Our constantly updated list of the top 10 best 40-inch, best 42-inch and best 46-inch TVs in the world today.
Once known simply as 'plasma screens' in the collective consciousness, the 42-inch size is where the flatscreen dream started in the late 1990s – and where it's still at its most innovative and best.
Now a lot more varied, with plasmas rubbing shoulders with (and quickly being outnumbered by) LCD TVs and their ultra-modern LED TV makeover, 40 to 46 inches is still the sweetspot for anyone not overly concerned with ruining the interior design of their living room.
As well as being the fastest growing sector of the TV market, this size is also great value.
Serious home cinema addicts have moved on to 50-inch and bigger screens, leaving this category a swarm of slashed prices.
That's truer than ever right now; the market is divided between brand new sets with built-in Freeview HD tuners, and those with standard digital tuners.
Whether you need a Freeview HD tuner is a choice you'll have to make (and it depends on where you live), although we expect them to become a default feature very soon.
Nevertheless, if you're considering buying a TV without a Freeview HD tuner, demand a discount!
Arguably the minimum size where Full HD makes most sense and where a Blu-ray player is a must, the 42-inch size hasn't lost its allure, despite becoming affordable.
(If you are looking to buy a television, you could do worse than to check out our quick video buying guide below):
So here's our break-down of the current best 40-inch, 42-inch and 46-inch TVs in the world today...
LG 42PW450T - £410
Bargain 42-inch HD-ready plasma that scores well with Blu-ray
We start off in the bargain basement and this 42-inch plasma TV is actually 3D-ready. It even uses active shutter technology rather than the cheaper, flicker-free – but less detailed – passive 3D system on most of LG's 3D TVs. Still, that's not why we like it.
From the nicely sculpted handset to the polished onscreen menu system, this is a lovely TV to operate. It also boasts an attractive, cutting-edge frame that belies the screen's price and plasma-based platform.
The sound quality is superb and, despite minor issues with resolution and clarity, the LG 42PW450T is no mug when it comes to serving up highly engaging HD images, especially Blu-ray pictures. Forget its sometimes disappointing 3D pictures and revel in its 2D performance par excellence.
Read: LG 42PW450T review
Samsung UE40D5520 - £500
Samsung leaves premium aspirations aside to deliver a superb budget 40-inch TV
What you have in the 40-inch Samsung UE40D5520 is essentially a mid-range TV in entry-level TV clothing.
Despite costing under £600, it combines a lovely design with a long feature count – including a terrific Smart TV system – and startlingly good picture quality that's better than that of many more expensive TVs we've seen.
You need to take a little care with some of the TV's settings and, especially, processing options. But provided you give the Samsung UE40D5520 a few minutes of your time when you first unbox it, your efforts will be rewarded more than handsomely. Remember though, while the price is rather amazing, this is still a 40-incher and so if you're looking for something a little bigger, you might want to cast your eyes further down our list.
Read: Samsung UE40D5520 review
Panasonic TX-P42ST30B - £510
Ugly yet affordable 3D plasma TV delivering impressive pictures
The 42-inch, Infinite Black Pro-toting Panasonic TX-P42ST30B is one of 2011's most affordable active 3D plasma screens.
It has been shorn of one or two fancy features that Panasonic reckons the mass market won't feel deprived of, but is still crammed with the latest plasma technology, including faster-switching phosphors, reduced power consumption and a new screen filter.
The set's overall image performance with 2D and 3D sources is highly impressive, as is the lack of artefacts with the frame insertion anti-blur tech and the virtual absence of 3D crosstalk.
Add a dramatically improved Viera Connect service and we've got a rollickingly good visual experience.
Read:Panasonic TX-P42ST30B review
Toshiba 40RL858B
A versatile mid-range Edge LED TV offering excellent value for money
Reasonably slim, fairly adept with all sources and with a smart TV platform that's at least nominally engaging, Toshiba's 40RL858 is a classic mid-range TV.
It's a classic mid-range set whose attempt at a smart TV platform is the low point on an otherwise capable performer. What it lacks in ultimate quality and ease of use it makes up for with versatility.
LG 42LW550T - £689
Excellent value passive 3D TV with useful multimedia options
Is passive 3D the answer? With a stunning seven pairs of lighter, far cheaper glasses shipping with this 42-inch LED TV, it just might be. After some hit-and-miss passive 3D TVs from LG thus far, the 42LW550T turns things around with a barnstorming performance.
Using FPR (Film Patterned Retarder) 3D technology, this set offers relatively relaxing passive 3D pictures, absolutely no 3D flicker and all-round bright and punchy images for under £800.
We love its fabulous Smart TV online content platform, too, although this is first and foremost a user-friendly and comfortable way into 3D that helps makes the new technology an affordable and much more social event.
Read: LG 42LW550T review
Panasonic TX-L42ET5B
It's passive 3D, it's LCD, but it's still Panasonic
The L42ET5 was perhaps a rather strange choice as Panasonic's debut TV of 2012. But while it might not be very representative of where Panasonic's TV heart lies, it does establish that the brand is willing to think out of its comfort zone if commercial realities and consumer choice demand it.
What's more, the set has got a well developed and stable online service, and performs rather well for the majority of the time, combining a very watchable 3D performance with an impressive 2D HD experience.
Read:Panasonic TX-L42ET5B review
Philips 42PFL7666H - £800
Edge LED TV with Wi-Fi makes the case for Passive 3D
Ideal for a living room after both something a little bit special and the low maintenance passive 3D system, this sculpted aluminium effort is as good value as it is good looking.
Equipped with Ambilight and other goodies including Freeview HD and a 'passive' Easy 3D mode that justifies its introduction by Philips, this Edge LED effort is a competent performer across-the-board whose lack of star quality pictures are explained in its low-for-Philips price.
Read:Philips 42PFL7666H review
Sony KDL-40HX723 - £900
Edge-lit LCD with superb 2D and 3D pictures and the excellent Bravia Internet Video service
The 40-inch Sony KDL-40HX723 marks a considerable and welcome return to form for Sony, firmly putting to bed any thoughts that the brand might have forgotten how to do 3D well.
It's a very polished and enjoyable 2D performer, too, and sets new standards when it comes to presenting low-quality sources such as compressed internet video feeds.
The complexity of the KDL-40HX723's picture settings makes it a TV that's potentially not for the technologically faint of heart, but thankfully the rewards for your set-up efforts are extreme, with 2D and 3D pictures that are among the best seen to date.
Read: Sony KDL-40HX723 review
Panasonic TX-L42ET50B
3D is optional on this 'floating' Edge LED-lit telly
3D is an expensive luxury on this, Panasonic's biggest ever Edge LED TV. It may have sacrificed plasma at this living room-friendly size, but its love of active shutter 3D tech refuses to budge.
That's a strange move that leaves the Panasonic TX-L42ET50B neither a slim and cheap option nor a high-end home cinema screen, although at its best it's just capable of surviving in either environment.
Read:Panasonic TX-L42ET50B review
Panasonic TX-P42VT30B - £1149
Sophisticated 3D plasma TV with superb pictures and multimedia skills
This 42-inch plasma TV improves on Panasonic's exceptional GT30 Series by adding an extra filter to the screen structure to improve black reproduction. It also ships with two pairs of active shutter 3D glasses, plus a USB dongle for Wi-Fi.
It's got beefier sound that its sibling, while the set's 3D performance is vastly entertaining, thanks to the near-elimination of crosstalk noise.
This leaves us free to appreciate the excellent clarity and detail of full HD 3D Blu-rays – with much more brightness, shadow detail and colour richness than we witnessed in Panasonic's 2010 3D plasmas. A real step forward.
Read:Panasonic TX-P42VT30B review
Samsung UE46D8000 - £1,400
One of the loveliest and sexiest consumer electronics devices ever built
From the moment you first lay eyes on it, the UE46D8000 is a very special TV. The thin bezel, super-slim profile and gorgeous silver stand make it an absolute stunner design-wise. But its feature list is equally attractive, offering the latest mod cons like network media streaming and Smart Hub, as well as support for 3D, external HDD recording and multimedia formats.
But there's substance behind the style too. In terms of picture quality it may not boast the direct LED backlighting of its higher-end brethren, but deploys its edge LEDs to devastating effect, bringing yousharp, nuanced and deep hi-def pictures with both 2D and 3D material.
Sony KDL-46HX923 - £1,900
Sony's flagship LCD TV is a real stunner
The 46-inch 46HX923 mostly does a good 'flagship' job of showcasing Sony's TV talents this year. Its design oozes understated elegance, its connectivity is excellent, and its feature count is long, headed up by such key findings as direct LED lighting, active 3D support, a high-level video processing system, and what remains in some ways the best online video service in town.
Its 2D pictures are mostly outstanding, meanwhile, with vivid colours, a deep black response, a wide contrast range, excellent sharpness and good motion handling.
The 46HX923 falls frustratingly short of bagging an unqualified recommendation, though, on account mostly of crosstalk with 3D and some curious 'shadowy lines' down each of the TV's sides.
Philips 46PFL9706H - £2,300
This is the best 46-inch TV ever built
Watch any 2D Blu-ray on the Philips 46PFL9706, and you'll scarcely be able to believe that the stunning picture before you is being produced from an LCD TV.
Its simply phenomenal contrast range helps it deliver a genuine leap forward in LCD picture quality that its hard to imagine any other brands being able to get close to for at least a couple of generations, if their current TVs are anything to go by.
The set also looks beautiful, and has every feature anyone could reasonably - or even unreasonably! - expect a TV to carry.
Crosstalk with 3D and a high retail price stop it from being a truly flawless gem, but it still represents a genuine TV milestone.
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