Vizio TV model number decoder explained 2013-2023

You should know that Vizio does not manufacture Vizio TVs, and yes, that is indeed true. Electronics OEMs make Vizio TVs. These companies design the TV models, negotiate prices, and then produce the TVs under the VIZIO brand. Custom TV production for companies that own a particular brand is standard today. Large Chinese companies produce TVs for well-known brands. According to the website https://themoney.co, VIZIO TVs are manufactured by OEM companies BOE, Foxconn, Innolux, KIE, Tolly, TPV, and Zylux.

TV Vizio 2023 model

A lot of people ask me where are the 2023 VIZIO TV models. Yes, they are not there yet; previously, Vizio offered new TV models in the second half of the year. Usually, there are new TV models in July, but in 2023, it’s already the beginning of September, and there are no new models. There are no prerequisites for their appearance; I may be wrong. However, I did not find any press releases about new Vizio TVs, and on the Vizio website, the 2022 models are positioned as new. What could be the problem? I’ll go into more detail in the article Features of Vizio TVs.

VIZIO serial and model number lookup

When registering your TV or contacting customer support, you will need the model number and serial number of your Vizio TV. Also, if you decide to buy a used Vizio TV, finding out how old it is is not unreasonable. As usual, you can find the TV’s serial and model numbers in three places.

• The sticker on the TV
• On the TV menu
• On the box, if you bought your TV online, you will see your purchases in your account. You will be able to find the model number of your TV.

The first way to find the serial and model number of your VIZIO TV set

Suppose you find out the model number or serial number of your VIZIO TV. The easiest way is to find the model number on the sticker on the back of the TV. 

The place where the sticker will be may differ; it depends on the year of manufacture of the TV and the factory (OEM company) where it was manufactured. Therefore, you need to inspect the entire back panel of the TV; some models may have two information stickers. The first is a giant sticker, and the second is a barcode with the model number and serial number on the side of the back panel, closer to the edge. Of course, there is another solution if the TV is mounted on the wall and access to the back panel is difficult.

The second way to find the serial number of VIZIO TV

If you can’t find the model number on the sticker, missed the second way or just don’t want to look there, here is the second way to find the model number and serial number of your VIZIO TV. You can find the model number of your TV in the menu. To do this with a few keystrokes on your remote control, follow these steps. Depending on the version of your operating system the procedure may be different, I’ll show you some options, if your TV has a slightly different menu, the search will still look something like this

• Press the menu button on the remote control
• select Admin&Privacy, press OK on the remote control
• Select System Info press ok

You’ll see information about your TV with the model number at the top.

• Press the Menu button on the VIZIO remote control.
• Highlight and select Help or System
• Select System Information and press OK.
• Your serial number is next to “TV SN“.

The third way to find the serial number of your VIZIO TV

The third way is a bit specific, but I’ll still remind you of it. You can find the model number and serial number of your VIZIO TV in these ways.

• Check the purchase documents, if you still have them
• Look at the sticker on the box, if you didn’t throw it away.
• If you bought your TV online, try to remember where you bought it and check the TV’s purchase history.

Either way, at least one of these three ways will be helpful to you.

Vizio TV Model Number Decoding Meaning

Since the TVs are made by OEM companies, VIZIO TV model numbers do not give much information about the technical characteristics of the TVs. The model number is only needed for information on screen size, TV series, and year of development. More detailed specifications can be found in the description of the particular TV. However, you can get some information from the model number of your TV as well. VIZIO TVs are divided into series, e.g. M, P, D series. Depending on the series, the technical characteristics of the TVs differ greatly. But you should know that VIZIO TVs mainly belong to the budget segment.

In 2018 there are some changes to the model number of the TV, the model number is slightly larger, although this has not added to the information about the TV.

Vizio TV model number explanation using the M55-C2 as an example

• M – The first letter indicates the TV series. Vizio divides its TVs into series, which are indicated by letters or the full name, such as OLED or Quantum. You should know that series may be available for several years, for example, the M series has been available since 2013. But the 2013 TVs are very different from the 2022 TVs. You should keep this in mind when choosing a TV.
• 55 – The size of the TV screen in inches.

After the screen size, the model number may contain a few more characters to indicate the model number of the TV in the series. It is not necessary to look for a pattern, perhaps these TVs are simply produced by different companies.

• С – Year of TV development
  • K – 2022
  • J – 2021
  • H – 2020
  • G – 2019
  • F – 2018
  • E – 2017
  • D – 2016
  • C – 2015
  • B – 2014
  • A – 2013

• 2 – The design is usually a different shape of TV stand, the bigger the TV, the more massive the stand you need for it.

Vizio TV brand overview

VIZIO televisions are sold in the North American market in the United States and Canada. It is an American company that was one of the first to realize that it is optional to produce TV sets themselves. They can be ordered from other companies under their brand and sold, making a profit. Vizio does not have its factories; the TVs are assembled to order by electronics assemblers. The televisions are assembled in Mexico and China. Vizio has taken the path of aggressive pricing; TVs, whose declared parameters are similar to those of the leading manufacturers, are 10-30% cheaper.

This is because buyers in the US and Canada pay less attention to technical specifications. A buyer pays attention to picture quality, price, and access to network resources such as Netflix, etc. VIZIO has capitalized on this by building a business model focused on the North American market. The company’s employees work in sales, design, and service. The company tries to keep up with other manufacturers’ technology, and it is succeeding. However, the image quality is worse than LG or Samsung, but the TVs are popular with customers. For example, I compared in the article “55 inch TV dimensions: LED, OLED, QLED detailed explanations” the sizes of TVs from different manufacturers, and I want to say that Vizio has thick TVs; for example, model V555M-K01 TV thickness is 3.2 inches, this is a lot, other manufacturers had such TVs in 2014-2016.

Now, a bit about what Vizio has with TVs in 2023 is quite interesting. As I said, there have yet to be any new models; the website offers 2022 models and the P series -2021. Vizio’s OLED TVs are most likely not living up to expectations; they are 2020 models in general. If you have visited the site Vizio.com to find the technical specifications of the TV, you need to find the section Buy now.

How do you determine the year of assembly of a Vizio TV set?

How to find out when your Vizio TV was manufactured. Unfortunately, it is almost impossible to find out. The manufacturer does not specify this information. Indirectly, the date of production can be found in the model markings. But the following information should also be taken into account. For aggressive sales, Vizio starts production of TVs in the third quarter and assigns them model numbers for the next year; this was the case until 2018. Now, new TV models are released every year. Anyway, if you see that the TV model is, for example, 2021, you can orientate yourself; this TV model was produced from Q3 2021 to Q3 2022.

For example, a TV with the model number M55-C2. The letter C means this is a 2015 model; TVs of this model were assembled between Q3 2015 and Q3 2016.

Vizio TV models by year in review

2022: The D, M and V series TVs will be updated. There will be no new TV models in the P series. OLED TVs on Vizio 2020, there will be no new TV models.

2021: In 2021, VIZIO has not introduced any models of its premium TV lineup. All TVs have displays with a maximum frequency of 60Hz, which is certainly not enough if you use the TV as a monitor for gaming consoles. The sales of premium models in previous years did not meet expectations. Therefore, the company’s management decided to produce more budget TV models.

2020: In 2020, there was an experiment from VIZIO – OLED TVs with screens from LG. But it was also a one-off experiment; there are no more new OLED TV models in VIZIO’s lineup.

2018: In 2018, the P-Series was joined by the P-Series Quantum – TVs with screens on quantum dots. These TVs are similar to the 2017 TVs in other features. These TVs were not rereleased in the following years.

Old model numbers of VIZIO TVs

I don’t delete old pictures explaining the model number of the VIZIO TV. If you are interested in model numbers of older VIZIO TVs that are not covered in this article. You can ask a question in the comments I will definitely try to answer and help you.