VIZIO HDTVs and Audio Collection Now Available Across Canada, Offering Consumers Brilliant Picture and Audio Quality for Best-in-Class Entertainment Experience

Premium In-Store Experience Allows Canadian Consumers to Interact with VIZIO Technologies at Best Buy and Future Shop Locations

TORONTO, Sept. 12, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- VIZIO, the #1 Smart TV¹ and Sound Bar company² in the U.S., announced today the Canadian availability of its award-winning portfolio of HDTV and audio products at Best Buy and Future Shop locations throughout Canada as well as online at bestbuy.ca and futureshop.ca.  Consumers can now visit retail locations across Canada to experience VIZIO's best-in-class technologies for themselves.  Whether in the market for a new HDTV for the living room, or interested in a sound bar to upgrade their home theater, Canadian consumers will appreciate VIZIO's attainable, beautifully simple products backed by North America-based customer support.

Canadian consumers can now find VIZIO's popular E- and M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TVs and a range of award-winning audio solutions, including VIZIO's 2.1 and 5.1 Sound Bars Systems and 2.1 Sound Stand, at retail locations nationwide. Whether looking to purchase at retail or browsing before shopping online, Canadian consumers now have access to an informative in-store experience at Best Buy Canada and Future Shop retail locations. 

The inviting, interactive VIZIO-branded displays in-store feature both VIZIO E- and M-Series Smart TVs as well as various audio offerings, allow consumers to see, listen and learn about VIZIO's award-winning technologies before purchasing.

"VIZIO is excited to bring our brand promise of quality, innovation, value and support to Canadian consumers," said Lily Knowles, Vice President of Product Marketing. "From an outstanding in-store experience, to a newly designed Canadian VIZIO website and national television advertising campaign, VIZIO is committed to Canadian consumers.  Its our mission to engage new VIZIO fans and ensure they get properly acquainted with VIZIO and learn about our technologies so they can make an informed purchase decision."

To further introduce the VIZIO brand to Canadian consumers, a broadcast advertising flight will air from September 15 through October 12, in both English and French Canadian on networks throughout Canada.  Additional resources like the newly designed VIZIO.ca featuring educational product pages with rich media, technology spotlights and enhanced shopping tools like the "Find A Retailer" feature and VIZIO Showroom app, will be available to consumers as well.

A newly developed augmented reality app, the VIZIO Showroom was designed to simplify the shopping experience before venturing in-store.  Consumers can download the app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for free.  From there, they simply print out the paper marker, place it on the wall or tabletop surface simulating where the VIZIO product would be placed and snap a photo with their mobile device. The VIZIO Showroom app will then show the room on a user's mobile device, complete with the VIZIO product(s) being considered, allowing consumers to change size and model through the app to see what technology fits their space best.

Once consumers have a chance to visualize what VIZIO product(s) will work best in their homes, they can go in-store with help from the "Find A Retailer" feature on VIZIO.ca for the full, hands-on experience.  Depending on the location a consumer visits, a VIZIO brand wall may occupy anywhere from an 8- to 12-foot-wide wall in all 135 Future Shop stores nationwide and up to 32-foot-wide section in all 72 Best Buy Canada destinations.  In addition to one-on-one interaction with VIZIO Smart TVs and audio products, consumers also have access to trained Blue Shirts at Best Buy and sales associates at Future Shop to walk them through the benefits of each VIZIO product.

"With Best Buy and Future Shop positioned as Canada's top two retailers of consumer electronics and lifestyle goods, we're excited to bring VIZIO's award-winning product line to Canada," said Jason Abrams, Director of Televisions, Best Buy Canada and Future Shop. "We are very proud to offer VIZIO's HDTVs and audio solutions to our customers through leading store networks as well as online and mobile capabilities."

Whether shopping in-store or online, Canadian consumers will now have access to VIZIO's 2014 E-and M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV collections.  The recipient of an "Excellent" rating from CNET³, the E-Series line-up is ideal for consumers looking for the latest technology, great picture quality and popular features like Smart TV connectivity and streaming apps. Unlike most competitive models in its class, the VIZIO E-Series includes Full-Array LED backlighting and advanced local dimming technology, with up to 18 Active LED Zones, delivering better light uniformity for a more vibrant, beautiful picture. Technology like Active LED Zones represents a significant step forward in picture quality for consumers. Pure black levels with higher contrast are created by dynamic adjustment of the LED backlight in each Active LED Zone, based on the content displayed on the screen. More zones mean more discrete control of the LED backlight resulting in improved contrast and more impressive picture quality.

For consumers interested in a step up to cutting-edge picture quality, VIZIO's 2014 M-Series Full-Array LED Smart TV collection, which recently received the coveted "Top Pick" rating from Sound & Vision⁴ and a "Highly Recommended" rating from HDTV Solutions⁴, is the answer.  Using advanced Full-Array LED backlighting technology, the 2014 VIZIO M-Series models provide premium picture performance.  With up to 36 Active LED Zones, consumers can enjoy additional zones of local dimming for more balanced distribution of backlighting across the entire screen, enhancing deep, accurate black levels and brighter, more vivid details.  In addition, Active Pixel Tuning delivers intelligent pixel level luminance adjustments to further increase contrast and picture detail accuracy. The M-Series line-up features a two-sided smart remote with backlit QWERTY keyboard, further enhancing the VIZIO Smart TV experience with simple, one-touch access to favorite apps and entertainment.

All VIZIO Smart TVs offered in Canada feature the VIZIO Internet Apps Plus® platform, bringing apps such as Netflix, YouTube, Yahoo! News, Flickr, Crackle and more, right into the living room, bedroom or den. An app dock overlays the bottom of the screen giving consumers quick, at-a-glance access to seven of their favorite apps, without interrupting on-screen content.  With the selected app in center focus of the display, users can easily view the previous three and next three apps in the carousel for faster navigation.

VIZIO audio solutions serve as the perfect complement for today's slim HDTVs and bring superior surround sound and new convenience features to any room in the house. From the VIZIO 54" 5.1 Home Theater Sound Bar System with Wireless Subwoofer designed for consumers with HDTVs 55" and larger, to the VIZIO 2.1 Sound Stand which offers room-filling audio in a compact form factor, VIZIO brings a variety of options to consumers looking to upgrade their audio experience or create a personal home theater. VIZIO's 2.1 Sound Stand was recognized by Digital Trends with a 2014 Best of CES Awards nomination in the home audio category, while Sound & Vision chose VIZIO's 42" 2.1 Home Theater Sound Bar with Wireless Subwoofer as a 2013 Top Pick of the Year.

VIZIO sound bars include an intuitive and easy-to-use remote which features a built-in LCD screen, allowing users to easily adjust input, turn on Bluetooth pairing, enable/disable audio technologies, or select other audio settings. The entire VIZIO audio line-up comes equipped with convenient Bluetooth technologies for streaming music, even when the TV is off, and includes all necessary cables for a quick, hassle-free set-up right out of the box.

A North American-based technical support and customer service team fully backs VIZIO's award-winning technologies. If needed, Canadian customers will have the flexibility to reach VIZIO customer support via phone, email and online chat from VIZIO.ca.  To ensure its consumers receive quick, personalized, convenient support, VIZIO has worked hard with service companies and retailers, separating itself by offering North American support and service to improve the end-user experience.

The following VIZIO Smart TVs and audio products are available now at Best Buy Canada and Future Shop retail locations:

*PRICES NOT APPLICABLE IN QUEBEC. MSRP does not include applicable fees and taxes.

For more information on VIZIO and its complete product line-up, please visit VIZIO.ca, bestbuy.ca or futureshop.ca.

About VIZIO

VIZIO, Inc. is headquartered in Irvine, California. VIZIO skyrocketed to the #1 shipper of LCD television in North America in Q2 2007¹, within five years from their first shipment, and has been in the top 3 ever since². VIZIO is now also America's #1 Smart TV company⁵ and large size LCD TV company³. VIZIO is also the #1 Sound Bar Brand in the U.S⁴. For over a decade, VIZIO has remained committed to what it does best -- focus on the consumer to deliver visionary products at a great value. The brand is consistently recognized for excellence in customer service, and was awarded 19 Stevie Awards, including the Grand Stevie Award in the 8^th Annual Stevie Awards for Sales & Customer Service. VIZIO offers a broad range of award winning consumer electronics that now include PCs and mobility products.  VIZIO's products are found at Amazon, Best Buy, BJ's Wholesale, Costco Wholesale, Sam's Club, Target, Walmart and other retailers nationwide. VIZIO has won numerous awards including 2014 Editor's Choice by Reviewed.com, "Best of CES 2014" by IGN, "Best of CES 2014" by PC Magazine and "Best of the Best 2014" by UltraHDTV Magazine for its Reference Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV.  VIZIO's P-Series Ultra HD Full-Array LED Smart TV also captured Reviewed.com's 2014 Editor's Choice award and was also recognized by The Verge as "Best TV of CES" for 2014 as well as awarded "Best of CES" by Complex and "Best of Show" by Wired for 2014.  VIZIO also earned #1 ranking in the Inc. 500 for Top Companies in Computers and Electronics and made the lists of Ad Age's Hottest Brands, CNET's Editor's Choice, CNET Best of CES 2011 - Television, CNET Best of CES 2013 – Home Theater and Audio, Sound & Vision's Top Picks, Good Housekeeping's Best Big-Screens, PC World's Best Buy and Popular Mechanics Editor's Choice among many other prestigious honors.  For more information, please call 888-VIZIOCE or visit www.VIZIO.com.

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SOURCE VIZIO, Inc.