Best LED TV Overall

Vizio's M3D0KD offers top performance, robust features and a nearly unbeatable value

Experts point to Vizio's M3D0KD LED TV as the best overall for 2012, at least to date. It's not the best-performing set, at least in terms of black levels, but among 2012 sets released thus far, it's only outdone by Sony's HX850 (covered elsewhere in this report) in that regard -- and that set costs nearly $1,000 more (in the 55-inch screen size). Color, on the other hand, is virtually unimprovable. Complaints are few: some blooming typical of edge-lit sets, says PCMag.com, while CNET also notes some video processing bobbles. None of this stops the sites from heaping praise on the M3D0KD's picture quality (including an Editors' Choice selection at PCMag.com).

Features aren't nearly as maxed out as on the Samsung ES8000 (also covered in this report), but aren't bad in their own right. You'll find passive 3D; while passive 3D isn't as widely liked by videophiles as active-shutter 3D technology found in sets by Sony, Samsung and others, it offers some advantages for casual viewing and generally gets a thumbs-up from many experts and even more users.

Internet streaming is decent; though you might find a few less providers than with sets from some other makers, you will find all important content types represented. Internet features are made more usable by a remote control that includes a QWERTY keyboard, though some reviewers find some ergonomic issues with it. The biggest disappointment is that the set is not DLNA-compliant, so you can't stream your own content from a computer on the same network (like most high-end sets, Wi-Fi is built in); however, you can play it back from a USB thumb drive.

But despite the terrific picture quality and good if not great lineup of features, what seals the deal is the set's value. The 55-inch Vizio M3D550KD (*Est. $1,350) is priced hundreds of dollars less than flagship sets from many other makers. If a smaller screen size will do, the 47-inch M3D470KD (*Est. $900) can be had for less than a grand -- and given its performance, that's pretty, well, grand.