provide.

Netflix Streaming performance: Netflix streaming was good on the Vizio.  The streaming picture and sound quality is good through the built-in Wi-Fi capability.  I was not able to test the wireless-n feature, because my Netgear WGR-614 wireless router is only 802.11g capable.  Even so, the wireless-g connection was solid, with no dropouts.

Anyways, the Vizio Netflix app enables easy forward or reverse scanning capability, very much like streaming on a PC browser with the Microsoft Silverlight plug-in.  A series of thumbnail images gives you an idea of what images are being scanned through.  This is a good feature to have, as Netflix streaming users know, there are no chapter marks like those you would find with a Blu-ray Disc or DVD-Video movie.

VUDU streaming performance: VUDU is a per-per-view on-demand streaming video service that offers movies in Full HD 1080p, HD 720p, and standard definition 480p resolutions for rental and purchase.  You have 48 hours from the time you first view your rental to complete your viewing experience.  You can watch as many times as you want during that 48-hour period.  Prices vary from title to title, though most movies rent in 480p standard definition for $3.99, 720p "HD" for $4.99, or Full HD 1080p "HDX" with Dolby Digital Plus surround sound for $5.99.  Since the bandwidth of my high-speed internet cable modem service averages 2.5 - 3.0 Mbps, I tried streaming Robin Hood with the "HD" streaming service and the streaming quality was very good.  The 720p picture was definitely better than DVD-Video, though shy of Blu-ray Disc quality.  The sound quality was comparable to that of DVD-Video's Dolby Digital.  I watched a few previews in "HDX" and the 1080p picture was excellent, essentially equal to Blu-ray Disc in quality.  The Dolby Digital Plus surround sound was somewhat better than DVD-Video's Dolby Digital, but cannot approach Blu-ray Disc's Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio quality.  All in all, the VUDU streaming experience is very good and impressive, far better than that of Netflix, and the Vizio rendered it very well.

VUDU on-demand streaming is one app within VUDU's framework of apps to access internet content.  Other apps and accessible internet content include Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Picasa, The New York Times, and Associated Press news site.  The only issue I have is the initial wait time for the VUDU apps to load.  Depending on the internet bandwidth, this can sometimes take 2-3 minutes to load.  I do not believe this is an issue unique to Vizio Blu-ray Disc players, but rather with the VUDU app framework itself.

Competitive Models & Value - How does this model compare?

Within the Vizio product line, you can upgrade to the Vizio VBR231 (about $170) for its dual-band wireless-n.  These VBR231 model costs $10 more at MSRPs of $199.99 instead of $189.99.

Compared to other brands, the Vizio VBR220 is a value proposition with its feature to price quotient.  It is one of the least expensive players with built-in Wi-Fi capability.  The only features missing are internal memory storage for BD-Live content and 3D Blu-ray Disc capability, which would make it a solid mid-range player.  It closest competitor is the Samsung BD-C6500 (about $192), offering pretty much the same level of features (though it has 1 GB of internal memory for BD-Live) and similar performance level.  The Sony BDP-S570 (about $210) is somewhat comparable, but adds 3D Blu-ray playback, 1GB internal memory, and SACD playback.
 

Where To Buy

MSRP $189.99.  Street and online prices have dropped to about $158.  Support this site by buying through one of our links:

> Amazon.com for $158.00 and free shipping

Accessories

Associated equipment used in evaluation: Epson PowerLite Home Cinema 8100 3-LCD 1080p 16:9 aspect ratio front projector with custom screen, Onkyo TX-NR5007 THX Ultra2 certified A/V receiver with 145 Watts/channel, four B&W CDM 9NTs as left/right main speakers and left/right surrounds, B&W CDM CNT center channel speaker, Mediabridge Ultra HDMI cables available from Amazon.com, Monster Cable Original speaker cables, and Lovan Sovereign T HiFi audio rack.  For internet streaming and content, we use a Motorola SB5100 cable modem and Netgear WGR614 wireless-g router for our home network.  Our home theater equipment was calibrated with the Digital Video Essentials (DVE) HD Basics Blu-ray disc.

This review was originally posted on October 24, 2010.

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In This Review:

> Summary

> Pros

> Cons

> Introduction

> Distinguishing features

> Setup

> Performance

> Remote control

> Competitive models

> Conclusion

> Read other reviews

> Where to Buy

> Accessories

Hardware Reviews

> Samsung BD-C5500 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S370 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S470 Blu-ray player

> Sony BDP-S570 Blu-ray player

> Vizio VBR231 Blu-ray player

> Vizio VBR220 Blu-ray player

> B&W CDM 9NT & CNT loudspeaker system

> Lovan "Sovereign" audio rack

more >>   

DVD & Blu-ray Release Dates

> August 2010

> September 2010

> October 2010

> November 2010

> December 2010

> January 2011

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