The panel comes with several presets anyway, and they'll do a lot of the hard work for you.

Handy file support

Another noteworthy feature is WISELINK Pro. Almost all manufacturers are devising ways to run content directly on the screen without the aid of a separate player, usually using an USB stick, but Samsung has gone one better.

As well as offering a tastily tarted-up menu system that plays MP3s and JPEGs (including slideshows), this TV can play DivX, XviD and even HD video files (H.264). Considering you can fit around five hours of compressed video on a 2GB USB memory stick, you'll use this feature more often than you'd expect.

I could go on – the remote's quite nice, and the built-in speakers are perfectly adequate – but this TV's prowess ultimately comes back to the picture quality, and those blacks.

Bar one nitpick – never, I repeat, never use the optional edge enhancement feature for any hi-def content, it ends up looking artificial, with more halos than a stained-glass window – the images on the 46A786 are extraordinary.

Superb hi-def pictures

Standard-def DVDs look amazing, with a sense of depth only exceptional black level response can offer.

Freeview transmissions are less impressive (a caveat of digital terrestrial TV itself) but at least they hold colour, and text scrolls maintain integrity. However, it's with HD that this telly sings like a chorister.

A 1080p24 Blu-ray release pings on this screen. It's like an Armani mini-dress on Sienna Miller, the fit is just so right.

I think I've seen the future of LCD televisions in the Samsung LE46A786. And I like it.