Everyone’s got their own acronym these days. Chinese TV manufacturer Hisense started this whole mess when it unveiled ULED, a proprietary take on LED technology, before Samsung really drove it home with QLED at this year’s CES.
If you haven’t had enough acronyms thrown at you already, here’s another: XLED, a new marketing term created by Vizio that it’s slapping on this year’s 2017 M- and P-Series TVs. (Well, technically Vizio calls them displays because they don’t have built-in tuners that allow them to capture local broadcast channels over the air, but you get the idea.)
Their full names are, and take a breath before you say them, the Vizio SmartCast P-Series Ultra HD HDR XLED Pro Display collection and the VIZIO SmartCast M-Series Ultra HD HDR XLED Plus Display collection.
It’s worth pointing out here that despite the fact that both series include the word “SmartCast” in their titles, neither series will include a tablet in the box this year – the company has decided to return to standard remote controls and smart interfaces for the time being. Bummer.
So, what does the X signify? While it doesn’t seem to have an exact translation to the acronym, XLED Pro is the term Vizio cooked up to describe the displays’ full-array local dimming panel (FALD). If that wasn’t enough of an x-factor, the new displays have XHDR, too, which describes the sets’ ability to interpret and display HDR content.
X Gon’ Give It To Ya, X Gon’ Deliver It
It might sound like we’re being a bit facetious here. (OK, we are being a bit facetious here.) But while the acronym might not sit well with us, the displays themselves have some real potential in terms of providing quality performance for their price.
The M-Series is the less-premium of the two series and will start at $799 for a 50-inch model. On top of that you’ve got a 55-inch for $999, a 65-inch for $1,499, a 70-inch for $1,999 and a massive 75-inch model for $2,999.
Stepping up to a P-Series TV brings a better refresh rate (120Hz on the M-Series vs 240Hz on the M-Series) and substantially more local dimming zones (32 on the M-Series vs 128 on the P-Series).
That said, the premium label is going to cost you a bit more. There’s a 55-inch for $1,299, a 65-inch for $1,999 and a 75-inch for $3,499.
All displays in both the M- and P-Series support 4K and two types of HDR, HDR10 and Dolby Vision, and will be available to purchase later in the summer.
- These are the best 4K TVs in the world
