You won't find this in Walmart
Vizio announced pricing for its new Reference Series televisions with Dolby Vision, and yes, they're expensive. Crazy expensive, even -- Vizio's aksing $6,000 for the 65-inch model and a jaw-dropping $130,000 for the 120-inch version.
No, our zero-key isn't sticking, Vizio's price tag of more than a $1,000 per inch of screen real estate is correct. And the craziest thing isn't the price alone, but that somebody out there is going to buy this thing. Probably multiple somebodies.
More power to them. What they'll get in return is a cutting edge television with a 4K resolution and the first to support Dolby Vision, a proprietary High Dynamic Range (HDR) imaging playback technology that's supposed to splash your eyeballs with incredible colors, contrast, and brightness.
"Vizio and Dolby have worked tirelessly together to make true High Dynamic Range a reality for consumers. The picture quality achieved with Dolby Vision on the Vizio Reference Series is literally jaw-dropping and establishes a new level of excellence for the industry," said Matt McRae, Chief Technology Officer, Vizio. "High Dynamic Range and Ultra Color Spectrum is enabled through proprietary, custom panel technologies creating a television that pushes the limits of contrast ratios and color gamut while redefining the level of picture quality available at home."
Yes, a $130,000 4K TV falls a bit outside of Maximum PC's usual coverage, but with Steam Machines and other PC consoles invading the living room and the monitor market innovating again (remember when a 30-inch 2560x1600 monitor was the best there was?), we couldn't pass up an opportunity to talk about Vizio's Reference Series.
It will also be interesting to see if Vizio or any other company brings this kind of technology to the computer monitor space. What's unique about these TVs is their ability to render colors closer to the range a human eye can see. Vizio says the effect is further enhanced by a full array 800-nit LED backlight with an unprecedented 348 active LED zones for a much wider range of luminance and precise color control.
Netflix is on board with what Vizio has done here and has committed to remastering content in Dolby Vision, starting with season one of Marco Polo.
Both the 65-inch and 120-inch models are special order items on Vizio's website. If you have the requisite funds and are interested, you'll have to fill out a form indicating interest.
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