Good things do come in small packages in the case of Toshiba's LCD

Exclusive Costing £9,000, Sharp's 52-inch flagship thinscreen LCD flies in the face of the credit crunch

Top-end 1080p LCD TV that falls just short of high expectations

One of the most exciting products to appear at IFA 2008 is Philips' new LED backlit LCD TV, the 42PFL9803. It scooped the EISA Best Product 2008-2009 prize in the LCD TV category, and it certainly is very impressive.

The 32in TV market has so far been completely dominated by LCD technology. But look at this screen and there's something weird going on: smooth pictures, no blur, no burn-your-eyes-out brightness… Hang on, this is a plasma! Oh, rejoice!

This is one of the finest 37in LCDs ever built. It's loaded with top technology designed to battle LCD's shortcomings and produce a picture as smooth as a plasma's. The high price is partly down to Philips' Ambilight technology, presented here in stereo form. This ingenious sympathetic lighting system is probably one of the main reasons why you might buy this mid-to-high-end LCD TV instead of a Panasonic or a Sony.

With those colourful Bravia TV advertisements splashed all over the nation's consciousness, we tend to expect great things from Sony's latest bigscreen – the Bravia KDL-46W3000. Unfortunately, we're disappointed – and a little surprised – to discover that this time the manufacturer has painted itself into a corner...

More often than not, most TVs out of the box are calibrated for showroom display – too bright, too contrasty, with the colour temperature too 'hot.' For the best picture performance, they'll need recalibrating. But how to check whether your set has been optimally adjusted? HCC uses the professional version of Datacolor's Colorfacts system – now there's an affordable version for the home user.

We'll forgive you for being unfamiliar with the name Planar: while the manufacturer is firmly established in the US, it's never previously ventured properly into the UK TV market. However, on the evidence of the brand's UK LCD debut – the 47in PD470 – we suspect that Planar is now here to stay.

While rival manufacturers are still scrabbling around in a desperate attempt to catch up with the outstanding design prowess of Samsung’s previous LCD range, the Korean brand has moved the goalposts again with its new ‘touch of colour’ models.

You’d be forgiven for thinking that the picture quality on the new category of slimline ‘flat’ TVs may have been sacrificed to the whims of designers. Not so on Sharp’s first foray into the super-slender sector. And there’s plenty more about this telly that makes it excellent value.

Hyundai, after some success with its projectors, is mounting an assault on the affordable end of the flatscreen market. The E465D is a 46in whopper that eschews fashionable, super-slim aesthetics and whiz-bang processing 'engines' in order to deliver giant sets within feasible reach of the mainstream.

The first range of Freesat-receiving (including HD) TVs to appear is Panasonic’s PZ81 plasma range, which comes in three sizes – 42in, 46in (about £1,600) and 50in (about £1,800) and, for those whose Freeview/aerial coverage isn’t entirely non-existent, also boasts DTT and analogue tuners.

Plasma technology is far from the dead duck some would like you to think it is. Samsung’s 50in plasma is a cracker, especially in raw value terms. And this 42in Panasonic effort is even better.

Exclusively available through John Lewis, Sharp’s 46in X8E LCD TV is a development of the B20 Aquos range, incorporating all the same technology, but with a larger screensize and a smaller physical footprint.

Does everyone in South Korea own a really handsome TV, or what? For not only have we got the aesthetic delights of Samsung’s A656 series, but we’re also getting bowled over by Korean rival LG’s 42LG6000.

If you’d love to have a 40in TV but don’t think you’ve got the space for it, check out this model from Toshiba. This amazing-looking 40in set employs Toshiba’s Picture Frame technology to deliver a bezel measuring just 23mm across. This means that not only do you end up with a stunningly stylish screen that seems almost to hang freely in space, but you also get a 40in TV that occupies the same area as a typical 37in model.

Like its Korean compatriots, LG and Samsung, Hyundai is still producing both plasma and liquid crystal screens, and this LCD TV is part of its Vvuon series. Although its list price sounds rather high, it does include some novel extra features that you’ll do well to find on rival offerings.

Full HD televisions have gone from being a niche concern to mainstream must-haves in what seems like minutes. Toshiba's new 1080p machine looks to iron out an arguable recent dip in its usually impeccable flatscreen form by matching uncompromising spec within killer styling.

This 46in Bravia LCD is all about eye-candy whether you’re watching TV or not. The W4000 features a design concept dubbed ‘draw the LINE’ – no, I have no idea what it means either.

Common wisdom has it that for a TV to grab the public eye these days it needs to be Full HD and stunningly designed. But Panasonic’s TX-32LXD85 is neither of these things. So, what’s this TV’s pulling power?

With a cold wind blowing through the nation’s ever-shallower pockets, those of us who can’t resist the allure of a big flat telly are looking to save a few pennies. A timely arrival, then, for the latest bigscreen from HANNspree, complete with bargain basement pricing.

We’ve been frustrated by Toshiba recently: some of its flat TVs made us happy, but others were seriously lacking. So it’s with trepidation that we set up its latest 32in TV – especially as it’s from the budget end of Toshiba’s new LCD range.

If you’ve seen the ad campaign for LG’s Scarlet, you could be forgiven for assuming – like a bunch of US celebrities who were fooled into attending the launch – that it was a TV series, or even a person. But it’s not; it’s a range of TVs – with bright red backs. But is it all style and no substance?

It may not be part of LG’s much-hyped new Scarlet range, but the 52LG5000 still deserves to make big-screen headlines