We have to admit that against our expectations, Sharp's 'PALoptimised' 32P50 LCD TV made a good case for itself as the LCD TV of choice for anyone wanting a screen for predominantly watching standard-definition pictures.

But anyone salivating at the prospect of the various forthcoming high-definition sources will probably be more tempted by the first of Sharp's new, fully HD Ready TVs, the LC-37GA6E.

As with all current Sharp LCD TVs, the GA6E gets off to an eye-catching start with extremely desirable looks. The metallic finish reeks of top-line build quality, while the combination of an extremely slender picture frame and curvaceous speaker-bearing subsection makes most rivals look positively dowdy by comparison.

Connectivity hits all the right notes, too. There's an HDMI input for both standard-def and digital HD sources, backed up by HD-enabled component video inputs, a standard PC input, S-video and composite video inputs, two Scarts, all the necessary audio inputs, a composite video/stereo audio output, and a pair of RF inputs. Why a pair? Because, unusually, the 37GA6E offers both built-in TV and FM radio tuners.

Aside from the radio tuner, the main thing distinguishing the 37GA6E range from the P50s is a simple matter of resolution. While the 32P50 clocked in at 960 x 540, the 37GA6E sports 1366 x 768 pixel clarity. Other specifications of interest include claimed contrast and brightness ratios of 800:1 and 450cd/m2 respectively.

A search for features in the wellpresented onscreen menus uncovers a few things of interest. These include a backlight adjustment; interlaced and progressive options; a movement compensation option; an optional comb filter; noise reduction; dynamic contrast and gamma options; a series of unusually well calibrated presets; and Dolby Virtual surround audio processing.

Given HD is so key to the 37GA6E's appeal, we began our evaluation with a run-through of Terminator 2 in pure 1080i HD on D-VHS. And the results were stunning.

Particularly awesome is the clarity and detail on show. The scenes of the skinless Terminators fighting it out with humans in the future look as sharp and textured as we've ever seen them.

In this regard the 37GA6E's HD efforts clearly exceed those of the non-HD 32P50.