This morning, Vizio announced a new series of their Home Theather Displays in the P-Series. There’s not much that’s interesting here with this set of Displays, but what is interesting is that it is the first set of Displays to feature Google Cast (which Google has renamed from Chromecast). Not to be confused with Android TV, which has made its way into a few sets from Sony, Panasonic and Philips. These are all 4K Displays from Vizio, something the company is known for. Vizio not only makes 4K Displays but they make affordable ones as well. The P-Series isn’t actually new, it’s more of a refresh for Vizio. This new Ultra HD HDR Home Theater Display is their more premium line of Home Theater Displays with prices starting at $999.
The base model is a 50-inch 4K Home Theater Display which is priced at $999, and they go all the way up to a 75-inch Display that is priced at $3799. These Home Theater Displays actually ship with an Android tablet which is a 6-inch Android tablet that is actually the remote. Seriously. The tablet/remote charges wirelessly in a dock that is part of the bundle from Vizio. With the Vizio P-Series you also get Dolby Vision HDR which makes for a much nicer picture – something that was a hot topic at CES this year, as well as Google Cast. So instead of needing to use a HDMI port to plug in your Chromecast, you can quickly Cast things to the Home Theater Display from your smartphone, tablet or even desktop using the Chrome web browser. It’s a great feature to have, and one we hope more TV’s will add in.
Vizio SmartCast is included in this Home Theater Display, which is built into the 6-inch tablet. With SmartCast you’ll switch between the inputs as well as adjust volume and such. It’s a pretty futuristic idea to have a tablet as your remote, but not a bad one either. And all that starting at $999 is a pretty good price, actually. At least with this smart Display, there are features you’ll actually want to use, like Google Cast. We had heard not too long ago, that Google and Vizio were working on bringing Google Cast to their lineup of products and it looks like it’s true, as it’s here in the flesh.
