The latest to come out of the Panasonic ranks is the Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80, which is distinctly different from the usually recognised television categories. On one side are the budget TVs that feature moderate 720p compatibility but are otherwise pretty competent and a good value for money. Then there are the ultra high-end models, with 1080p, full HD, freesat and more features. The Panasonic Viera TH-46PZ80 finds itself somewhere in the middle.

The TV is aimed at people who want quality performance but at a realistic price. The design of the device is nothing to shout about as it is reflects the general trend and is bereft of any unexpected surprises.

The deck comes equipped with a solitary HDMI socket, two HDMI inputs, RCA video and audio connections, in addition to the company’s indigenous SD card slot typical of the company. These options included with the Panasonic TH-46PZ80 are sufficient for fulfilling your normal requirements. You also get to have VGA, Scart and component video inputs that give you a good deal of flexibility.

The SD socket option allows you to view photos taken on a digital camera directly on the TV. The feature is of great help, and works best if your camera can shoot with an aspect ratio of 16:9.

Moving away from the company’s trademark obsession with aesthetically beautiful ‘touch of colour’ LCD TVs, Samsung is all set to make a splash in the mid-range market with the launch of the 32-inch LE32A558. Apart from being decently priced, the unit has been equipped with a sufficient array of impressive features to give you a viable solution for a tight budget. Design wise the unit is no match to the company’s high-end models, and is rather subdued with only a basic black finish coating. The high point of the unit is the presence of three v1.3 HDMI inputs, a D-Sub PC jack, as well as a USB port that allows you to play JPEG and MP3 files straight into the TV.

Considering its price tag it is also a luxury to have a ‘Full HD’ resolution of 1,920×1,080 pixels, and a contrast ration that has been rumored to be around 15,000:1. The Samsung LE32A558’s specifications compare favourably with other models that belong to the higher echelons such as the A656 range. The LE32A558 in addition comes fitted with the provision of the contemporary Movie Plus and DNIe processing functionalities, which play a vital role in improving the picture quality. The latter feature lands fluidity to fast action sequences, and also boosts almost everything beginning from colors to sharpness.

The above features are only a tip of the iceberg, as you can enjoy quality entertainment facilitated by out of the box features like edge- enhancement processing, gamma adjustment, backlight adjustment, white-balance adjustment, skin-tone adjustment, noise reduction, and many more.

Image quality is naturally refined to almost high-definition levels by the host of features, and you will get mesmerized by the clarity and detail that accompany each particular frame. Colour combination looks natural and vibrant as well.

The unit on the down side has poor black levels, and its motion reproduction is also not at par with today’s expectations. You will also feel disillusioned with the unit’s color preset levels which are slow to respond, and are unimaginatively structured.

Vizio has come up with its latest offering, the 32-inch Vizio VO32L, which features quite a number of impressive features. This recent development is also significant in the sense that it signifies the company’s policy shift to focus more on performance to sell its products, rather than achieve success by charging less than its competitors. The deck, which is an entry-level TV, is still reasonably cheap, but there are cheaper options in the form of the Panasonic TC-32LX85, for example. The company has showed its doggedness in countering its price handicap with the excellent image quality the deck delivers, and relatively deep blacks, as well as accurate primary colours.

The design of the unit is nothing to boast of, and looks rather archaic. There is a small strip of glossy black plastic surrounding the screen but is overshadowed by the large bezel which is mostly covered in a drab finish.

The image resolution of the deck stands at 1,366×768, and is in harmony with the other specifications of the deck, especially its screen size. The deck comes bedecked with nine different picture modes which is by far the most you will get on other standard TVs, like the Samsung LE32A656, for instance. these abundance of modes is meant to facilitate you to take advantage of the up custom picture settings for different types of sports offered by Vizio. You will find separate picture modes for different sports like for baseball, football, and golf. The biggest disappointment despite all these is that the picture modes are not independent per input.

The deck is also provided with adjustments for all four of the colour-temperature presets that allow you to play with the settings. Three noise reduction features are there as well, along with Colour Enhancement modes, an Advanced Adaptive Luma setting that adjusts gamma in dark areas, among others.

Connectivity of the unit is pretty solid and features two HDMI inputs, a VGA-style PC input, a component video input, and an A/V input that offers both composite and S-Video.

The XBR series from Sony is known as much for its exceptional features as it is for its out of the world performance. This year the company has come up with an unprecedented three series of Sony sets and the 52XBR6 is the least expensive of the lot. The high point of the unit is that it has been fitted with hot-swappable speaker grilles, and is also competent enough to produce the deepest black shade that you will ever come across on a non-LED LCD TV. The downside of the unit, on the other hand, appears to be its inability to produce accurate colour reproduction and maintain a likable black level regardless of the program content.

Design wise the model is bulkier than models in the compact Z-series, like the Sony KDL-52Z4500, but taking into account its specifications as a large HDTV it is quite sleek. Covered in a glossy black frame on all the four sides of the screen, the unit also has a transparent plastic that holds the up a silver, horizontal speaker bar stretching the width of the television.

The feature list of the unit is an all inclusive one and consists of all the in-demand features in contemporary times. To start with the unit has the very basic networking functionality. The Ethernet port can be found on the rear and facilitates the unit to work with DLNA-compatible media server software, such as Windows Media Player 11, and thus allows you to source photos from a networked PC to display on the TV’s screen.

A native resolution of 1080p, apart from effectively upscaling average video quality to high-definition levels, plays its part in reducing blurring effects. Moreover, the features works in tandem with the company’s dejudder video processing technology to act like a “Motion Enhancer” and consequently facilitates the free flow of images.

The two giants of the LCD format, Sony and Samsung are always having a go at one another since the time the format was launched. It is no different this time around with Sony coming up with its latest weapon in the form of the Bravia KDL-55XBR8. The battle between these two giants has always been about cutting-edge technologies, and at times top-of-the-line LED-backlit models which invariably turn out to be extremely expensive for mainstream consumers. Despite coming at a heavy price, the performance of these models has contributed to their popularity. The KDL-55XBR8 goes a step further in terms price, as it is one of the most expensive flat-panel HDTVs to ever hit the market.

Design wise the unit has a much wider cabinet measuring good 46-inches. The deck has been equipped with side-mounted speakers and consequently is unlike its less-expensive predecessor the KDS-52XBR6 which featured mounted speakers along the bottom.

The one feature that you will captivate you the most is the LED backlighting feature, which signifies a significant milestone in the illustrious history of the company. The technology used in this Sony LCD TV makes use of the more sophisticated and result oriented LEDs, as opposed to standard fluorescents, and provides the illumination that powers the picture. Three colors of LEDs are used by Sony, viz. two green, one each red and blue. This is in stark contrast to Samsung who uses only white LEDs.

Other notable features of the Sony device include a 120Hz refresh rate, which effectively removes blurring in motion and works in coordination with the company’s dejudder video processing technology to comprehensively augment the picture quality. Then, there are four picture presets as well which can be adjusted independently per input. You should also love the fact that there is a pair of noise reduction settings, apart from three color temperature presets.

The LG 60PG60 is a gigantic beast measuring an awesome 60-inches and has precisely the same specifications as its 50-inch cousin, the 50PG60. The 60-inch plasma is the largest flat-panel HDTV released this yea to feature the advanced THX display certification, an important feather in its cap. The certification is basically an acknowledgement of the model’s excellent primary colour accuracy. Moreover, THX is also responsible for the control of a host of other features as well. Picture quality, however, turns out to be a weak link of the LG device, and plays a spoilsport to the fortunes of this otherwise solid performer.

The design of the deck is done quite aesthetically, with its front covered by a single pane of glass. By contrast, the remote appears to be out of sync, and have a cluster of unimaginative buttons surrounding. You will especially find it difficult to differentiate the buttons without giving them a deep long look!

The deck also has plenty of picture modes, with the THX one of them, which allows you to customise the image quality according to your liking or requirements. Then, to help your cause there are oodles of picture adjustments functions as well, and additional you will also feel blessed that the settings are independent per input. Even further adjustment can be done via the two Expert modes including the intuitive colour temperature control feature.

There are five manual aspect ratio modes, apart from an additional one which detects incoming contents and adjusts accordingly. The HD TV’s connectivity is another one of the unit’s strong aspects and boasts all the popular options including four HDMI inputs, two component video jacks, a VGA-style PC input, et al.

The latest from the Toshiba ranks is none other than the Toshiba 46-inch LCD HDTV, which is part of the company’s top-shelf line, the XF550U Series. This implies that it has been incorporated with some of the company’s most advanced imaging technologies, thereby giving it a distinctive edge over its rivals. To start with, it has the by now standard 1920 x 1080 resolution, as well as an impressive response time of eight-millisecond. Even more importantly, it has the intuitive ClearFrame 120Hz technology on-board, an indigenous development of the company, which comprehensively augments the image quality by reducing motion blur, apart from producing smoother movement of film sources.

You will also feel good that it has included three HDMIs, two component video and one PC input, along with a two component video and one PC input. The HDMI inputs, on the other hand, support lip synch and pleasantly accepts both a 1080p/60 and 1080p/24 signal. It is essentially a more advanced version of the Toshiba 46XF355D. The 46XF550U unit on the downside however, lacks the much sought for picture-in-picture functionality, as well as a program guide for the internal tuners. Nevertheless, you will feel nice that there is a well conceived Channel Browser that displays the thumbnails of available of available of favorite channels along the bottom of the screen.

The unit also comes with a wide range of picture adjustment functions that can be employed o fine-tune the image quality. There are five picture modes and three colour-temperature options, which are bestowed with the ability to adjust the amount of green and blue in these presets. The only problem is, the menu is some what reserved when it comes to offering complete white-balance controls. Then, the innovative DynaLight mode feature is there as well which automatically tailors the TV’s backlight to suit the source content’s brightness, while a Game mode improves response time with a gaming console.

The coming of HDTVs was a revolution in itself. This technology changed the way people perceived entertainment. It offered new and refreshing levels of details in the picture and the viewers experienced true digital quality in movies. The coming of 1920 x 1080p resolution produces razor sharp images and jaw dropping realism. But still the blacks weren’t too satisfactory. There was some kind of haziness in the overall picture. Because of the poor blacks the shadowed were appearing grey and the colors were washed out. The main reason behind this was the absence of LED (Light Emitting Diodes) in backlighting.

But now most of the HDTV manufacturers are using LED as a primary source to backlit the LCD HDTVs. This is because the LED illumination offers superior colours and unprecedented blacks. The result is greater depths in video image with more vibrant colours than found in standard LCD HDTVs like the Toshiba 37RV555D. LED also plays an important role in the thin form factor of the HDTVS. It allows the manufacturers to achieve minimum possible thinness. Additional benefit of LED is its long life. These small light emitting diodes can last for years and thus increase the overall life of the television. So if you are looking forward to grab a HDTV this season then look for those that have LED as the source of light. For example, Samsung 9 series, Sony XBR8 series, Sharp XS1 etc.

The Hitachi 42PD9700 is certainly among those models that will arouse the curiosity of cinema lovers. It is all due to its somewhat strange image resolution of 1,024 x 1,080, which is strikingly different from that of which you would normally find of 1,920 x 1,080, which is accepted as the standard Full HD. It is not difficult to presume that you are already excited, especially to know about the impact it has on the image quality of this HD set.

Your excitement will not go a begging as the unit’s inquisitive Alternating Lighting of Surfaces (AliS) technology, ingeniously developed by the Hitachi, will fuel you senses. The AliS technology has an important role in extending the surface area of the phosphor inside the display, and lights up the gaps between the pixels consequently facilitating the 42PD9700 to display an impressive 1080 lines of horizontal resolution.

Talking of connectivity you will find all the normal connections including 2 HDMI inputs, 3 Scarts component, composite and S-video inputs and SD card slot which among other things allows you to display your digital still photos.

Hitachi has also taken a progressive steps towards establishing itself as a power to be reckoned with, the addition of the much improved version of the picture processing technology the ‘Picture Master‘. Moreover, this improved version minimizes video noise, and even more importantly enhances color saturations, detailing and color tone so that you get to view an image that is crystal clear, crisp, and with a great deal of natural hue. The flawless and superb image quality will make you feel all the excitement and passion associated with commercial cinema.

The HItachi 42PD9700 has a built in digital Freeview tuner and now you can directly set up to eight timer events for timeshift recording pretty handy indeed.

If you have cancelled your plan of buying a LCD because of its inability to produce deep blacks, Pioneer has an option for you. The Pioneer Kuru KRL-32 V is a high-end LCD that has incorporated an innovative technology.

To try and compeate with Sharp’s LCD range, Pioneer has made a great product that has also made use of its very own picture-processing expertise. Unlike the Pioneer’s plasma TVs, the KRL-32V features a gunmetal grey style casing.

Although the specifications are not all that special, the LCD is good enough for providing a high picture quality. Infact, if you don’t have enough funds to buy plasma, you can buy this model as a subsitute. Along with offering you the benefits of advanced picture processing, Pioneers Kuru KRL-32V will also save you from any extra mounting expenses. With a caliber of 1080p and 24 Hz, it can easily convert its signals. Moreover, the TV will adjust with the ambience light to blend with the viewing conditions. In this process of light adjustment, the TV will reduce its backlights as per the requirements. Thus, when the ambient lights are dimmed, the LCD will automatically bring down its light levels to satisfy you with better looking blacks while also saving some electricity.

Expensive but worth it, the Pioneer Kuru KRL-32 V 32-inch has immense potential to deliver a picture in a desirable view. So you can expect adequate sharpness and brightness along with black in its true form.