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

The neat little Sharp LC26D44EBK is currently the smallest HD Ready Aquos that Sharp UK sells. Available in shiny grey or glossy black its 26-inch screen size makes it an ideal second TV. Hook it up to a DVD player in your bedroom, perhaps, or plug it into a PlayStation 3.

Arguably one of the nicest looking sets in its class, the LG 22LS4D is very easy to use. The Korean company's colourful and clear menus are a joy to navigate and make getting up and running, as well as tailoring the picture, an absolute doddle.

Whether you prefer this set's pictures or those of its rivals largely boils down to personal preference. Where others may be warm and natural, the LC-20AD5E is precise and exacting. While other sets may lay claim to a slightly richer, more cinematic image, the Sharp has them licked in terms of detail resolution and general stability.

The Sony’s idiosyncratic, stand-free design and gunmetal finish is bound to attract and repel people in equal measure, but it deserves to be judged on what’s underneath that exterior.

If you're not full HD these days, you'd better be pretty and if you're really trying to turn some heads, make sure you're both. Samsung's LE32A588 is surprisingly slinky for a 'conventional' LCD television. The sparse frame is decked out sumptuously in piano-black gloss and the edges of the screen surround are subtly rolled, softening the set's profile.

Aimed squarely at the bedroom or kitchen, this one-stop entertainment system is remarkably well connected for something so apparently self-contained, with HDMI, component and Scart providing more than enough socketry to make it a viable stand-in TV for the main room, and a USB and card reader handling your multimedia needs

The features on the Sharp LC-26AD5E have been trimmed to keep the price down and, while hardly show-stopping, the basics are all here. The HD Ready 1,366 x 768- pixel panel is coupled with two HDMI inputs, which is a decent return for the cash. Delve into the set’s set-up menus and you’ll discover a black level booster and a digital noise reduction engine, but we’d hardly call that top-brand picture processing.

Sporting a brace of HDMIs, rather than the standard issue single input is a fast way into anyone’s affections.

After waiting far too long for Full HD plasmas to appear, they're now starting to become commonplace. The only remaining problem is their high price when compared with Full HD LCD TVs. All hail Samsung's £1,900 latest, then...

At last we have a LCD TV that’s designed as much for everyday Freeview as it is for the new era of high definition. Sharp’s latest screen is also one of its cheapest and while it lacks the style of sets further up its Aquos line-up, the LC32D44E is ideally set-up for any forward-thinking living room.

First of all, check out the price tag - a supremely affordable £600. And nestling amongst the Philips 32PFL7762D's cute retro design are no less than three HDMI sockets - all built to the latest v1.3 standard for Deep Colour compatibility too. This TV really is going beyond the budget flatscreen call of duty.

Reviewing Sony’s TVs lately has been very much a hit and miss affair. Over the past year the brand’s standards have been all over the shop. And its connections don’t get off to the best start, offering only a duo of HDMIs. At least these are capable of receiving 1080p/24fps feeds from Blu-ray players.

Enthusiasts of TV techno-bling troubled by the sheer choice of 50-,52- , 60- and 65in screens now have a new configuration to ponder: 58in. More than some, less than others. Actually, the size transpires to be a great fit for plasma-king Panasonic.

Like a fine wine, a business class flight  and an original mono copy of Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band (in mint condition, naturally) 50in plasma screens have always had that air of exclusivity about them, forcing us poor folk to press our noses against the shop window like Dickensian urchins. Well, you can now pull away your hooter from the glass, as Samsung’s offering is defiantly breaking rank.  

The TX-32LZD85, a mid-range model from Panasonic’s new LCD collection, packs a fearsome on-paper punch. For starters, it’s got Full HD resolution, potentially adding an extra lovely level of purity to your 1080i/p HD gaming visuals.

The general public seem to be pocketing 32in LCD TVs like they’re going out of fashion. The thing is, they are. It’s 37in models that are the new, er, black. Piano black!

Full HD TVs seem to have made the journey from minor videophile concern to the mainstream in about a fortnight. Mirai’s DTL-742TE600 is at the vanguard of a wave of large affordable, flatscreens with 1080p panels that suddenly seem to have infiltrated the AV market and is among the cheapest sets of this size and specification we’ve seen.

We're getting pretty used to seeing outlandish contrast ratio figures in the flat TV world these days, but at 50,000:1, the contrast ratio of LG's 32LG5000 outguns its rivals today by a massive 40,000:1. Will this figure be truly apparent in the TV's picture quality, or will it just provide more ammunition for the argument that quoted contrast ratios are untrustworthy?

First of all, check out the price tag - a supremely affordable £600.

If you’re one of the many households in the UK that can’t afford a Sky subscription, the 37LT75 may be the perfect upgrade for the impending digital age.

Once one of plasma technology’s staunchest supporters, Hitachi is increasingly edging towards the LCD camp. So it comes as no real surprise to find ourselves faced with a new largescreen in the shape of the L37X01.

LG claims the 50PG6000 offers the blackest ever blacks on a plasma TV. Pioneer’s £4,000 ‘Kuro’ 50in plasma promised a 20,000:1 contrast ratio, whereas this sumptuous plasma giant claims to top that by 50 per cent. The 50PG6000 also boasts four HDMI inputs – one more than Pioneer’s flagship PDP – and sells for a quarter of the price.