Whatever god you worship, now would be a good time to offer up a prayer of thanks. At long last, Sony has delivered unto us an HD Ready TV. We can start to forget the debacle of Sony's previous LCD and plasma TVs which, despite in some cases targeting the 'luxury' end of the display market, failed to provide the digital video jack needed to guarantee compatibility with the next generation of high-definition sources (including Sony's own Blu-ray high-definition DVD players).

The brand is, in fact, launching a whole range of new HD Ready TVs in the coming months. But the first model we've managed to get our hands on is the 32in LCD KDL-V32A12.

Back in black

Aesthetically, while it loosely follows the current 'black is the new silver' trend, the V32A12 puts its own distinctive spin on things, going for a less glossy finish and more black-dominated look that restricts the customary silver trim to a single narrow strip. The result may be a bit butch for some tastes/living rooms - but I like it!

A quick perusal of the V32A12's connections reveals that, hallelujah, there really is an HDMI jack. Phew. Plus there is a set of HD-capable component video inputs, completing the connectivity phase of the set's HD readiness. Another interesting discovery is a CAM slot, indicating that this TV carries a built-in digital TV receiver, while more run-ofthe- mill stuff includes a trio of Scarts, and the usual S-Video and composite video last resorts. This is fine so far as it goes, but some sort of PC connector wouldn't have been too much to ask for on an £1,800 TV.

Completing the V32A12's key HD Ready stats are a widescreen native resolution of 1366 x 768, and compatibility with all the key HD formats.

Also crucial to the V32A12 is its WEGA Engine image processing. This proprietary picture-improvement system is designed to deliver more fine detail, enhanced all-digital scaling, better colour tone/richness, and smoother contours and colour gradations. And it impressed me very much on Sony's previous flatpanel line.