VIZIO M50-D1 SmartCast Home Theater Display Review

I received a VIZIO M50-D1 SmartCast Home Theater Display for purposes of evaluation. Thoughts are my own.

I think we can all agree that TVs these days aren’t what they used to be. Numerous innovations have been made in order to produce the best color, resolution, sound, reception, etc.

And such innovations can be seen in the VIZIO M50-D1 SmartCast Home Theater Display.

Not really a TV, but a display

VIZIO calls it a home theater display and not a TV because it does not have a TV tuner. And I don’t see that as a negative. I think most people have cable anyway and don’t really use a regular TV tuner on a daily basis.

But if you’re planning to buy a new TV and think you need a tuner, you can either get one separately, or check out other VIZIO products.

vizio-in-box

VIZIO features that I love

The VIZIO SmartCast M-Series Ultra HD Home Theater Display with Chromecast built in is the easiest way to stream entertainment from a mobile device.

Aside from a regular remote, it also includes a 6” Android tablet remote with the VIZIO SmartCast app. This tablet remote allows you to cast from over a thousand apps — like Netflix, Hulu, and HBO Now — with a simple tap of the cast button.

But you don’t have to actually use the tablet remote in order to operate the display because you can also use your phone as your remote too. Just download the VIZIO SmartCast app and use the phone to power on the display, adjust the volume, switch inputs, play and control streaming content and more!

vizio-m50

From VIZIO:

High Dynamic Range with support for Dolby Vision content delivers a different visual experience with astonishing brightness, radiant contrast, and incredible depth.

Full-Array LED backlighting and up to 64 Active LED Zones® dynamically adjusts to on-screen content by intelligently illuminating the brightness of the LED backlight for deeper, richer black levels and more accurate contrast levels across the whole picture.

And up to Clear Action 720 and an ultra-fast 240Hz Effective Refresh Rate achieved with backlight scanning, sports and action fans will enjoy enhanced stability and smoothness with reduced motion blur during intense action, rapid-play, video games and high speed sports.

vizio-back

The back panel has 4 HDMI ports. And while others might not need as many HDMI ports, having four makes sense for those who have multiple consoles. Right now, we’re only using two ports — one for cable and one for PS4. But it’s good to know that in case we get a new gaming console, we’ll have available ports to connect it to.

vizio-set-up

Setting up the VIZIO

Setting up the VIZIO SmartCast M-Series Ultra HD Home Theater Display is pretty easy. It turned on as soon as we plugged it in. Then it asked for the tablet remote to be paired, after which it started downloading updates for the display.

After the update was done, we just had to choose the source and we were ready to start viewing our favorite show!

vizio-picture

It took us a few days to get used to having a bigger screen in our bedroom. Our TV just used to be 42 inches and though 8 inches may not seem like such a big difference, our eyes still needed to adjust to the bigger display.

 

I initially thought that having a bigger size will result in lower picture quality. But the VIZIO M50 proved otherwise. The picture quality is good — not grainy at all. I think it handles scaling pretty well. Picture quality is still good when playing regular DVDs and BluRays, even though the movies weren’t really made for Ultra HD display.

The VIZIO M50-D1 SmartCast Home Theater Display definitely gives you good value for your money. You get a big screen with good picture quality, a regular remote, a tablet remote, and Chromecast built in. And that’s all for an affordable price of $849.99. Some retailers offer it for a lower price depending on current promotions.

Connect with VIZIO

Check out the VIZIO M50-D1 Smartcast Home Theater Display at www.VIZIO.com. You can also connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Youtube.

Comments

VIZIO M50-D1 SmartCast Home Theater Display Review — 9 Comments

  1. This sounds awesome. We have Vizeo tv’s now and they are great. I will have to check this out soon. Thank you so much for sharing

  2. Seriously…I had no idea it came with remotes like this!!! That is sweet!! I still have the old school TVs from waaaay back. I know, I know…..time to upgrade (like 10 years ago)! Thank you so much for sharing. I’m definitely going to check this brand out! Much appreciated! 🙂

  3. I need a new tv and have bought Vizio in the past. I love the size of this home theater as well as the picture as it looks really clear.