High-def broadcasts from BBC HD varied in quality during our test: footage of The Kooks performing on Later ... with Jools Holland has a slightly pixellated sheen, while the rest looks exceptionally sharp.
We're inclined to put that down to the quality of satellite broadcast rather the TV.

Switching to our Yamaha Blu-ray player, the panel proves adept at faithfully reproducing fine details such as the black uniforms of our heroes in X Men 3, while also smoothly keeping up with hectic action scenes.

The 'cool' picture preset is our preferred picture setting throughout, as it seems to ensure that all types of images look reasonably natural.

Decent audio performance

The 10W speakers generate a fairly robust audio performance across the board.

However, we're not entirely convinced about the pseudo surround modes, which can leave things sounding deep but rather thin at the same time. Best bring your own surround system to the party.

A full HD TV with three tuners, including HD satellite reception, for around £1,000 is hard to criticise really and the Panasonic TX-37LZD81 has the performance to match.