$494.00
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Pros
Inexpensive. Very bright panel. Connected features with included Roku Streaming Stick.
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Cons
Cold, skewed colors. Only two HDMI ports available with Roku Stick installed.
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Bottom Line
Want a 50-inch HDTV for less than $500? The Sanyo FVF5044 delivers not only a decent picture, but you get a Roku Streaming Stick in the bargain.
You don't need a smart HDTV to get smart HDTV features. All you need is a media streamer, like the Roku Streaming Stick or the Amazon Fire TV. Sanyo recognizes this and offers the FVF5044, a decidedly non-smart, LED-backlit LCD HDTV that's "Roku Ready" (it has an MHL-capable HDMI port), and comes with the MHL version of the Roku Streaming Stick. All you have to do is plug the stick into the MHL HDMI port, and the FVF5044 becomes a smart HDTV right out of the box. Its picture didn't wow us, but at $494 for 50 inches, it didn't really have to. It's a solid performer with connected features through Roku, and is a functional choice if you're looking for a big HDTV on a budget. For sheer picture quality, though, spending a little extra for the non-smart Editors' Choice Sharp LC-48LE551U and then buying a separate HDMI Roku Streaming Stick might be a better alternative.
Design
Like most budget HDTVs, the FVF5044 looks plain. The LCD panel is framed by half-inch, flat, glossy black plastic bezels on each side, with an additional faux brushed aluminum plastic strip on the bottom edge to hold the indicator light. It sits securely on a semicircular black glass base that holds the screen steady, but doesn't pivot. The overall design is understated and not particularly eye-catching, but it's attractive enough in a utilitarian sense.
View All A row of controls behind the right edge of the HDTV holds Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down, Input, Menu, and Power buttons. Two HDMI ports, including the MHL-enabled port designed for use with the included Roku Streaming Stick, sit on the back facing left, alongside the antenna/cable connector and a USB port. A third HDMI port, a component video input, a VGA video input, a 3.5mm audio input and output, and an optical audio output face downward.
The included 6.6-inch remote is as plain as the HDTV itself. The buttons are flat, rubber, and not backlit, and are laid out in fairly cramped clusters around a navigation pad, which feels distinct enough from the number, volume, channel, and playback controls that you can easily find it without looking. The remote controls both the HDTV's menus for picture adjustments and the connected Roku Streaming Stick interface, the latter accessible with a press of the Smart button. It doesn't have the glossy simplicity of the remote included with retail Roku devices, but it's functional.
Roku Features
The MHL-only Roku Stick didn't wow us on its own last year, but as a pack-in product with a Roku Ready HDTV it works very well. All you need to do is plug it into the MHL-enabled HDMI port, and the FVF5044 will act as if Roku's interface is built into the HDTV (though it still takes up one of the three HDMI ports). Roku offers hundreds of different online services and apps in the form of content channels, including all of the standards like Netflix, Hulu Plus, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube, and Pandora. It can access M-Go and Vudu on-demand video services, and even supports local media playback through the free Roku app for iOS and Android via the Play On Roku feature.
The MHL Roku Streaming Stick included with the FVF5044 shouldn't be confused with the HDMI Roku Streaming Stick available at retail. The HDMI Roku Streaming Stick earned our Editors' Choice distinction for its $50 price tag and the ability to work with non-MHL-equipped HDTVs, thanks to a separate USB port for power. As such, that $50 stick means you can give any non-connected HDTV the same features the FVF5044 has very easily.
Performance
The FVF5044 produces some impressive brightness and black level numbers for a budget HDTV, but that performance is balanced out with poor color accuracy. We test HDTVs with a Klein K10-A colorimeter, SpectraCal's CalMAN 5 software, and DisplayMate test patterns. After basic dark room calibration, which resulted in using the Manual picture mode with Brightness set to 52, Contrast set to 60, and Color Temperature set to Warm, we measured a very strong peak brightness of 329.46 cd/m2, and a solid black level of 0.03 cd/m2 for a very good 10,982:1 measured contrast ratio. On paper, it blows other budget HDTVs out of the water. However, as discussed below, the actual shadow and highlight detail it can display will quickly temper your numbers-based enthusiasm.
Colors didn't fare nearly as well with our tests, either. I noticed color temperature shifting wildly when adjusting Contrast, and with the calibrated settings we used, white ended up appearing downright cold even with Color Temperature set to Warm. The chart above shows measured color levels (the dots) compared to ideal color levels (the squares). White skewed very heavily toward blue, while red, green, and blue each leaned in different directions from where they should have been. Unfortunately, the FVF5044 doesn't have any color calibration settings outside of the standard Color (saturation), Tint, and Color Temperature adjustments.
Dark scenes, like the diving segments in Piranha and the alley and car theft segments in The Amazing Spider-Man, get pleasantly dark and mysterious where they should be, but as the picture transitions from black to simply dark, a lot of details get swallowed by a general murkiness. The screen also suffers from some notable bloom when contrasting very bright and very dark objects. Bright lights next to dark shadows tend to make the picture look washed out when darker scenes get suitably inky. Highlight details also tend to disappear against white when an object is very bright, like the sun-lit decks of boats in Piranha. The Sharp LC-48LE551U doesn't have nearly as impressive brightness, black level, or contrast ratio numbers, but it displays shadow and highlight details much better within its narrower range.
The overly cool colors are readily apparent in both films. In the dark alley scenes in The Amazing Spider-Man, the flesh tones of Peter and the buggers look pinkish and pale. In the bright boat scenes in Piranha, the white of the deck appears harsh and near-blue. This is even clearer in Platoon, where too much pink, purple, and a very cool tinge across the board make the jungle look as it was shot under fluorescent light.
Power and Conclusion
Under normal viewing conditions, the FVF5044 consumes 78 watts. In Power Saving mode, which slightly dims the picture, the number drops to 68 watts. This is very good, edging out the slightly smaller TCL 48FS4690 and Sharp LC-48LE551U's 84 watts each.
The Sanyo FVF5044 is a remarkably inexpensive HDTV that, thanks to the Roku Streaming Stick and its MHL-compatible HDMI port, offers connected features that similarly priced HDTVs don't. Its panel gets satisfyingly bright and dark, but it has some issues in between those extremes, especially when factoring in its overly cool colors. This HDTV won't wow you with its picture, but its price and features make it a compelling buy. If you want an affordable HDTV that looks better, the Editors' Choice Sharp LC-48LE551U offers accurate colors with solid shadow and highlight detail, albeit without any connected features and at a slightly higher price of $500. Of course, you can always just buy your own Roku Streaming Stick to go with it, too.
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