Not that there's anything particular in the TV's design to indicate its inner beauty. For while it's quite a busy looking bit of kit, its elements don't somehow gel together particularly well, leaving it feeling a bit untidy.

Really good picture quality, outstanding value for money, good connectivity

Some low-level motion blur, slight treble emphasis in its audio

Its connections, for instance, include a trio of HDMIs rather than the usual two, a VGA PC port, and even an SD card slot via which you can watch JPEG photos. Also of note are an Eco running mode that adjusts the TV's brightness automatically in ...

Pictures are generally very good, decent set of connections/features for the money, easy to use

It's a bit ugly, its viewing angle is limited, and it's rather expensive versus the competition

Well, its connections are decent enough, at any rate, with key findings including an acceptable (for the money) two HDMIs and a D-Sub port for attaching a PC.

Cheap, well-designed, good sharpness with HD, decent scaler of standard def

Colours often lack tonal accuracy, dark scenes look cloudy, motion can look blurred, audio is really weak

What's more, the 26DE9's has earned the official 'Freeview+' seal of approval, indicating that it supports a number of key PVR features as series link support and the ability to scan listings for alternative showings of programmes you want to record ...

Impressive built-in Freeview recorder, pictures can look excellent, good operating system, fair price for what's on offer

Dark scenes look a bit washed out, no PC jack

Not surprisingly, it doesn't exactly set the world on fire with its looks, which are resolutely bland. It's also rather average in the connections department, thanks to its carriage of just two HDMIs rather than the three sported by our other three ...

So cheap it's silly, fair specification and good performance for the money

Black levels not the best, weak standard definition sources can look a bit rough, the picture isn't very bright

As a result, we guess we shouldn't be too surprised to discover that it's a pretty bland looking TV with precious few features to keep us busy. For instance, unlike our previous two contenders, this Panasonic set isn't a full HD screen; instead it's ...

Good standard definition image, can be watched from a wide viewing angle, HD images look crisp

It's not full HD, dark scenes look washed out and uneven, colours feel a bit flat, expensive for what it does

Then there's the length of its features list, which includes black level boosting, edge enhancement, LG's XD Engine video processing, a process for boosting colour vibrancy, and loads more tweaks besides. If all this flexibility sounds scary to you, ...

Very affordable, pretty design, plenty of connections and features, HD pictures can look very good

It doesn't produce the best black levels, its viewing angle is limited, and its sound is run of the mill

Given that at around £620 the 32DR1 is a respectably affordable 32in TV, we were also pleasantly surprised to find it carrying JVC's DynaPix HD image processing engine. With its focus on boosting colours, motion clarity and, especially, sharpness and ...

Good connectivity for the money, excellent HD pictures, solid standard definition pictures

Some motion blur and judder, slightly bland design, messy audio

This uses elements based on Toshiba's PC cell processing technology to deliver supposedly enhanced rescaling of standard definition pictures, so that they look sharper and more natural on the 42ZV555's full HD screen.

Unusually good standard definition pictures, solid feature count and specification, decent HD pictures too, aggressively priced

Black levels not the best, care must be taken with processing settings

Unless, that is, you're easily seduced by a good body. For despite not enjoying the 'touch of colour' boasted by higher spec models in Samsung's range, the LE40A558 still has the glossy finish and sultry lines required to stand out on today's crowded ...

Nicely designed, very cheap, decent feature count, solid pictures

Processing can glitch, doesn't sound particularly great, and there's much more motion blur than you get on Samsung's higher spec TVs