USA Today
By Mike Snider
January 27, 2012

The shape of TVs to come might be even wider than widescreen.

Today's high-definition sets evolved to a rectangular 16-by-9 shape from the more square analog TVs. But a wider 21-by-9 display standard is in the works at the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

Vizio's 58-inch 3-D LED CinemaWide display is expected to be the first 21-by-9-inch HDTV to market. It's due in stores in March in time for the NCAA men's and women's March Madness basketball tournaments and will be $3,499.99, including four pairs of 3-D glasses. (Pre-order at vizio.com.)

Last year Rose Bowl sponsor Vizio teased its then-unannounced 8-inch Tablet in a commercial during the collegiate match-up. It appears to have pulled from the same playbook this year, with a spot in yesterday's game giving what could be our first look at one of the company's new televisions. The ad features Vizio Chief Technology Officer Matt McRae discussing how technology has changed the way we experience events like the Rose Bowl — culminating in a brief glimpse at a sleek display with a black bezel, shiny silver backing, and a thin, graceful neck. We'll have to wait until CES next week to see if the new display is a real product or merely a concept, but in the meantime, check out the spot itself below. 

For the second year in a row, it looks like Vizio has taken advantage of its sponsorship of the Rose Bowl to tease a new product -- last year it was an Android tablet, and the 2012 game brought this new display design. It flashes around :25 into the ad (embedded after the break), and while there's no details on exactly what it might be, we know Vizio had plenty of Google TV tech to show off last year, and after a year of development plus the release of Google TV 2.0, it may have decided to match Sony's funky TV setup with an interesting stand of its own. Whether there's Android, OLED or any other new tech to be found in the flat-panel we'll surely find out more in just a few days once CES 2012 gets underway. 

VIZIO isn't waiting until CES 2012 to showcase its new technology. As presenting sponsor of the 98th Rose Bowl, VIZIO will bring new technologies and innovative activations to fans, adding to the game day experience for college football fans. On-site, at the center of both the Oregon and Wisconsin tailgate zones, VIZIO will take over adjacent Brookside Golf Course clubhouse, to create a special VIZIO Theater 3D™ Lounge. Open to the public, the lounge will house many of VIZIO's award-winning Theater 3D™ technologies, showcase other college bowl games and treat fans to an interactive 3D video game area. VIZIO has also partnered with the world famous Los Angeles radio station KROQ, who will be broadcasting live from the lounge and bringing a special performance from popular local band, The Dirty Heads.

The Vizio Razor M3D550SR's black levels are very good for an edge-lit LED-based LCD TV. Shadow detail and colors are solid, while the matte screen really helps reduce reflections. The TV piles on the features with passive 3D, a Bluetooth QWERTY remote, and onboard wireless. The passive system creates minimal crosstalk, and Vizio includes four pairs of passive 3D glasses.

When I got my wisdom teeth pulled I was in some serious pain. I'm fairly certain the doctor braced his feet on my face for leverage and just yanked like crazy. This resulted in me being on some rather serious pain-killers for something like ten days. That whole period was a blur. I watched virtually every movie I had ever intended to see, but once the drug-fog lifted I couldn't remember any of them. From time to time, though, I'd be watching a movie and want to look something up.

Those doubting the viability of Android tablets- and I've certainly been in that camp myself- will be pleasantly surprised by Vizio's entry, called simply the Vizio Tablet. No, it's not the iPad, but it provides tremendous value for its $299 price point.

Introduced subtly last January in a TV commercial that aired during the Vizio-sponsored Rose Bowl Game, then unveiled formally at CES the next week, the Vizio Tablet has been on the market since August although it has gradually added software updates and other new features since.

Wireless HDMI technology has been around for a few years now--but with entry-level kits costing upward of $800, it appealed primarily to dedicated home-theater enthusiasts. Now, however, Wireless HDMI kits like Vizio's XWH200 ($230) are reaching the market at prices that, while still not cheap for a TV accessory, aren't outrageously high, either. And fortunately, the lower price tag doesn't entail a corresponding drop in quality.

Wireless HDMI caters to people with wall-mounted HDTVs. A properly mounted TV can look very elegant and can free up a lot of space in a cramped room, but once you start using it, it can be kind of a pain: Either you mount it with a bracket that lets you put your cable box, game console, Blu-ray player, and whatever else you plug into your TV up against the wall with it (making them harder to access when you're switching discs and so on), or you let them sit on the floor below the TV (leaving your wall an unsightly mess with black cables snaking down from the TV).

LOS ANGELES -- With the NBA season back on, there will be even more 3D sports to watch at the brand new South by Vizio 3D sports bar in Santa Monica, CA. The new bar has 33 Vizio 3D TVs featuring passive technology. Sports fans will be able to watch ESPN 3D and other 3D sports broadcasts in the bar, while eating and drinking. Vizio walks us through this really cool bar concept in the exclusive 3D video below (you can watch it in old-fashioned 2D by adjusting the slider).

If you're looking for a bargain-priced Blu-ray player, the Vizio VBR122 makes an excellent choice. For $110 (as of November 3, 2011), you get very good image quality and a large selection of streaming Internet services. You also get a nifty remote control that becomes a QWERTY keyboard when you flip it over.

As television accessories become more Internet-oriented, users are finding themselves having to enter text--usually passwords and search terms--into them. A conventional remote control gives you only number and arrow buttons for handling this job, making it an annoying chore. Remote-control phone apps offer an option, but they're not a cure-all.