We are in a new age where 4K TVs are taking over. Vizio has a couple of 4K TVs among its products and they all boast of great picture quality.
There’s a little challenge. Even if you have a great TV, you’ll not enjoy quality imaging without the best settings. In some cases, your pictures may even get worse. This is why you need to take time to learn the best picture settings for Vizio 4K TVs.
This post will outline the best recommended settings for your 4K TV, and more specifically for the Vizio brand. Let’s go
Vizio 4k TV Best Picture Settings
Here is a summary of all the major settings you should use on your Vizio 4K TV.
- Picture mode – Calibrated Dark
- Sharpness – 0
- Backlight – 97
- Contrast – 49
- Brightness – 53
- Color – 52
- Hue – 0
- Gamma – 2.4
- Tint (G/R) -2
- Black detail – Low, PS on RGB Limited, xb on Standard
- Active LED Zones – Off
- Clear Action – Off
Describing Picture Modes
Before we go ahead, let’s shed some light on picture modes and what they mean. Usually, there are four major picture modes for 4K TVs. Different manufacturers may have different names for these modes. However, the table below shows the most common names:
MODE | BEST FOR | WORST FOR |
Movie/Cinema | Most situations | Bright rooms |
Sports | Man caves and bars | Everything else |
Game | Video games | Everything else |
Vivid/Dynamic | Best Buy showrooms | Everything else |
Of all the modes, the best and most-used is “Movie/Cinema.” This is because it is the most accurate in producing pictures closest to the original as possible. On Vizio TVs, this mode is known as Calibrated Dark.
Why you should avoid Vivid/Dynamic Mode
The Vivid/Dynamic mode is one you should never use. Why? It drives color and brightness settings to produce maximum output. This mode also exaggerates bright colors and blurs details.
If this is so, why then does this mode exist? The main reason is to sell the TV in the store. This mode allows the TV to stand out and attract buyers. When you buy a new Vizio 4K TV, you should check that the picture mode is set to Calibrated Dark not Vivid.
Gaming Mode
Before you even start gaming, you should sort out your TV settings. Vizio 4k TVs have a Game Mode, just like every other 4K TV. Set your TV to this mode so that you can eliminate a few of the video processing that will affect picture quality.
When in Game mode, you reduce input lag to the lowest possible. Input lag is the period it takes for your TV to process images from your gaming console. The regular value for TVs is between 60 and 100 milliseconds. You can reduce this to less than 20 milliseconds on your Vizio 4K while gaming.
Settings to avoid and the ones to change
Many Vizio 4k TV owners ask this question so let’s help you out. Since you have already set your picture mode to Movie, you should check the brightness of the images. You can make a few changes to the contrast and brightness if you need brighter images. Note that this doesn’t affect picture quality.
Avoid fiddling with the color controls as it may affect color saturation. You should also avoid diving too deep into the picture adjustment and expert settings. The features under these settings include noise reduction, auto motion, smooth motion, and judder reduction.
HDR settings on 4K TVs
Here’s a little secret you should know about your Vizio 4K TV. Just like every other 4K TV, it is three TVs in one package. This is because it has the 4K ultra-HD, standard HD, and 4K HDR formats. In most of the latest Vizio 4K TVs, you get Dolby Vision and HDR10.
These formats inform your TV to switch to HDR settings automatically when the need arises. This function does not work for older HDR devices. So you may need to enable Full UHD Color on your Vizio TV. Without doing this, the device will consider your TV not HDR-compatible.