Nowadays, when practically all new TVs are HD Ready, supermodel-skinny and packed with connections and features, it takes something special to stand out.

However, I suspect that many will still be attracted to the JVC LT-42DS9BJ.

Sleek LCD

For a start it is staggeringly slim - just 39mm deep for the most part, though there are a couple of slight protrusions on the back panel.

The small selection of controls on the front - TV/AV, channel, volume and so on - consists of touch panels, so the sleek lines of the set are not disturbed, and the piano black case has such a thin bezel that in a suitably dim room, the picture almost seems to float in space.

This is what I like to see in a TV - a design which is attractive when the set is switched off, and which makes it fade into the background when you are concentrating on watching.

It turns easily on its supplied swivel stand, and there's an optional kit for wall-mounting.

Efficient backlighting

The set's trademark slimness has been achieved by redesigning the backlighting system with more efficient light diffusion and reflection sheets.

To eliminate the usual bulky cooling fan, a new fanless heat dispersal system has been implemented.

The result is a set so thin that you would really like to stand it in the middle of your room and walk around it - the only problem being, of course, that you still have to have cables trailing out of the back.

Hitachi's ultra-thin LCD rival reduces this problem by using an external tuner box, but the JVC has its digital tuner built in - certainly a more convenient approach, but it doesn't do anything to reduce the amount of rear spaghetti.

Full connectivity

This is, as you'd expect, a Full HD set. It has a useful complement of connections; three HDMI v1.3 sockets, two Scarts, component video input, and optical digital audio output.

There are also stereo audio analogue outputs, a CI card slot, and a stereo headphone socket - the latter is on the back, oddly enough.

About the only thing that's lacking is a D-Sub VGA port for PCs, so your 'puter needs to have HDMI if you want to hook it up. Though the JVC's HDMI connectors can handle Deep Colour, they are not compatible with the xvYCC system.