One of the great truths about smartphones is that you should always match a phone to your actual needs. The Nokia 5230, despite falling short of expectations, is an intelligent device that offers a wealth of unique features. Whether these features match your needs is the real question.

Before covering the failings, let’s cover the basic advantages of using this phone. The Nokia 5230 is the bargain-bin version of the flagship phone, the Nokia N97.

We say ‘flagship’ as a somewhat slippery term, because the N97 is by no means as powerful as, say, the Google Nexus One and is actually second-rate compared to the much faster Nokia N900.

Yet, the N97 is the touchscreen phone set to compete with the Apple iPhone and just about every Android, Palm and Windows Phone device.

As the entry-level version of the N97, the Nokia 5230 is about £118, or about half the cost of competing smartphones that run well over £200.

That’s an attractive price point – one that provides all the functionality of a touchscreen device, apps galore, GPS, media playback, a 2MP camera with advanced options such as setting ISO level, and 4GB of storage (on an included microSD card).

No, the Nokia 5230 is not an iPhone or HTC Desire competitor, but does have some powerful features.

What you don’t get is Wi-Fi, and that is one of the major problems with this device. Wi-Fi is useful because it means you can continue using the device inside when your carrier service goes AWOL or when you want to download huge files.

The Nokia 5230 also lacks a full hardware keyboard, runs a bit slow at times, has a confusing turn-by-turn voice nav for GPS routing (although the phone supports many languages), low camera quality at just 2 megapixels, and a few minor glitches.

In the box Nokia has included the typical charger, manual, and a pair of earbuds with a 3.5mm connector that you will likely discard for a much more adequate set. Our test unit included a 4GB card already inserted into a side compartment, which is included with every Nokia 5230.

It’s no secret that the Symbian S60v5 OS is an acquired taste. Yet, millions have acquired it, and swear by it, so we won’t debate all of the merits and demerits here.

Suffice to say, the OS does not work at all like an iPhone or Android phone. In some ways, it is akin to the Windows versus Linux debate, and Symbian is definitely more like Linux, where you can perform some functions that are not possible or difficult with other phones.

For example, when you install an app, it is easy to see how much memory it will use and the version number.

While this is a perk for an advanced user willing to pay more for the Nokia N97, it is a problem on the Nokia 5230 – intended for new smartphone users or at least those who do not want to pay big bucks for a phone that has every bell and whistle.

The Nokia 5230 interface does require a learning period. For starters, there are three hardware buttons along the bottom of the phone: a green Call button, a Menu button that shows you the installed apps and an End Call button.

At times, you might wonder if you should press the End Call button to back out of an app (in most cases, you should) or press the Exit or OK button on screen.

It’s fairly inconsistent – you have to pay attention to what’s on the screen a bit more than with other phones.

You also can’t move apps around on the screen, hold down on one to see an option to delete it, or add widgets for, say, adjusting screen brightness quickly. What this means initially is some fumbling around to find basic options.

The Nokia 5230 is also not a tremendously speedy phone, at 434MHz, so there are times when you might press a button and the Nokia 5230 fails to register the click.

This can seem like a touchscreen quality problem, but the touch sensitivity is quite adequate – it is just that the phone is too slow to keep up with simple finger presses at times.

Navigating on the phone is a bit tough, but you quickly get used to basic operations. It’s easy to fire up the GPS app (Ovi Maps 3.0) or press the green Call button to access the phone dialler.

There are a few cool tricks to using the phone. For example, there’s a dedicated camera button you can use to start the camera app (which shoots photos and video).

This button is positioned on the lower right side of the phone (when in a vertical orientation) to encourage horizontal use.

Another perk is that the Nokia 5230 happens to have a well-implemented lock button on the right side of the phone. You just slide the button down.

This makes it hard to accidentally power up the phone when it is in a laptop bag or in your pocket, which saves on battery power. It also avoids the ‘press this on-screen button to unlock’ annoyance.

Anyone who is used to an iPhone or Android device knows you can easily flick on the screen to move down to see additional apps or more content on a website.

However, on the Nokia 5230, you have to drag a slider down to see more of the screen. You might find yourself swiping on the screen, only to realise you have started an app.

And, adding insult to injury, because the phone tends to run slow, this induces some frustration as you wait for the app to start and then close it. This is one of the 5230′s most annoying quirks.

Call quality on the Nokia 5230 is outstanding for a bargain-level phone. With T-Mobile service, we never had any problems with dropped calls, faulty connections, or distortion either on the phone (what we heard) or the other end of the line (what our caller heard).

Adding contacts for dialling is also slick and easy, although the Nokia 5230 does not aggregate contacts from multiple social networks (like the Motorola Milestone or Palm Pre, or the upcoming Windows Phone 7 devices).

Nokia does offer a Facebook app for the Nokia 5230 and, really, social networking apps tend to pop up on the phone in unexpected places. For example, when you snap a photo, you can upload it to your Vox.com blog account.

Messaging

Messaging lives or dies by how well the soft keyboard works on phones without a real QWERTY keyboard, and the Nokia 5230 is definitely alive and kicking by this standard.

The keyboard is responsive and accurate. In fact, we had more problems with accuracy on an HTC Hero than on this phone.

The accelerometer that senses whether you are in horizontal or vertical orientation also worked well – it’s important in those times when you really need to type a message in landscape mode with the full soft QWERTY keyboard.

There were a few times when the Nokia 5230 flipped back to horizontal when we nudged it in the wrong direction, something the Nexus One and iPhone rarely do – but a problem that plagues models by HTC.

For the most part, the messaging apps – for texting and email – worked well, but we did notice a slight lag on this phone for basic operations, such as composing a new message.

Once again, the slower-than-average processor is just not fast enough to keep pace with a fast-fingered messaging aficionado.

We decided to test this theory and did a side-by-side comparison between the Nokia 5230 and a Nokia N900 – with its speedy operating system and 600MHz processor. Sure enough, composing an email was much faster on the N900 smartphone.

One complaint here is that the Google Mail client for Symbian did not work correctly on the Nokia 5230 – it seems to assume you have a hardware keyboard and does not bring up the software version correctly.

The simple workaround is to access Gmail from the browser or configure the built-in email client to access your Gmail account.

The lack of Wi-Fi means email attachments take a while to download to your phone, but once they do, we had no problems opening Word documents and viewing photos on the Nokia 5230 – even if we had to wait a few seconds.

There were no huge surprises for internet browsing, other than a nicely configured home screen when you start the browser initially.

It shows links to several popular services, including Yahoo Mail, Facebook, news channels and Mapquest. Large icons for making bookmarks, typing in a URL and accessing browser settings make it easy to surf.

The only real gripe here is that the phone screen, at 640 x 360 pixels (about the size of two fingers side by side), is a bit small for reading text on a web page.

The screen quality – while bright and clear – does not match the sheer crispness and quality of the Google Nexus One, which uses OLED technology.

Of course, the lack of Wi-Fi rears its ugly visage here as well. Sites loaded slowly over a typical 3G connection, and not nearly as fast as they do over Wi-Fi.

And, while web page rendering worked fine for sites like ESPN.com and Gmail, there is a long lag on rich sites – like IGN.com – as they load in the background.

Combined with the slow processor, lack of Wi-Fi makes the Nokia 5230 a poor choice as a web device.

If the slow speed and lack of Wi-Fi keep coming up as problems on the Nokia 5230, one saving grace is the exceptional camera.

The quality is actually no better than an iPhone – at two megapixels, you won’t be submitting your stunning images to a glossy photo magazine any time soon.

Yet, the Nokia 5230 provides some slick camera features beyond just setting the white balance (which helps you adjust lighting options so that subjects appear the correct colour).

For example, this is one of the only phones that lets you set exposure level (amount of light allowed in through the lens) and ISO speed (how quickly the shutter opens and closes).

The Nokia 5230 also has settings for a self-timer, multiple shots in sequence, colour and contrast level options, and sharpness level.

All of these settings do lead to better photos. In a scene with some ducks on a river, the exposure settings provided a slick way to brighten up a photo before ever using Photoshop.

With the self-timer, it was possible to take a family portrait without having to relegate one family member to being the photographer.

Unfortunately, like every other cameraphone except the beefier N900 and maybe the Motorola Milestone, the Nokia 5230 is just too light for serious photography. It’s too easy to set up a nice shot, then nudge the camera a bit and take a blurry photo.

For video, this lighter-than-air problem is a bigger problem. It is difficult to hold the phone steady enough for any real video clips unless you rest it on a table or chair. Even then, it’s hard to record a video that isn’t jerky and unwatchable.

The Nokia 5230 is an entry-level smartphone, and this becomes readily apparent with media playback.

It’s just too difficult to find music and movies, and the Ovi store is still a work in progress (at times, the Ovi apps even failed to open the store at all).

Lacking the Apple iTunes store or a robust partnership with Amazon for buying songs, the Nokia 5230 is just an average media phone.

Playback quality for music was fine, but videos tended to stutter a bit due to the slower processor.

The phone has a 3.5mm headphone jack and comes with a 4GB microSD card – which is expandable up to 16GB.

If you do load up a bunch of songs, the music player is just adequate – it lacks any useful album cover viewer (you can view album cover art but you can’t flip through them like you can on the iPhone).

There is an FM radio on the Nokia 5230, and it worked well for several news and sports channels, but the music quality, even on earbuds, was just passable.

You can record voice memos to yourself, but the Nokia 5230 lacks the advanced features of, say, the Nexus One in terms of easily sharing these memos when you connect to your PC.

A light smartphone usually has one drawback: the battery is just not big enough to hold a charge.

Fortunately, the Nokia 5230 lasted all day (about 8 hours) playing music and video occasionally, making frequent calls – but otherwise having the device on standby – without seeing the battery die.

The Nokia 5230 battery life benefits from the slide lock button that prevent accidental power-ups, which can even occur on an iPhone.

Nokia says the Nokia 5230 will last for several days if you just use it for music and disable all of the other connections, such as 3G and Bluetooth.

Battery time over GSM is much longer – a rated 7 hours – compared to WCDMA, which lasts about four hours.

The tricky trade-off here is that it depends greatly on how many calls you make, whether you have music and video playing on the device, and if you use Bluetooth.

On the plus side, since there is no Wi-Fi, you won’t drain the battery that way.

Organiser

The Nokia 5230 falls short when it comes to keeping you organised, for several reasons.

One is just the phone speed – there is often a delay when you pull up a contact or view your Google Calendar as the phone struggles to keep pixels moving on the screen.

There were times when it was easier to pop open a laptop and look up a web contact or check a task list on Plaxo than to try to visit these sites on the phone.

And, there are precious few apps available for business users who are serious about staying in contact, on schedule, and on task at all times. The Nokia 5230 is an ideal calling phone, has good media options, and lasts all day on one charge, but lacks business features.

There is an alarm clock that enables you to set up multiple alarms through the day, and an app for recording memos to yourself, but not the wealth of built-in apps for jotting down notes or managing voice mail like there is on other phones.

Connectivity

The Nokia Nokia 5230 connects to 3G and Bluetooth devices as expected. We were impressed with how the device connected easily to both Mac and PC laptops to upload and download files over a Bluetooth connection, a feature that the iPhone lacks.

We tested the Nokia 5230 with multiple Bluetooth adaptors and even in a car with Ford Sync technology and the Nokia 5230 paired quickly and efficiently.

The lack of Wi-Fi is an important issue, though, for those who need a speedier connection to download larger files, send images to an online photo service, grab large file attachments or stream audio with an app such as Pandora.

One of the great strengths of the Nokia 5230, however, is that it supports GPS navigation (with turn-by-turn spoken instructions) and Ovi maps.

Nokia calls this “lifetime GPS” because you never have to pay for the turn-by-turn instructions. The Nokia 5230 also has a free TeleNav app with voice nav, but only as a 30-day trial.

Other

It is also worth mentioning that the Nokia 5230 is a capable, if underpowered, gaming device. Our model included several commercial titles, including Guitar Hero 5 for mobile and Need for Speed Shift.

These games are colourful, control well, and have some entertaining gameplay features, but tend to run a bit slow on the Nokia 5230 compared to the N97 and other Nokia models.

A smartphone is a trusted gadget you rely on every day. It is not just an accessory you might need occasionally as you type away on a laptop.

As such, a phone must be capable of doing much more than just a simple calling device: it must be expandable (both with apps and with more memory) and easy to use.

We liked

As an entry-level model at an affordable price, the Nokia 5230 is a good choice for those who can live without some of the latest perks of more modern smartphones, such as Wi-Fi and a full-size hardware keyboard.

We disliked

We question some of the interface challenges on this device – menus you have to wade through to find the option you want.

And, slow processing speed meant running even simple apps such as the contact manager caused some frustration.

While this will be a major issue for more advanced smartphone users, it will only become a minor annoyance for those who primarily just need to access email and text messages, make calls, and browse the web a few times per day.

Verdict

The most important realisation with the Nokia 5230 is that it is not intended as a power user device and just does the smartphone basics.

However, in our final analysis, we found the Nokia 5230 to be an intelligent device that we would use if the iPhone, Nexus One, and other models were just a figment of our imagination.

Basically the Nokia 5230 would be an outstanding touchscreen phone about four years ago. Today, it is just an average buy for the price.

Nokia 5230

It’s been four years since Sony turned its attention to the semi-pro sector of the camera market, but the unique technology and burgeoning feature-set that its latest creation boasts is testament to the hard work that’s been going on during that time.

Sony introduced its Alpha A700 in 2007: the company’s first foray into the semi-pro DSLR category. While the A700 attracted its fair share of followers, it failed to make much of an impact on the market shares of ‘big guns’ Nikon and Canon.

In response, it seems that Sony has decided to try a different tack: in an ambitious move, the manufacturer is now attempting to take on the powerful prosumer DSLRs that currently set the benchmark for semi-pro cameras, bringing its revolutionary TMT (Translucent Mirror Technology) to the advanced photographer.

Features

Scanning the new Sony Alpha A77′s specifications, it’s impossible to be unimpressed with what’s on offer. The camera is positively overflowing with up-to-the-minute technology that either matches or supersedes the competition.

Boasting a new 24.3MP APS-C format CMOS sensor, 19-point autofocus (AF) system, 12fps continuous shooting, Full HD (1080p) movie recording and the highest resolution electronic viewfinder we’ve seen to date – to name a select few – it’s clear that Sony isn’t taking any prisoners in its battle against the traditional DSLR.

While it may look similar to its rivals on the outside, internally the Sony Alpha A77 is an entirely different beast. Building on the SLT (Single Lens Translucent) technology that Sony brought to the digital camera market last year, the manufacturer is looking to capitalise on the main benefits that this design affords – namely fast full-time AF and continuous shooting.

For the uninitiated, the Sony Alpha A77′s mirror is semi-translucent and splits the light entering through the lens between the imaging sensor and separate phase detection AF sensor. This means that – unlike the mechanism inside a DSLR – the mirror doesn’t have to swing out of the way in order for a shot to be recorded, resulting in new breakthroughs in terms of operational speed and performance.

Although the technology itself isn’t new (Canon first featured a Pellicle mirror in its analogue Pellix in 1965) Sony’s implementation of it in a semi-pro digital camera is, so it should be applauded for what it’s achieved.

As we’ve already mentioned, due to the nature of the SLT design, the Sony Alpha A77 features an electronic viewfinder (EVF) in place of the traditional optical version you find on a DSLR. One of the main disadvantages of the SLT system is that less light makes it onto the sensor, resulting in a dimmer view of the scene through the lens (as well as potentially hampering low-light shooting performance).

EVFs have been met with their fair share of criticism over the years, but recent developments mean we’ve started to see fairly significant improvements in their level of sharpness and clarity. We’re pleased to report that the Sony Alpha A77′s offering is leaps and bounds ahead of anything we’ve experienced before, with a very impressive 1.3cm, 2,359,296-dot resolution OLED screen that provides the closest performance to an optical viewfinder that we’ve had the pleasure of using to date.

In addition to the headline features we’ve already mentioned, the Sony Alpha A77 provides automatic and scene, as well as a whole raft of manual exposure modes, Sony’s superb Sweep Panorama mode and 3D shooting capability.

Built-in GPS, a three-inch, high resolution, 921,000-dot three-way tilting LCD and SteadyShot INSIDE image stabilisation bolster this highly-specified camera’s feature set even further. Add an extensive range of customisable features available via the menu system, and the Sony Alpha A77 certainly looks like it’s well-equipped to take on its DSLR rivals.

Build quality and handling

Sporting a rugged plastic-clad outer shell wrapped around magnesium alloy chassis and with seals around important controls and dials to help guard against water and dust ingress, the Sony Alpha A77 looks and feels every inch the semi-pro camera.

In terms of design and build quality, it’s on a par with rival cameras such as the Canon EOS 7D, Nikon D300S and Sony A850.

The Sony Alpha A77 features a generous, ergonomically-shaped front grip, with neatly carved out grooves to comfortably accommodate your digits. A large rubberised area on the back panel also curves outward slightly to give your thumb somewhere to rest too, helping you to keep a firm grasp on the camera.

Although at 732g, fully-loaded, the Sony Alpha A77 isn’t what we’d call ‘lightweight’, it does weigh in at roughly 100g less than main rivals, without feeling any ‘cheaper’ or less robust as a result.

In terms of design, you’d be hard pushed to identify the Sony Alpha A77 as being any different to its DSLR counterparts. Roughly the same size and overall shape as a traditional SLR-based camera, the Sony Alpha A77 features all of the usual controls and dials that you’d expect to find on a camera of this calibre, benefitting from a more organic-looking design than its decidedly-utilitarian-looking predecessor.

The front panel hosts only a few components, namely a small focus-mode dial in the bottom right-hand corner, below the lens mount, along with a bright AF-assist lamp above and to the left (looking at the camera face-on). There’s an IR receiver for the optional remote that you can purchase separately, and a depth-of-field preview button below and to the left.

The undulating top panel houses a well-stocked mode dial to the left of the camera’s hotshoe. Chunky and clad in textured rubber, the dial is tactile and easy to grip and operate.

Exposure modes are clearly marked on top, with options comprising Auto, Auto+ (which analyses the frame and selects the appropriate settings to suit), eight scene modes, Sweep Panorama, 3D mode, high-speed Burst and HD movie modes, as well as Program, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority and Manual modes.

Finally, there’s a user-customisable Memory Recall slot, which enables you to store your own settings ‘recipes’ for up to three different types of photographic situations.

The Sony Alpha A77′s business-like built-in pop-up flash sits flush to the top of the viewfinder hump, just forward of the camera’s stereo microphones and rapidly springing into life to sit high above the lens as soon as it’s activated.

To the right, there’s a useful secondary LCD display for keeping tabs on your settings at-a-glance, along with a button for toggling between the EVF and LCD screen, plus dedicated controls providing access to the camera’s drive, white balance, exposure compensation and ISO settings.

The responsive shutter release is encircled by a power switch, while a small button adjacent to the LCD enables you to illuminate it in dim lighting conditions.

The back panel is littered with an array of further controls, including a silver one-touch movie button that gives you direct access to the Sony Alpha A77′s HD movie mode.

Further dedicated buttons include an AF/MF control that also zooms into playback images for fast focus-checking, in addition to AEL, display, function, playback, Help/delete and Smart Teleconverter controls. Some of these buttons are customisable, should you wish to use them to access alternative settings: a handy feature that brings the Sony Alpha A77′s interface into line with its similarly-versatile rivals.

Speaking of versatility, we come to the Sony Alpha A77′s articulated LCD. The design is somewhat a novelty, with the screen first tilting forwards and down, then it can be swivelled left or right, as well as being pulled away from the body on a hinged arm-like mechanism that enables it to perform further acrobatics.

The screen itself is very clear, crisp and bright, with an effective anti-reflective coating and wide viewing angle, making it incredibly usable under all manner of lighting conditions and at a wide range of odd angles.

If you are faced with a situation where using the LCD is tricky or undesirable, the EVF provides a perfectly viable alternative. It’s cheerfully clear, detailed and bright, providing 100% coverage of the frame. An added bonus is the option to display an array of shooting information and/or a digital spirit level, live histogram and navigate the menu system through the EVF – tricks that no optical viewfinder can perform.

There are a few drawbacks to be noted, however: although the refresh rate is good enough in most situations, there is some evidence of ghosting when the ambient light changes in intensity, as well as when panning quickly, although these are minor issues.

We also found the lag between raising the EVF to your eye and it activating a little frustrating at times. You can set the EVF to remain on permanently, but this disables the screen, which isn’t ideal either.

The gap between the LCD turning off and the EVF on is minimal, but it’s still there, and as such highlights its limitations in comparison to an optical viewfinder. Nonetheless, it’s still streets ahead of any other EVF on the market. The notion of using an EVF might not be everyone’s preference, but we urge you to visit a store and try this one out: minor niggles aside, you’re unlikely to be disappointed.

The main menu system sticks with the tried-and-tested Sony format, with white text on black and orange highlighting the option you’ve selected. Options are split across tabs for easier navigation and – although there is quite an extensive range of options and settings to explore – the menus remain simple to navigate.

Performance

Featuring an upgraded 19-point phase detection AF sensor that betters its predecessor’s 11-point offering; the Sony Alpha A77′s new version incorporates 11 cross-type sensors and is designed to really flaunt the capabilities afforded by the SLT design.

Thanks to the latter, the camera’s real forte is speed. The AF system is unbelievably quick to establish a lock, with near-instant focusing under most lighting conditions. The bright AF-assist lamp on the front of the camera prevents it from becoming sluggish in low light too: a welcome feature that enhances this swift camera’s capabilities even further.

Continuing the theme, the Sony Alpha A77′s class-leading 12fps Burst mode is a joy to use, keeping up with fast-moving action with ease. The compromise you have to make here, however, is the loss of any manual control over settings.

If you want to maintain power over aspects such as your aperture and shutter speed, you’ll need to switch to the camera’s regular 8fps continuous shooting mode, which is on a par with its main rivals, such as the Canon EOS 7D, Nikon D300s and Sony A850.

Full-time AF with live view activated, as well as when shooting movies, is another benefit of the SLT system. This results in a slick performance with no screen blackout between frames (when shooting stills) – including when you’re using the camera’s excellent Subject Tracking feature.

The Sony Alpha A77′s beautifully detailed HD movies benefit from this feature too, as well as offering full manual control over settings if you switch to manual focus.

Overall, image quality from the Sony Alpha A77′s class-leading (in terms of resolution) 24.3MP sensor is impressive. The camera’s 1200-zone metering system performs admirably, producing consistently accurate exposures that rarely needed much in the way of manual correction.

Dynamic range is good by default, but can be expanded further using Sony’s proprietary D-Range Optimiser feature to pull additional detail from extreme highlights and shadows when shooting JPEGs.

Leaving the Sony Alpha set to Auto, white balance generally produced slightly warm – but nonetheless pleasing – images across a range of different lighting situations.

Sharpness and detail are both very good in JPEGs taken straight out of the camera, while raw files provide huge scope for manipulating everything from the tonal balance and dynamic range to the colours and level of sharpness, thanks to the volume of information they contain.

As is often the case when a sensor packs as many pixels as the Sony Alpha A77′s, there’s a price to be paid when it comes to noise performance at high ISOs. That’s not to say that this camera produces bad results – quite the contrary – but it just doesn’t quite manage to match its DSLR rivals when it comes to noise control, colour fidelity and detail retention at the top end of the sensitivity scale.

Viewed alone, the results from the Sony Alpha A77 still impress, with the camera producing perfectly usable images right up to around ISO 3200. Beyond this point, noise increases rapidly, and some overly aggressive noise reduction robs shots of fine detail. As a result, we’d only recommend pushing things up to ISO 12800 (or beyond) if it meant avoiding losing out on an unmissable shot.

Image quality and resolution

As part of our image quality testing fo the Sony Alpha 77, we’ve shot our resolution chart with a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens mounted.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart’s central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 100 the Sony Alpha 77 is capable of resolving up to around 28 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files. Although the resolution lines are clearly distinguishable there is, however, some disruption from about 24 LW/PH x100 onwards.

For a full explanation of what our resolution charts mean, and how to read them please take a look at the resolution charts article.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

ISO 50, score: 28 (see full image)

JPEG Images

ISO 100, score: 28 (see full image)

ISO 200, score: 28 (see full image)

ISO 400, score: 26 (see full image)

ISO 800, score: 26 (see full image)

ISO 1600, score: 24 (see full image)

ISO 3200, score: 24 (see full image)

ISO 6400, score: 22 (see full image)

ISO 12800, score: 20 (see full image)

ISO 16000, score: 20 (see full image)

Raw images

ISO 50, score: 28 (see full image)

ISO 100, score: 28 (see full image)

ISO 200, score: 28 (see full image)

ISO 400, score: 26 (see full image)

ISO 800, score: 24 (see full image)

ISO 1600, score: 24 (see full image)

ISO 3200, score: 24 (see full image)

ISO 6400, score: 22 (see full image)

ISO 12800, score: 20 (see full image)

ISO 16000, score: 20 (see full image)

Noise and dynamic range

We shoot a specially designed chart in carefully controlled conditions and the resulting images are analysed using DXO Analyzer software to generate the data to produce the graphs below.

A high signal to noise ratio (SNR) indicates a cleaner and better quality image.

JPEG Signal to noise ratio

JPEG images from the Sony Alpha 77 show signal to noise ratio results that are on par with the Canon EOS 7D and Pentax K-5. These results show that noise is well controlled up to a sensitivity of ISO 3200, above this sensitivity value noise starts to become more apparent, but images still have lots of detail.

Raw signal to noise ratio

Raw images (after conversion to TIFF) from the Sony Alpha 77 have a better signal to noise ratio than the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300s. Although the Pentax K-5 has a slightly better score, the difference is marginal.

JPEG dynamic range

This chart shows that the Sony Alpha 77′s JPEGs capture a wide tonal range up to a sensitivity of ISO 3200, at ISO 6400 the amount of tonal detail captured in the shadows and highlights deteriorates. This graph shows that from a sensitivity of ISO 100 to 1600 the Sony Alpha 77 JPEGS capture a greater tonal range than the Canon EOS 7D and the Nikon D300s, which is impressive given its higher pixel count.

Raw dynamic range

This chart shows that the Sony Alpha 77′s raw images (after conversion to TIFF) capture a wide tonal range up to a sensitivity of ISO 6400, beating the Canon EOS 7D and Nikon D300s by as much as 2Ev. At the higher end of the sensitivity range the Pentax K-5 just has the edge.

For more more details on how to interpret our test data, check out our full explanation of our noise and dynamic range tests.

Sample images

PANORAMA: As ever, Sony’s Sweep Panorama mode proves itself to be excellent: easy to use and capable of producing some very pleasing results.

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LOW LIGHT: Low-light performance from the Sony Alpha A77 is pretty good when images are reviewed alone, only falling a little short when comparing them to the competition.

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SUNSET: The gorgeous colours in this sunset image demonstrate the Sony Alpha A77′s ability to record faithful hues with just enough saturation.

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SHARP: Detail and sharpness in JPEGs taken straight out of the camera are both very pleasing.

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MANUAL: The Sony Alpha A77′s manual controls allow plenty of scope for creativity.

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Sensitivity and noise

Full ISO 50 image. See the cropped (zoomed to 100%) versions below.

ISO 50

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ISO 100

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ISO 200

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ISO 400

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ISO 800

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ISO 1600

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ISO 3200

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ISO 6400

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ISO 12800

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ISO 16,000

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Verdict

The top spots in the semi-pro DSLR sector of the camera market have long been occupied by industry giants Canon and Nikon. While we wouldn’t go so far as to say that Sony has produced a DSLR killer with the Sony Alpha A77, the manufacturer has succeeded in throwing something unique into the fray that certainly paves the way for future developments.

Aspects including the camera’s 12fps Burst mode, Sweep Panorama feature, 3D shooting capability and the inclusion of a built-in GPS unit in the Sony Alpha A77′s feature-set are what set it apart from rivals, albeit at the expense of battery life in the case of the latter.

In many respects the Sony Alpha A77 matches or betters its main rivals’ specifications, although some of these models – such as the Nikon D300s – are overdue an upgrade, so the balance may shift once again if/when this happens.

We liked

The AF system is blisteringly quick and accurate, with the excellent Subject Tracking and 12fps continuous shooting modes enhancing the Sony Alpha A77′s credentials when it comes to speed. Great build quality and handling, as well as superb image quality, are further aspects that score extra points.

We disliked

In spite of its speed of operation, the Sony Alpha A77 is a little slow to start up initially, plus there’s a bit of a lag when switching between shooting with the camera’s EVF and LCD. The impact of permanently shooting with one or the other activated also means that battery life is noticeably shorter than that of its rivals.

Verdict

Overall, there are only a few minor niggles to comment on with the Sony Alpha A77 – namely a bit of a sluggish start-up time, slight delay when switching between using the EVF and LCD for shooting and high ISO noise performance that, while still very good, doesn’t quite match that of its major rivals.

That said, when weighing these up against a superb level of image quality when shooting in most conditions, great handling, good build quality, industry-leading EVF, quick full-time phase detection AF system and a comprehensive set of exposure modes, we have little trouble with recommending this excellent camera.

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In addition, it is equipped with a very versatile 15x optical zoom lens with an equivalent foal length range of 24mm-360mm in the 35mm format; giving it plenty of appeal.

Furthermore, the F300EXR’s Super CCD EXR sensor is the first sensor enabled for both contrast and phase detection auto focus.

First impressions of the FinePix F300EXR are good, its attractive curved black metal chassis has a solid feel and there are several surfaces with rubber pads to give a confident grip.

Camera controls are well thought-out and fall easily to hand. A particularly nice touch is the main command dial being angled at 45 degrees, facing the user, which comes easily to the right thumb. While the dial arrangement is great, it needs a little more resistance as it has a habit of turning when the camera is slipped in or out of a pocket – the F300EXR is perfectly sized for carrying in a pocket.

The only other issue I had with the handling relates to the small flash which pops up as soon as the camera is switched on. It gets in the way of the fingers of your left hand, and there is no way of retracting it when not required. In it’s favour, it does give wonderful fill-in results.

This new FinePix model comes with an array of useful features. The 3-inch, 460,000-dot LCD screen provides a clear view of images at quite wide angles even when shooting (or reviewing) in bright sunlight.

There is improved ‘Face Recognition’ and the new ‘Auto Release Mode’ fires the shutter as soon as it detects a face, making it perfect for restless small children. The F300EXR can track the kids and release the shutter when they look to the camera.

The new ‘Hybrid Auto Focus System’ analyses both light and contrast and chooses whether to use the ‘Phase Detection Auto Focus’ (bright, high contrast conditions) or ‘Contrast Auto Focus’ (low-light scenarios). I found it makes its choice quickly and reliably, so focus is generally swift.

In fact, the ‘Phase Detection Auto Focusing’ lives up to Fujifilm’s claim for making focusing and release as quick as the blink of an eye. The only focusing situation found to be disappointing was the ‘Tracking’ mode. It tracked town traffic head-on fairly well, but shutter lag was evident, and relatively simple shots. Here missed as a result.

Also new to the FinePix F300EXR is ’360 degree Motion Panorama Mode’ allows you create an all around you image in one sweep. It’s a feature that is popping up in a few places now.

As well as the usual plentiful scene modes this FinePix, like its predecessors has an ‘EXR’ mode with Auto, Resolution priority, High ISO & Low noise priority and Dynamic range priority options. The principal behind ‘EXR’ is that it gives the camera the ability optimise for detail resolution or to open up shadows and preserve the highlights. I suspect that many users of this camera, if they use the ‘EXR’ mode, will leave it on ‘Auto’. This proves a good choice for the majority of situations.

Fujifilm has given users the choice to customise their style of capture, but having to scroll through up to 3 pages and their respective sub-menus can become a chore. SLR users know that most of these are easily changed using buttons or dials, a far quicker method. Some may feel the camera’s ability to ‘Rate’ images, separate detected faces and create photo books in review mode is unnecessary.

A handy feature that Fujifilm have incorporated is the ‘F’ button; allowing the operator to quickly access three pre-programmed menus for ISO, image size & film simulation, and change their settings accordingly. It would be even better if the user was able to choose their own three settings and personalise this menu.

I found it especially useful that it is possible to make the camera silent and cancel its flash simultaneously by pressing and holding the ‘Review’ button. Nice and discrete. Another function that is very useful is ‘Pro Focus Mode’; it lives up to its expectations, using three consecutive images to create a shallower depth of field.

Fujifilm’s photographic film heritage gives us a choice of three colour modes; based on Fuji’s E6 Chrome’s. They are Velvia; saturation and contrast, Provia; overall neutral feel and Astia; less saturated and lower contrast. Dedicated black & white and sepia modes bring the total five, enough to cover all situations. My personal preference is the ‘Velvia’ setting; images have evenly balanced, saturated colours, with increased contrast.

Not surprisingly with a camera that is designed to appeal to less experienced photographers (as well as more advanced users), the F300EXR’s in camera Auto White Balance systemis extremely good. In fact, it often gives results that are better than the White Balance pre-sets.

The FinePix F300EXR has three metering modes: ‘Multi’, ‘Spot’ and ‘Average’. Multi generally renders the image lighter overall than I would have liked and as a result of this I used ‘Average’ the majority of the time. ‘Spot’ metering works well in conjunction with the easily adjustable exposure compensation, provided you understand the principals of spot metering. This was very useful for heavily backlit situations where the ‘EXR’ could be caught out.

Video on ‘stills’ cameras is now becoming normal and the FinePix F300EXR is no exception, offering ‘HD’ or ’640′ quality, available at the press of a dedicated button too. Cancelling video recording is as instantaneous, taking you back to the last mode.

The FinePix F300EXR is equipped with a 15x optical zoom lens – equivalent to 24mm-360mm in the 35mm format; giving a very useful range from wide-angle to long telephoto.

Long telephoto lenses can make camera shake a serious issue, but fortunately Fujifilm has included its new ‘Gyro-Sensor’ image stabilisation in the F300EXR. With care it is possible to shoot hand-held at 1/4 second at the widest focal length and 1/25 at its longest reach without camera shake – impressive! The lens delivers sharp, crisp images (up to ISO 400), with only minimal flare, even when shooting into a low sun.

Noise is handled well, up to and including ISO 800. Anything above this I would only use for essential shots as ‘smearing’ of details becomes evident and the first real traces of noise appear. At ISO 3200 the camera automatically sizes files at 4.5-5.9 million pixels and at ISO 6400 & 12,800 are restricted to 2.8 -3.1 million pixels. This variation in file size is dependant on the aspect ratio you have chosen. Image quality at these last two sensitivities is deterrent enough to avoid them.

At the lower sensitivity settings the F300EXR produces high quality images , but some photographers will be disappointed that Fujifilm has not added ‘RAW’ file capability as it gives them much greater flexibility in post-processing and enable them to draw more out of the files.

Fujifilm’s menu and control layout is also a little fussy and some users may become frustrated with the unnecessary complexity of changing settings.

Score 
Features: 4/5
Build quality: 4/5
Image Quality: 3/5
Value: 3/5

Panasonic Lumix GH2 has spent the last two and a half years pushing its Micro Four Thirds series as a credible alternative to the DSLR, and its models seem to have won over novices and hardened enthusiasts alike. Now, in its second generation of mirrorless cameras, the company claims to have improved on its original concept, with the benefit of user feedback from its debut offerings.

The latest GH2 picks up where its GH1 predecessor left off. The GH1 was a significant model in that it was the first in the G-series to offer video recording, and it went beyond simply including the function as an aside to stills functionality.

With full-HD resolution, a sound-dampened kit lens, continuous autofocusing and stereo recording as standard, it was clear that Panasonic’s intentions were on the GH1 being as much about video recording as it was about still images.

Yet, with Samsung, Ricoh and Sony all having launched competitors in the meantime, the company has sensibly not rested on its achievements but updated the GH1 with a handful of improvements to create a successor.

The most immediate difference between the Lumix GH2 and the model it replaces is the articulated LCD screen, a feature inherited from the G2. While still at 3-inches in size and 460,000dot in resolution, the user is free to pivot the screen around a joint on its left hand side, turning it forward for self-portrait shots or against the camera to protect it while not in use.

By incorporating touch-screen functionality, many options may be accessed through the screen, which include setting the focus point and releasing the shutter, as well as magnifying directly into an area of the user’s choosing while manually focusing. This technology proves to be particularly helpful when shooting portraits, and is far more preferable to selecting a focus point manually, although if Face Detection is activated the camera generally has no trouble locking onto the subject anyway.

The Lumix GH2 system only falters once a captured image has been magnified, as the screen’s responsiveness tends to wane when zooming in and around the frame. Furthermore, some of the touch-sensitive controls are small and clearly designed to be operated with the supplied stylus than a larger finger, which isn’t likely to please everyone.

Direct access to key controls is something many photographers appreciate, and thankfully the Lumix GH2 squeezes in an awful lot on the back and top-plate of the Lumix GH2. Between these controls and the Q. Menu option there’s little reason to venture into the main menus while shooting, although the downside of having so much functionality on such a small body is that it will necessarily result in small and fairly cramped controls.

This is particularly noticeable if you’re used to the greater breathing space afforded to the controls on a DSLR; with the possible exception of the mode dial it’d be hard to make any controls smaller without operation verging on awkward.

Even turning the mode dial any way but cautiously can easily mean knocking the drive mode switch out of position. At this price, some may also expect a slightly sturdier construction than the GH2′s plastic shell, although this does help to keep the weight down to just 392g without a lens mounted.

The changes Panasonic has made since the GH1 was released are, on the whole, positive. With the command dial now on the rear of the body, the movie recording button has replaced the Q. menu button conveniently beneath the shutter release, and a customisable Fn button replacess the previous Film Mode option.

This Fn button is in addition to the two other function buttons which can be assigned to one of 18 options, and complements three Custom Settings on the mode dial and a My Menu option. Together with an assortment of custom functions in the menu system, this level of personalisation comfortably equals that of the average mid-range DSLR.

Arguably the most significant upgrades that Panasonic has made concern the GH2′s sensor and processor, particularly as many of the company’s claims for the new model concern these.

The 18.3MP Live MOS multi-aspect chip has more than 4 million more pixels than the GH1′s sensor, which results in an effective resolution of 16.05MP over the same 17.3mm x 13mm area. As with the GH1, the ‘multi-aspect’ moniker refers to the camera maintaining the same angle of view with any chosen focal length, as different aspect ratios are selected.

Given the increase in pixel count, the expansion of the camera’s sensitivity range – now from ISO 160 to 12,800 – may concern some, although Panasonic claims that revisions to both the sensor and processing technology mean that the camera can nevertheless turn out images with less noise than the GH1.

Specifically, changes to the architecture of the sensor are said to improve signal to noise ratio, while separate applications of noise reduction to chrominance and luminance noise allow for more effective noise reduction for different areas. Also, with three CPU’s handling processing, Panasonic claims that its Venus Engine FHD boosts speed and performance in general.

In good light the Lumix GH2 LCD screen displays its feed with clarity and plenty of detail, and maintains good stability even when longer focal lengths are used. The same is also true of the upgraded live-view finder, now a little wider and at 1.533million dots, which does an excellent job of displaying detail right up to the corners and edges, and with no unsightly artefacts common to many other electronic viewfinders.

Understandably, as lighting conditions drop so does the performance of the two, but it’s impressive how quickly the feed stabilises itself as the camera moves around a scene. Not only that, but even in darker shooting conditions the amount of noise visible on either device is surprisingly minimal.

Next to the same images presented on a calibrated monitor, however, the LCD can be a little cold in its reproduction of colour; quite how significant this is is debatable, although it’s perhaps worth remembering when selecting white balance options in camera.

Panasonic has also made some noise about the Lumix GH2′s focusing capabilities, and put to the test it’s hard not to be impressed. With the Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 optic fitted, the camera is able to swing from one end of its focusing scale to the other in a similar time to that of a comparable DSLR and optic.

AF tracking is also available in conjunction with continuous focusing, and as on previous Lumix models it does an excellent job, staying with the target as it travels around until it moves towards the peripheries of the frame.

During the test the only time the system was thrown off course was when shooting a white duck in a pond, as it became confused by the similar intensity and movement of surrounding reflections, but even here the system did brilliantly to keep track on most occasions.

Thanks to its far-reaching AF-assist light, the system continues to shine in poor lighting conditions, although it’s here where it shows its shortcomings too. If the focusing point has been selected the camera generally can get it right, and get it right fairly quickly too, although when left to its auto setting it either struggles to work out where it should focus, or alternatively, claims to be in focus when it clearly isn’t.

Whether it outclasses the performance of a DSLR in this area – as Panasonic claims – is debatable, but it can certainly hold its own in good light, and it does pretty well the rest of the time. Just that it can manage to compete with its DSLR peers is praiseworthy in itself, when you consider the physical disadvantage of its contrast-detect AF system.

Movie recording is arguably what the GH2 is all about, and the system makes a positive impression. The GH2 records full HD footage at 1920×1080 at 60i/50i for NTSC and PAL systems respectively, while 720p footage is recorded and output at 60p/50p.

For cinematic results straight out of the camera, a new Cinema Mode captures at 24fps, while stereo sound is recorded the camera’s internal microphone as standard. A port for attaching external microphones is included, as is a HDMI output for transferring images and videos out of the camera.

Viewing video footage on the camera’s LCD screen – both while recording and in playback – is a pleasure, thanks in part to the clarity and contrast of the screen itself, but also to the smoothness of the video. Moving subjects, or the camera moving in relation to some subjects, does introduce a touch of smearing, but otherwise subjects are captured well and with plenty of detail.

Just how smoothly the camera captures video is only apparent when the footage is viewed on a larger display, where the quality of sound recording can likewise be appreciated. With the 14-140mm optic there’s with no distracting whirring from the lens’s focusing motor, although certain situations do benefit from changes to the sensitivity of the camera’s microphone and the wind cut filter, to cut down on ambient noise.

How the camera brings subjects into focus is likely to be a contentious issue. The priority is placed on speed rather than a gradual fluidity between focus on different areas, in contrast to Sony’s SLT system, for example, whose cameras attempt to bring subjects into focus with a little more discretion.

Of course, this is only really relevant when the camera is left to its own devices, and it’s less of a problem if the subjects all fall within a certain range of distances. Videographers using the camera in any professional capacity are also more likely to give greater consideration to the right lens choice for their requirements, manual focusing and so on, which again makes this less of a concern.

The relatively small sensor and comparatively poor availability of wide-aperture lenses does make it harder to isolate subjects in the way a full-frame camera can manage, although with a plethora of adapters now available for mounting many older objectives, this latter point too is surmountable.

Finally, although three guide line options are selectable from the menu system, the omission of an electronic levelling function is a disappointment, particularly as the articulated LCD means that the camera is likely to be held in unorthodox positions. This is fast becoming a standard feature on DSLRs and high-end compacts, so hopefully it’ll make an appearance on future Micro Four Thirds models too.

In averagely-lit conditions, raw images display no visible noise up until around ISO 800 where slight coloured patches begins to develop in shadow areas. Noise levels continue to rise steadily until ISO 6400 where dense chrominance noise begins to obscure details, and this becomes particularly heavy at the maximum sensitivity of 12,800.

Despite this cast, images details are still visible, just obstructed rather than destructed. For such a densely populated sensor, it’s remarkable that images are able to maintain such quality at these settings, although, predictably, any attempts at processing away this noise require that some detail be taken with it.

In-camera JPEG processing does an excellent job of removing virtually all chroma noise from high-sensitivity images, though images lose a little of their bite because of this. Even so, the overall standard of JPEGs is above average, with fine details compromised to a lesser degree than perhaps expected.

We found JPEGs also show pleasing and accurate colour, with the Standard Film mode providing a welcome boost in contrast over Raw files. The choice of black and white modes is also sure to please monochrome enthusiasts, particularly the Dynamic Black and White option which produces high-contrast, atmospheric images straight out of the camera.

Exposures are balanced and consistent in a range of situations, and even when challenged with tricky scenarios the metering system can only be persuaded to slightly underexpose. The camera’s auto white balance system can also be relied upon to provide consistent results in natural lighting, although some may find the more faithful results lacking a little of the punch of other cameras, where images are optimised a little to be more pleasing to the eye.

Under tungsten lighting the camera does impressively well and records the scene as it appears, and even under a mixture of different sources the camera makes good judgements as to an agreeable balance. Only certain fluorescent sources seem to lead the camera’s auto white balance astray, although in this respect the GH2 is hardly alone.

The camera is available with the Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/4.0-5.8 lens as part of a kit option, and not only does it offer a capable focal range but it proves its worth as an all-purpose lens. Its detail resolution is excellent, particularly at the centre of the frame, and sharpness is maintained at slower shutter speeds thanks to the lens-based MEGA OIS image stabilisation system.

At its telephoto extreme, the system produces sharp images at up to 1/25sec with ease, and even manages a few reasonably sharp results at 1/13sec. When the focal length conversion of the Micro Four Thirds system is taken into account, the represents an advantage of between three to four stops of usable shutter speed past the usual limits, which is on a par with comparable systems.

As part of our review process we’ve implemented a new testing procedure. To test the Panasonic GH2 image quality, we shot our resolution chart, each with the Panasonic Lumix G Vario 14-140mm f/4-5.8 lens.

If you view our crops of the resolution chart’s central section at 100% (or Actual Pixels) you will see that, for example, at ISO 160 the GH2 is capable of resolving up to 26/27 (line widths per picture height x100) in its highest quality JPEG files.

Examining images of the chart taken at each sensitivity setting reveals the following resolution scores in line widths per picture height x100:

As with the GH1, the Panasonic GH2 price will no doubt discourage a few. Current  prices are a penny shy of £1100 with the 14-140mm lens, but a significant portion of that cost is accounted for by flexibility and video-optimisation of the optic.

Becuase of this, the GH2 can be considered better value if both the video and stills functionality are required, rather than just the latter. A separate kit option with the 14-42mm lens can be found at £799.99, which makes it a little more attainable.

That the Lumix GH2 can manage such image quality is impressive in itself, but combined with stellar video output and an excellent focusing system really elevates it to a different level. There seems to be little reason not to recommend it for high-quality macro and still-life work. Indeed, it could even be argued that the articulated LCD and the breadth of focusing functionality on offer even make it preferable to some DSLRs.

Of course, DSLRs will continue to evolve alongside hybrid systems such as these, but if the Panasonic GH2 is a sign of things to come then we should all be looking forward to whatever happens next. With an abundance of functionality and superb image quality, the GH2 is one of the finest hybrid cameras that’s we’ve seen yet.

Lumix GH2

LG’s close links with Sky and its 3D service are well publicised but not everyone is ready (or wealthy enough) to enter the third dimension right now. To that end, LG also boasts a wide range of conventional sets that offer bucketloads of other features without having to pay the inevitable 3D premium.

The LG 42LE4900 is one such set, offering edge LED backlighting and all the enticing slimness that comes with it, as well as coveted baubles including a built-in Freeview HD tuner, internet TV access, DLNA networking and much more.

That’s a heck of a lot to pack into a sub-£600 set, so we can only hope that LG hasn’t sacrificed picture quality on the altar of good value.

The 42LE4900 is just one of many non-3D LED TVs in LG’s latest range. The LG 42LE4900, alongside the lower-specified 490 LCD range, was launched last year and as affordable sets with built-in Freeview HD, they’re part of LG’s ‘commitment to offering consumers easy access to hi-def content’.

The 4900 range also comes in screen sizes of 32 and 37-inch, making this a range very much aimed at those with modestly sized living rooms to match their modest budgets.

As mentioned previously, the LG 42LE4900 boasts a feature list that may exceed what you expect from a sub-£600 set.

Without 3D to hog the headlines, the honour of attention-grabber supreme goes to the Freeview HD tuner, which will no doubt be the first item on many people’s shopping list. BBC One HD, BBC HD, ITV1 HD, Channel 4 HD – they’re all there, ready and able to make your eyes pop out with their scissor-sharp detail.

Then there’s DLNA networking, which is now very much an established part of the home entertainment landscape. It enables you to stream movies, music and photos from your PCs, laptops and other entertainment devices, and, as normal for LG gear, it welcomes all formats.

It’s joined on the spec sheet by NetCast, which was a handy little feature when it first emerged, but is now looking tired and hamstrung by a dearth of compelling content – you get YouTube, Picasa and AccuWeather.com, only one of which is worth bothering with.

Thankfully, 2011 promises great things for LG’s internet TV offering with the introduction of its new LG 42LE4900 Smart TV system, which bumps up the content and brings full-on web browsing to the table. For now though, the 42LE4900 will have to make do with the old version.

These services are piped into the Ethernet port, which also will bring any future IPTV services on Freeview HD to your living room. Have a butcher’s on the back panel and you’ll spot two USB ports, which enable you to play MP3, DivX HD, WMV HD, MP4, XviD and JPEG files from memory devices.

Elsewhere the LG 42LE4900 goes the extra mile when it comes to picture adjustments. These include LG’s regular Imaging Science Foundation-approved Expert Mode settings, which make it possible for a professional engineer to come over to your house and spend a few hours calibrating the set to within an inch of its life.

Tweaks include a deep and detailed colour management system, with brightness, contrast and tint settings for red, green and blue, plus gamma, noise reduction, black level, colour gamut and temperature settings. But if you’re a little bit shy about all that stuff, the built-in Picture Wizard makes it easy to get the picture looking shipshape.

They’re joined by other modes such as Dynamic Contrast, Dynamic Colour, Real Cinema, Eye Care, xvYCC, Clear White and an energy saving setting if you’re concerned about your carbon footprint.

Despite its ultra-slim profile, LG 42LE4900 has managed to squeeze a considerable amount of connections onto the rear panel and along the side, including four HDMI inputs, optical digital audio output, two sets of component inputs, composite input, PC input and a good old-fashioned Scart socket.

Like the rest of LG’s current TVs, the LG 42LE4900 boasts a wonderful menu system. When you first dive in, you see a beautifully presented grid of options that uses detailed, full colour graphics. It covers all of the main functions, including direct access to the Picture and Sound menus so you can zip straight to them without having to go via the full setup menu.

From here you can also visit the networking feature (under My Media), check out NetCast (although this also has its own button on the remote) and fiddle about with eight cute little games, which is a nice surprise.

The setup menu itself is laid out with the same gorgeous graphics and fonts, plus it operates with a fluidity that precious few TVs can match. The basics are all up front, making them easy to find, but anyone who wants the more complex settings doesn’t have to look too hard. This is still one of the most user-friendly menu systems around.

The Freeview HD displays are also superb. From the eight-day EPG to the onscreen info banners, they boast a clarity and legibility that pays dividends when used on a regular basis. And we encountered no problems finding our content on our networking feature or a USB stick thanks to the straightforward, folder-based menus.

In the case of USB playback, the TV shows a thumbnail for each file – now that’s impressive. Despite its limited content, NetCast is beautifully presented, using three large icons in the foreground with a street-based backdrop, giving it a fun, family-orientated flavour.

The remote makes up for its slight plasticky feel with considerate button placement. The central panel of menu controls places the direction keys in the middle and dots the most-used buttons around the edge, making everyday operation an absolute breeze, plus the volume, programme change and number keys are all exactly where you’d expect to find them.

Also useful is that some of the buttons glow in the dark so you can navigate with the lights off.

First impressions are generally positive, with the 42LE4900 delivering a bright, punchy picture that lends itself well to high-definition material. That means blockbusting films like Avatar look instantly dazzling, with Pandora’s cartoon-like colours beaming from the screen with eye-popping intensity.

But there’s a pleasing subtlety to the set’s colour reproduction too, conveying tonal blends smoothly and tackling Sam Worthington’s tricky, stubbly skin with a convincing tone. Not quite the lucid, life-like reproduction of some sets, but certainly a great effort at this price.

Detail reproduction is also terrific. The XD Engine at the heart of the set lets none of those pixels slip through the net, making the movie’s complex CG textures and landscapes look razor sharp, while objects are strongly defined around the edges. Shots of Pandora’s wild and wonderful creatures ram the point home, as the set picks out hairs, scaly skin patterns and fine glimmers of light with ease.

The 42LE4900 isn’t quite as assured when it comes to black levels. Switching over to a darker, moodier movie, such as Inception, shows up the set’s unconvincing attempts at conveying blacks and picking out shadow detail.

This becomes a problem when it’s asked to display scenes like the night-time aerial sweep over Paris – the screen looks mushy and indistinct, with the different buildings merging into a mass of black in certain areas. Inside Sato’s in-dream apartment, dark areas in the background are black holes, while the definition of the lapels and pockets on Cobb’s black jacket aren’t as pronounced as they might be.

Another problem is that the edge LED backlighting causes some pooling of light in the corners of the screen, which is clearly visible when you play a movie with black bars and during dark scenes.

And one final negative concerns the set’s lack of fluidity when it comes to motion. With none of LG’s TruMotion anti-blur processing on board, you get a fairly smeary trail behind fast moving objects and hints of judder here and there, particularly during camera pans.

Test clips from a calibration disc showing fast-moving trains and quick camera pans up and down buildings display enough judder and blur to make you feel queasy.

But despite these shortcomings, which to be fair most people might expect from a sub-£600 set missing powerful picture processing, it produces very vibrant, engaging pictures with lots of detail and radiant colours.

This lends itself well to digital TV, which looks particularly crisp and solid. Hi-def channels look terrific, and although there’s evidence of noise on SD channels the images are eminently watchable. And as an upscaler of SD material the set does a decent job, giving our Avatar DVD pleasing clarity and depth when fed in at 576p

Like an eight-stone opera singer, the 42LE4900 musters a surprising amount of sonic power from its skinny frame. We’re not quite sure how, but the scene in chapter 2 of Inception, when the building collapses, sounds loud and detailed, and high frequencies are relayed without excessive harshness.

However, it’s still boxy in tone and seriously lacking in bass, which is fine when watching Dickinson’s Real Deal but gets a bit wearing when you watch Inception all the way through.

Value

Weighing up the amount of features against the circa-£600 price tag, we have to conclude that the 42LE4900 offers good value for money. It’s great to find DLNA features and USB playback on the spec sheet, plus you don’t find picture settings this detailed on many sets at this price.

That value factor does start to dip once you consider the picture shortcomings, the lack of on-board processing and the limitations of LG’s current internet TV offering, but even then there’s still enough good stuff here to stop you feeling short-changed.

The 42LE4900 is a great-looking TV set, boasting super-slim dimensions (thanks to its edge LED backlight) and a fetching gloss-black bezel. And at this price, the feature list is equally attractive, including modern-day frills like DLNA networking, NetCast and digital media playback from USB, not to mention the unusually detailed picture settings.

There’s no motion processing or 3D support, but sacrifices were always inevitable at this price and what’s left still makes it feel like good value.

It’s a pity then that the LG’s picture quality couldn’t transcend its price tag – sure, you get bright, engaging picture quality with bright, engaging Blu-ray moments, but watch dark scenes and the poor black definition and backlight issues mean you’re not seeing movies at their very best.

It’s fine for everyday TV viewing but anyone with serious cinematic ambitions should save a little more moolah and check out one of LG’s better specified sets.

We liked

The 42LE4900′s hi-tech design looks great and its space saving 35mm profile is undoubtedly appealing. The inclusion of networking, flexible format support via USB and internet TV access (albeit limited) is also pleasing for the money.

There’s a generous range of connections and the detailed ISF-approved picture settings help you (or an engineer) find a picture balance to suit. Also impressive is the slick, attractive operating system.

We disliked

The set struggles with black levels, making dark scenes look a little mushy, while backlight issues cause pooling in the corners and poor motion reproduction leaves objects looking blurry and juddery. NetCast offers limited content compared to rival sets from Sony and Samsung.

Verdict

If you’ve got around £600 to splash on a TV then you could do a lot worse than the 42LE4900. There’s a tasty array of features on board, the likes of which you don’t always find in this price bracket, and like many of the latest LED-equipped sets its slim, sexy looks will be a perfect fit for any living room.

Generous connectivity and extensive picture calibration settings are further high points.

That said, you will have to make some sacrifices in terms of picture quality and on-board processing. Problems with black levels, uneven backlight distribution and a lack of motion fluidity don’t show movies to their full potential.

But if you’re fine with that then you may find enough to like elsewhere to make the 42LE4900 a good purchase.

LG 42LE4900

This Full HD, LED TV from Kogan FHDLED26 ’Elite’ range includes one or two surprising features for a cut price LCD, including USB recording.

Elsewhere in the budget brand’s stable is an HD Ready 19-inch LCD TV (£121), and models otherwise identical to the FHDLED26; 22-inch (£169), 24-inch (£189), 32-inch (£390) and 40-inch (£479). In that context, the FHDLED26′s price constitutes quite a premium – the extra two inches costs a whopping £100.

Kogan FHDLED26 also sells the LEDBD32, a 32-inch LCD TV with a built-in Blu-ray disc drive.

Features

The chief attraction is probably that Kogan FHDLED26 LED backlight, which helps enable a reasonably slender depth of 45mm.

The other feature of note is a PVR function, which is less impressive than it sounds; instead of digital video recording akin to Sky or Virgin, the Kogan offers to record to a USB memory stick. It does introduce basic recording (both immediate and timed), though probably of more use is the addition of pause and rewind live TV functions.

Elsewhere the FHDLED26 can play digital files from a USB stick, including AVI, MP4, DivX and XviD video files, MP3 and WMA music and JPG and BMP photos. Excellent news, though the USB slot itself is, rather daftly, buried beneath the set’s rear panel and is particularly hard to access.

Ease of use

In and outputs are plentiful and USB recording a cinch to operate; the 8GB stick we inserted was able to record an hour of  HD material, or 209 minutes of SD fare, though even a 512MB stick can be used (though the 14m/4m of SD/HD recordings that capacity allows is only suitable for short pauses).

The interface is excellent; simple, attractive and uncluttered with transparent backgrounds and fade-ins. Recordings are easy to set either automatically, or from the EPG where once-only, weekly and manual timings are possible. It’s hardly Sky+, but it works.

A shame, then, that the remote control is cluttered with tiny buttons and, worse, proves slow and occasionally completely unresponsive.

Picture

Despite – or maybe because of – the Kogan FHDLED26 ’s use of a Full HD panel, standard-definition material from Freeview lacks sharpness and clarity. A bluish tint to blacks and indistinct peak whites tally with its low contrast ratio specs, while colours lack realism.

Both of these problems increase if you watch the Kogan FHDLED26 from the wings; a tight viewing angle is inescapable, with some uneven brightness also detectable. The FHDLED26 does produce precise hi-def images, but a lot of that good work is undone by considerable motion blur.

Aside from its unusual slimness, there’s little evidence of the advantages of LED backlighting found on bigger brands’ efforts.

Sound

The two 15W speakers create an incredibly thin sound that is all treble and no bass, with even dialogue-only programmes suffering. And though it would be wrong to criticise too much – few 26-inch LCD TVs boast audio that’s anywhere near acceptable – we’ve heard much better.

Verdict

It may suit a few occasional TV Kogan FHDLED26 watchers, but the novelty of recording to a USB stick is just a novelty; if you’re after LED-backlit picture quality, theKogan FHDLED26 isn’t for you, though its low price, decent recording options and superb user interface might be enough to convince some.

Kogan FHDLED26

Step up from Sony’s mainstream EX TV range and you’ll find the first of its 3D designer models. The KDL-40NX713 NX Network sets combine advanced multimedia capability with premium picture performance and Sony’s trademark Monolithic Design.

NX models come in a variety of sizes, from 32- to 55-inch; confusingly, there are no fewer than four 40-inch models (the NX803, 703, 503 and the 713 reviewed here) on offer. All you need to know is that this is the one to aim for, because it alone has Dynamic Edge KDL-40NX713 LED backlighting (as opposed to regular edge LED) and MotionFlow 100 Pro processing.

Anyone who’s been shortlisting a new flatscreen recently will know that there’s no shortage of LED TVs available, but not all are created equal. The LED iteration here is prefixed Dynamic because it offers a semblance of local dimming. Sony, rather inventively, says that it offers “GigaContrast” for the whitest whites and blackest blacks as a result.

The 40NX713 is 3D-capable via an optional upgrade, which means that you’ll also need to invest in the brand’s TDG-BR100B Active Shutter glasses (a not inconsiderable £99 each) and the TMR-BR100 3D transmitter (around £50). The latter plugs into the rear of the TV.

As befits the screen’s networking nomenclature, Wi-Fi is built in. This is undoubtedly helpful if you don’t have a wired connection to your viewing room. Connectivity is standard for a telly of this size. There’s a Scart input (via adaptor) for your older kit (good news for those still using a VCR), plus four KDL-40NX713 HDMIs (one of which is side mounted).

It’s worth noting that the rear inputs are side mounted into a slim recess, which rules out the most heavily insulated HDMI cables.

There are also component and composite video jacks, stereo audio phonos and a D-Sub 15-pin PC input. Providing an outward-bound audio feed is a digital audio optical port. Other sundries include a USB port for local media playback, an Ethernet connector a headphone jack and an interface for a Conditional Access Module (CAM) for pay TV.

Despite representing Sony’s Networking range, the TVs media streaming feature rather flounders. It seems to recognise and stream only AVCHD files, although it will play MP3s across a network. Even better, it reads and displays cover art as well.

Media file support from USB is better: the 40NX713 plays AVIs (with subtitle support) and MPEG4 files, but not, apparently, MKVs.

Other niceties on the NX713 include a Picture Frame mode that can even read GPS location data. An insert graphic from Google maps pops up to reveal where snaps were taken.

IPTV content is rapidly becoming a must-have feature on any respectable TV. The good news is that Sony offers a wide range of extra content via its Bravia Internet Video portal, as well as apps.

From the set’s XMB you can browse the BBC iPlayer and Demand 5, catch up on Sky News, or watch skateboarding kittens on YouTube and Daily Motion. There’s also streaming video via LoveFilm and pay-per-view (PPV) movies from Sony’s new Qriocity video streaming service.

Need more? The BIV portal has a growing range of more esoteric, dedicated services including Blip TV, Ford Models, the Howcast network, Ustudio, Livestrong, Golf Link and Singing Fool.

The NX713 also offers widgets (of a sort), a consequence of Sony’s short-lived dalliance with Yahoo. Sony has now moved from this relationship, leaving this particular widget Gallery high and dry. Just as well, since they’re slow to load and you can only run a handful before running out of memory.

Compared to the extensive apps program run by Samsung, these are a non-responsive waste of time.

Once the stand is assembled – a pleasingly swift job that involves a single screw into a cylindrical base bracket, upon which the TV sits snugly, with a second screw to anchor – navigating to the auto-tune setup menu is a doddle.

It’s at this point that you’ll probably notice the set’s only real oddity. The remote control has a single, solitary Power On/Off button on its rear. Quite why any remote zapper needs a secondary power button on its reverse side is a mystery.

The XMB interface will be familiar to anyone who has purchased a Sony-branded vision product over the past few years. First seen on the PS3, it’s now spread virus-like across the brand’s products. This is all well and good, as it’s easy to master.

However it does become a tad confusing when you hook the TV up to a Sony Blu-ray player, AV receiver or PS3. It’s often difficult to tell exactly what product’s UI you’re looking at. 
Beneath the hood, the screen is both simple and sophisticated.

There are only three picture presets (Standard, Custom and Vivid). Yet dig into the setup menus and you’ll find far more than the basics.

There’s a backlight Control slider, two flavours of adjustable noise reduction and variable MotionFlow options (Off, Smooth, Standard, Clear and Clear Plus), designed to prevent motion blur. It’s worth noting that Sony rates power consumption as 142w when the screen is in Vivid mode, but only 97w when in the Standard setting.

The set’s programme listing is easy to navigate and features a live video window.

The NX713 proves to be a demon on the test bench, acing trial after trial. Motion picture resolution is outstanding, and depending on the severity of MotionFlow picture processing selected, it’s possible to preserve clarity right up to 1,080 lines.

To hit these giddy heights, select either the Clear or Clear Plus modes (the latter robs the screen of some brightness). Despite this amazing detail retention, there are only slight predictive motion artefacts around moving objects, which in most cases will go unnoticed.

Thankfully, it’s not necessary to delve into the XMB to adjust the MotionFlow frame-rate settings, you can use the Option button on the remote; however, if you’re using the screen with a Sony Blu-ray player you’ll need to disable the CEC HDMI control, else the Option panel for the BD player will appear, rather than the one for the TV.

One challenging test, featuring scrolling English and Japanese text, was brushed aside by the panel. At 100, 50 and 30 per cent luminance the moving characters remain perfectly legible with no smudging.

This TV is also exceptionally smooth when it comes to pans. There’s precious little cinematic judder, even with all the picture processing gubbins turned off; an artful sequence from Disney’s Sleeping Beauty (Blu-ray) wherein Prince Charming canters behind a rocky outcrop, passes smoothly without incident or artefact.

Engage MotionFlow and scrolling sequences are as smooth as can be, without so much of a smudge of halo artefacts.

Another big surprise is just how good this set is when viewed off axis. Even at an extreme angle, there’s no massive fall-off in colour or contrast. Indeed, the NX713 behaves much like an IPS (In Plane Switching) LCD screen.

Naturally, the set has a Freeview HD tuner. This means subscription free high definition from BBC One HD, BBC HD, ITV 1 HD and C4HD is only ever a click away.

While Freeview HD channels don’t tend to stand comparison with Blu-ray, they are nonetheless free from the kind of macro-blocking and fuzz that makes standard Freeview look so rank. An HD transmission of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones is wonderfully detailed.

On the debit side, the edge LED backlight is not particularly even, although there are plenty of worse examples on the market. Under most circumstances this flaw isn’t particularly noticeable, but play a movie in letterbox format or catch a slow fade to black and you’ll notice light pooling from the corners.

The image presented here reveals just how uneven the backlight is, although taken with a slow shutter it does tend to emphasise the problem.

Black levels and contrast, meanwhile, can be considered above average. 
So what’s the 40NX713 like in 3D? The screen offers a couple of 3D adjustment controls. You can alter the brightness of the Active Shutter glasses, from Auto to High or Medium. There’s also a depth adjustment tool, which has two plus or minus increments, either side of the default.

Rather unhelpfully, when you elect to adjust this setting 50 per cent of the screen remains obscured by the menu, so you can’t really see what you’re doing.

Unfortunately, none of the controls will help you dial crosstalk out of a 3D image. In the TV’s default 3D setting, the church steeple at the beginning of Monsters vs Aliens has clear secondary spires.

This image overlap can be fixed by adjusting for negative parallax using the Depth Adjustment tool, but then everything in zero or parallel parallax is thrown out of whack. Crosstalk remains an issue, regardless of how you tinker.

On the sublime Blu-ray promotional edition of Avatar, double imaging effects are far less prevalent. They’re there if you look for them, just not so intrusive. 
Of course, with precious little 3D content available, you might well be tempted to play with the set’s real-time 2D to 3D converter.

This takes any flat source, from over the air TV to discs and games, and dimensionalises it. The TV offers variable levels of simulated 3D depth, but even on the High setting you’re unlikely to be impressed.

Sony’s 3D Active Shutter glasses are nicely designed and relatively comfortable (in an uncomfortable kind of way).Spectacle wearers will find them a tight fit, though.

The 40NX713′s audio performance is serviceable but thin, and stereo imaging is cramped, if not entirely monophonic. This is not surprising for such a slim TV design.

Providing modest welly is a diminutive S-Force digital amplifier with a claimed 26w total output (this is derived from a 2 x 8w stereo output, plus a 10w subwoofer). Given that there’s no real bass coming from the set, the term ‘subwoofer’ is a bit of a misnomer: it’s more of a mid-bass plumper.

For those that want to experiment, there is a selection of DSP modes: Cinema, Music, Live, Sports and Game.

Ultimately, it’s well worth augmenting the set with a separate sound solution when circumstances allow.

Value

When all’s said and done, the 40NX713 is an outstanding flatscreen TV. Given that it’s widely available for less than a grand, it can be considered rather good value for buyers seeking an above average 2D Full HD performer.

In many ways, the 3D element appears to be an afterthought. Having to add an external sync transmitter seems awkward at best. With the best 3D content available, the set offers tangible depth, but the bugbear of crosstalk is always there if you look for it. You should regard the 3D component as a bit of fun, no more or less.

The only significant negative in terms of picture performance is the uneven backlight, but then this has to be traded against the ultra-thin cosmetics. If it bothers you, perhaps you shouldn’t be looking at edge-lit LED as a screen technology.

Ultimately, we would rate the KDL-40NX713 as a great Full HD picture performer.

Sony has an exhaustive range of flatscreen TVs, but you need to look up the range to find the best performers. It’s here you’ll find the KDL-NX713.

What is really impressive about this screen is the clarity and the outstanding motion resolution of its images. This 40-incher offers first division picture processing. Pictures from Blu-ray are sensational and the HD channels offered by the Freeview HD are sharp and shiny.

Across the board there’s massive detail and precious few blurring artefacts. This makes the screen great for sport, video games and action movies.

Sony is setting the standard in the IPTV content market. Its Bravia Internet Video portal has all the key attractions you’ll want for bonus telly, while Qriocity and Lovefilm offer a wide range of premium PPV streaming movies.

Oddly, where the set stumbles is with network support (ostensibly the raison d’etre for the range). Video file support across a LAN is poor, and is far from comprehensive even when you pull content from USB media.

We liked

The clarity of the 40NX713′s HD images, and its superb moving picture resolution, blew us away. We were pleased with the extensive content offered through its proprietary Bravia Internet Video portal, as well as the integrated Wi-Fi and the stylish overall design

We disliked

The clumsy nature of the optional bolt-on 3D sync transmitter is bit of a shame, as are the crosstalk effects prevalent on 3D content. Inadequate file support across a network and the lack of MKV support from USB also let us down.

Final verdict

This designer set is a top-flight picture performer and looks fabulous with Blu-ray. As a 3D proposition it has flaws, principally because you’ll need to invest more cash to obtain the required accoutrements. But overall, the TV gets two thumbs up.

KDL-40NX713

The 37-inch LC-37LE320 is the second largest of Sharp’s new designer LED sets. These screens are not loaded with the latest tech, such as the brand’s extra-yellow-pixel Quattron system, and they certainly don’t require you to wear funny glasses to view them, but they are affordable and contemporary.

Using edge LED backlighting, Sharp has managed to compress the depth of the cabinet to a trim 45mm. Other brands are making slimmer sets, but let’s face it – they’re just showing off.

The 37LE320 has a pleasingly small footprint and the curved creamy white back panel juxtaposed against the black bezel is easy on the eye.

Sharp’s clear aim has been to create a range of TVs that look upmarket yet don’t cost the Earth. Objective achieved: this stylish model can be snapped up for under £700. It’s an everyman screen for those who don’t wish to rummage in the bargain bins.

It’s perhaps surprising to find that the LC-37LE320 does not have a Freeview HD tuner, even though it has a LC-37LE320 Full HD (1920 x 1080-pixel) panel. For many buyers this will mean an instant demerit. The omission may be less significant if you are a Sky+HD or Virgin Media subscriber, in which case you’ll already have a stream of hi-def content on tap.

Of course, adding a set top box will instantly rob you of an HDMI port, which might prove painful, since there are only two HDMI v1.3 inputs on the back panel. There is a third on the left hand side for quick connection of games consoles and camcorders, however.

You also get a component LC-37LE320 AV input and a pair of Scarts. There’s also an electrical digital audio output, should you need to feed TV sound (maybe a radio station from the Freeview tuner) to a separate hi-fi system.

Joining the aforementioned side-mounted HDMI is a CI (Common Interface) slot for a Top Up TV Cam, phono AV input, USB, PC VGA (D-Sub) input and a headphones jack.

On the opposite side of the screen are key controls, should the remote find itself buried beneath a pile of ironing. There are channel and volume rockers, Menu and Source select buttons and a power switch.
With no internet connectivity, the humble USB input finds itself the centre of attention.

The USB media player offers a thumbnail browser from which you can select your media type for playback.

Music playback is restricted to MP3s, but video file support is wide and covers LC-37LE320 AVI, MPG, MOV, MP4, XviD and MKV. All our test files played back successfully, including HD MKV downloads. There’s even support for SRT subtitles. However our MOV test file played back in the wrong aspect ratio. JPEGs can be viewed as a slideshow, with or without transitional effects.

It’s worth noting that USB support is only for FAT32 devices, NTFS is not recognizable. File playback size is limited to 4GB.

The set also enables you to register for DivX VOD downloads. Once authorised, you’ll be able to play DivX VOD content, although dealing with DRM-heavy media generally isn’t worth the hassle.

Another feature you’re unlikely to use is a parental lock to disable certain inputs. If you lock HDMI one, for example, you’ll be asked for a password each time you select it. The Parental menu itself can also be locked.

The supplied stand is relatively easy to assemble, although it requires that the TV be supported while the pedestal is screwed into the neck. Use something soft for this, perhaps a pillow, to avoid damaging the screen.

Alternatively, you can wall-mount. The 37LE320 takes a standard 200 x 200 mm VESA wall bracket. Remember to ensure that the bracket you buy offers enough clearance between the wall and the screen to accommodate the connections – SCART leads can be notoriously chunky.

When placing the screen, think about the position of the seating. The viewing angle of this panel is limited. Sit off axis by 45 degrees or more and you’ll notice a significant drop in colour and contrast.

Given the nature of the TV, setup is fast and straightforward. The screen prompts you to scan for channels and that’s about it. The interface is functional and text based – nothing to get the juices flowing.

Selecting inputs is a case of calling up an onscreen list. Here the component input is called YPbPr, even though it’s referred to as “component” elsewhere in the manual. This unnecessary jargon assumes way too much knowledge on behalf of the owner.

The TV’s Now & Next EPG (electronic programme guide) is not full-screen and occupies just the centre portion of the screen. You can create a favourites list of preferred channels or renumber should you feel the need.

The remote is a generic zapper that sadly doesn’t really match the screen aesthetically at all. Still, the buttons all work. It also suffers from a lapse in usability.

All remotes should be intuitive and avoid obtuse labels, which makes you wonder what Mr and Mrs shopper might make of buttons labeled ‘PR list’ and ‘Pre Pr’ (respectively, a list of TV channels and a return to the previous channel, it transpires).

On the plus side, the ‘Video (Adj)’ button offers fast access to the set’s various picture setting modes (Personal/Standard/Vivid/Movie/Eco).

Beneath the bonnet of the LE320, the picture processing engine is standard-issue 100Hz, which means no local dimming or scanning tricks to improve contrast or reduce blur. The screen also offers a ‘film dejudder’ Film Mode.

Picture controls are comprehensive enough for a screen of this size. In addition to the usual options of Brightness, Contrast, Colour, Tint, Sharpness and Colour temperature, there are more options in an Advanced menu.

Here you can choose from one of three noise reduction settings, make a flesh tone adjustment, alter the brightness of the backlight (High or Low) or activate DCR (Dynamic Contrast Ratio).

It’s also here that you’ll find the settings for the 100Hz refresh rate with variable blur reduction, or Film Mode to decrease picture judder. It’s worth noting that 100Hz mode doesn’t function on the PC input.

Bizarrely, the Advanced section of the Picture menu has it’s own secondary Advanced subsection. An advanced menu within an advanced menu? Someone at Sharp isn’t trying hard enough.

To find the set’s Overscan defeat, you’ll have to navigate to the Features/HMDI Scan Info sub-section of the menu. Here you can select Underscan or Overscan. Curiously, this adjustment is not classified as an aspect ratio, that honour is reserved only for Auto, Normal, Zoom 1, Zoom 2 and Wide modes.

When watching an HD source, be it from a set-top box or Blu-ray, it’s always worth selecting an underscan/pixel-matching mode.

It goes without saying that the screen’s static resolution is excellent, giving a prickly 1,080 lines. Motion resolution has less snap, though, and while you’re given options to mitigate against losses, there’s a price to be paid.

The 100Hz processing comes in Off, Low, Middle and High flavours. Set Low, a scrolling motion resolution chart (developed by the Advanced PDP Development Centre) which features an ever-decreasing graticule moving at 6.5ppf (pixels per frame), hinted at detail between 800-900 lines, which can be considered very good. However, this detail is often obscured by processing artefacts.

Edge up to Middle and High and, while more perceived sharpness can be had, the artefacts increase. Switch to Film Mode on Low and they vanish, but the resolution similarly drops away, with nothing much left above 750-800 lines. In 100Hz Effect Off, the result is the same.

To keep this in context though, this should still be regarded as a good performance compared to comparable screens.

The set looks worst with images from its Freeview tuner, which have an unpleasant bleary quality. With a high quality source, such as Blu-ray, the 37LE320′s pictures have a pleasing sharpness.

Black levels are good without being exceptional.

Regardless of the anti-judder Film Mode, this panel is naturally smooth. A panning test from the Blu-ray release of Sleeping Beauty, in which Prince Charming gallops behind a rocky outcrop, plays without any stutter or judder.

Indeed, it looks best without the high 100HZ picture processor engaged. At the faster rates, the moving shape of the prince and his horse is surrounded by a smudgy halo artefact. Regardless of mode, there always seems to be a hint of image blur around fast moving objects.

On the plus side, colour fidelity is good. Hues pop off the screen and a test sequence comprising violins, horns and saxophones looks rich and textured. There’s lustre to the wooden finish of the violins and a gleam to the brass instruments that is definitely satisfying.

As you can see above, the LC-37LE320′s edge-LED backlight is a little uneven, but not woefully bad. You’ll most likely only notice when the screen sporadically fades to black or you’re watching a letterboxed movie.

The screen may only have a modest 2 x 10w output from its integrated 1-bit digital amp module, but there’s a surprisingly high level of audio adjustment offered.

In addition to a trio of presets (Personal, Music and Speech), an equaliser enables you to tweak from mid-bass to high treble (120Hz/500Hz/1.5Hz/5KHz/10KHz), and if standard Nicam stereo is not doing it for you, there’s also virtual surround, which effectively widens the stereo soundstage, pushing back the vocals and teasing out the edges.

Taking a leaf from the Dolby Volume book of tricks there’s also Sharp’s soundalike, AVL (Auto Volume Leveling) function which attempts to negate harsh changes in volume between programmes, adverts and channels.

The set also supports Audio Description, pulling up an extra descriptive audio track for the visually impaired on programmes that have been so blessed.

Value

Typically listed at just under £700, the LC-37LE320 is priced on the high side for a screen with no Freeview HD tuner or networking function. But rapid price erosion is likely and it’s at this point that this model becomes interesting.

It’s a well-built, smart-looking screen with a decent LED backlight. There are issues with motion artefacts and black levels, but those looking for a bright multi-purpose LED might well find that it ticks the right boxes.

The excellent file support for USB media playback could sweeten the deal.

Sharp’s LC-37LE320 is well turned-out LED screen, with advanced USB media playback capabilities. Those running a sneakernet (carrying files around on USB by foot rather than streaming across a network) will appreciate that such a wide range of video formats are supported.

Image quality is also generally good, with vibrant colour and fine detail from good sources. The 100Hz/Film mode picture processing needs to be approached with caution, however, because it does contribute additional motion artefacts.

It’s unfortunate that the screen does not have an integrated Freeview HD tuner and there are also general usability foibles, which won’t endear it casual viewers, but we recommend an audition if you can find it at an attractive price.

We liked

The LC-37LE320 boasts comprehensive USB video file support; interesting cabinet design and vibrant, bright images from Blu-ray

We disliked

The LC-37LE320′s lack of any network capability, the absence of a Freeview HD tuner and the motion artefacts associated with 100Hz picture processing are setbacks that should be considered

Final verdict

Sharp continues to manoeuvre back into the upper tier of LCD TV makers with this solid, LED backlit model. The screen is probably more notable for what it lacks (Freeview HD and networking capability) than what it has, but image sharpness and color vibrancy count for a lot; at its best in relatively high brightness environments.

LC-37LE320

The last, tough couple of years have taken their toll on the TV scene, with a handful of smaller manufacturers disappearing from the UK. Now a potential ray of hope arrives from San Francisco-based (Taiwanese-originated) AOC LE42K0D7D in the intriguing, 42-inch shape of the LE42L0D7D.

The last release of any note from AOC was the TV20542E way back in 2005, so it will be interesting to see how the firm has spent the intervening years and how its TV know-how measures up on a much larger screen.

Perhaps surprisingly for a brand known more for aggressive pricing than innovation, AOC has chosen an edge LE42K0D7D LED backlight for the LE42L0D7D. This popular method of arraying lights around the frame of the screen enables radically slender cabinets and, at 46.1mm deep, this set is much narrower than any conventionally (cold-cathode fluorescent, or CCFL) backlit display.

Also worth noting are multimedia playback via USB, a Real Colour engine, a three-year warranty and 100Hz processing.

AOC now has a whole range of edge LED TVs, though from the LE42K0D7D you have to drop down quite a way to the 32-inch LE32K0D7D, with three small K0D7D models below that at 24, 22 and 19-inch sizes.

Alongside the LED sets are a range of affordable LE42K0D7D CCFL LCD models, again covering 42 to 19-inch sizes and based around three series: the A91, B81 and W98s.

The LE42K0D7D‘s edge LED lighting has the potential to have all sorts of positive – and detrimental – effects on picture quality. The former might include high contrast, vivid colours and good green credentials compared to CCFL models.

The slinky dimensions make the LE42K0D7D a touch more stylish than conventional sets, but that’s not to say that the TV is exceptionally attractive overall, for its fascia looks and feels plasticky and the inelegant bottom edge looks rather dated.

The set’s connections are just about acceptable and include three HDMI inputs, a D-Sub PC port and a USB socket able to play JPEGs, MP3 files and H.264 video files. There’s no Ethernet port, though, indicating that the set sports neither an HD tuner nor any online capability. Not having a Freeview HD tuner on a near-£800 TV definitely counts as a significant blow.

You do get a standard-def Freeview tuner, though, together with a Full HD native resolution, a high claimed contrast ratio of 2,000,000:1 and, most surprisingly of all for a relatively affordable edge LED TV, 100Hz processing. This is there, of course, to make motion look less blurry and more detailed.

Heading into the screen’s onscreen menus reveals a quite extensive series of picture presets, including Standard, Movie, Eco and Personal settings.

And there’s a solid amount of flexibility to make your own adjustments, too, such as a simple noise reduction circuit, a flesh tone adjustment, a backlight adjustment with no less than 100 setting points, the option to turn on or off a dynamic contrast circuit and, arguably best of all, the ability to adjust the potency of the 100Hz system across three different settings – or turn it off entirely, if you wish.

Hopefully, this will mean you can get a good balance between reducing LCD’s traditional motion blur problem and keeping a lid on processing noise.

The most significant disappointment about the LE42K0D7D’s features, aside from the lack of a Freeview HD tuner, is the lack of flexibility on offer when it comes to fine-tuning colours.

More and more affordable TVs are offering quite sophisticated colour management systems these days, but the LE42K0D7D has practically nothing worthwhile. Which is made all the more upsetting because, as will become apparent later, its colours could do with some calibration TLC.

One final surprising and potentially positive feature to conclude with, though, is the presence of a dedicated 10W subwoofer speaker firing out from the LE42K0D7D’s rear panel.

There’s certainly nothing very glamorous about the LE42K0D7D’s operating system. The remote control feels cheap and, while the onscreen menus are clean and easy to read, they are distinctly uninspiring to behold.

The operating system is, however, reasonably effective. The remote’s layout is intuitive and doesn’t encourage erroneous button presses, while the onscreen menus are for the most part logically organised, except, perhaps, for the peculiar decision to stick the 100Hz adjustments in a sub-menu two layers away from the main opening menus.

But this is a minor point, because you probably won’t revisit the 100Hz options too often once you’ve settled on your preferred settings.

It’s good to find some key options, such as the backlight adjustment, supplied with quite fine degrees of alteration possible, and finally it’s great that the large, centrally placed main onscreen menus disappear when you choose to adjust specific picture elements, leaving you free to look at pretty much the whole screen while making your picture adjustments.

In some ways the LE42K0D7D’s pictures are pleasantly surprising, but the set does also struggle in a couple of key areas, leaving it looking pretty average overall.

The surprising thing is how much brightness and colour intensity the screen is capable of pumping out. This is, of course, a fairly common strength of edge LED technology, but the LE42K0D7D’s images still stand out from the crowd.

What’s particularly striking about this is that the dynamism and brightness doesn’t only apply to hyper-aggressive settings (Vivid, for example) that are clearly aimed at catching potential customers’ eyes in a shop. Even after a bit of calibration to try to get the best contrast from the set, pictures are still extremely punchy.

This immediately runs counter to the situation encountered with a number of budget brands over the years and sets hopes high that there’s plenty more good stuff to come.

And in some ways, there is. The screen is capable of producing a better black level response than anticipated, for instance, providing a great foundation to the rich colours and bright whites noted already, and further contributing to the image’s fairly spectacular first impressions.

HD pictures are reasonably sharp and detailed, moreover, with such fine elements as grain and pore detailing clearly visible. However, before you start to get too carried away, this sense of clarity does take a fairly significant hit when there’s lots of motion in a picture. This is due, presumably, to a fairly uninspiring native response time from the LE42K0D7D’s edge LED panel.

You can reduce this blurring a touch using the 100Hz options. But although the lowest power setting for the set’s 100Hz mode doesn’t fully get rid of the blur by any means, it’s impossible to recommend a higher 100Hz setting, as these can cause some fairly obvious processing problems (shimmering and flickering around moving objects in particular).

The single most annoying thing about the LE42K0D7D’s pictures, though, is the increasingly common problem of an inconsistent backlight. The four corners of the picture are noticeably brighter than the rest of the image during dark scenes, especially if you’ve got a quite bright, central picture element against an otherwise dark background.

You can’t see this problem, to be fair, with predominantly bright content, but how many films or even TV dramas have you seen that don’t have any dark scenes in them?

Even turning the backlight down to near zero doesn’t remove the consistency flaws, and whenever they crop up, they invariably make you feel distanced from what you’re watching.

A smaller issue concerns the LE42K0D7D’s colours, which are certainly punchy, but rarely entirely natural. Skin tones look rather over-saturated, and oranges and reds tend to look too dominant. You eventually acclimatise to this, but there are still moments where a tone or two really jumps out at you, adding further to the potential for this TV to suddenly leave you distracted from what you’re watching.

One final niggle is that the LE42K0D7D is no expert at upscaling standard-definition material. Unless a standard-def source is of a particularly high standard – such as a very good DVD – the upscaled pictures tend to look rather noisy and patchy.

This is partly down, most likely, to both some fairly unsophisticated rescaling processing and the screen’s ultra-aggressive approach drawing attention to any mess that might be inherent to a source.

With that subwoofer tucked away on its rear, the hope has to be that the LE42K0D7D achieves what so few slim TVs manage by delivering some sort of healthy bass level.

Sadly, however, while the subwoofer can generate a hint more oomph than you might normally hear from a flatscreen, it only kicks in under the most extreme circumstances and tends to sound rather dislocated from the rest of the soundstage when it does so.

The main reason for this, of course, is that the main speakers, with their pretty uninspiring 2 x 8W of claimed power, just don’t have the dynamic range or breathing room to combine properly with the dedicated bass speaker.

In fact, the addition of the subwoofer ultimately just makes the soundstage appear a bit weird, as you’ve got over-stressed, harsh and dominant trebles at one end of the audio spectrum, occasional splurges of bass at the other, and a distinctly slender mid-range hanging loose somewhere in between.

Value

Initially, that sub-£800 tag seems attractive for a 42-inch TV with edge LED lighting, especially one that also boasts 100Hz processing and some credible multimedia facilities.

However, it doesn’t take all that long living with the LE42K0D7D before a few cracks start to show. This puts some pressure on its price right away and this is made worse when you also factor in the lack of a Freeview HD tuner and the fact that you can get much-superior LED-lit sets such as the Philips 40PFL7605 and Sony KDL-40EX503 for around the same money.

The AOC LE42K0D7D serves up a picture of almost mind-boggling vibrancy and brightness from an edge LED backlighting engine that also helpfully enables a nice, slender profile.

However, while this aggressive, colour-rich approach is capable of producing some occasionally startlingly good picture quality, over time it starts to feel as if the aggression is really designed to distract you from the screen’s numerous flaws. These include – in order of severity – backlight inconsistencies, motion blur, some pretty off-looking colour tones and some fairly bog-standard standard-def upscaling.

The sound similarly fails to inspire despite the addition of an integrated subwoofer. In fact, all the subwoofer does is highlight the inadequacies of the main speakers.

Overall, then, the LE42K0D7D has more ‘moments’ than might have been expected given its heritage, but is ultimately too inconsistent to stand out from the crowd in any significant way.

We liked

The LE42K0D7D’s slim design gets it off to a decent start and its operating system is engaging, if hardly state of the art. It’s easy to be seduced, too, by the image’s instantly aggressive flavour, with its rich colours and surprisingly strong contrast.

We disliked

The LE42K0D7D has no Freeview HD tuner, and precious few means of adjusting colours in any meaningful way. This latter issue means you’re stuck with an occasionally unbalanced palette. The backlight shows clear signs of inconsistency too, audio is flawed, and ultimately the price feels a good £100 too expensive.

Final verdict

It’s good to see that some of the smaller brands are still clinging on in the current tough economic climate. It’s even better to see some of those brands, such as AOC, willing to show some ambition by launching large, LED-lit screens with thoughtful features like USB multimedia support and 100Hz processing.

However, while there are times when the LE42K0D7D’s pictures look much better than we’ve come to expect from smaller brands, once you’ve seen past its initial attractions, the LE42K0D7D has a few picture flaws large enough to really distract you from what you’re watching from time to time.

There’s no Freeview HD tuner, either, and its sound is uneven, despite the handy addition of a built-in subwoofer.

All in all the LE42K0D7D is a solid enough effort from AOC, but it would have needed to be quite a bit cheaper before it became something really easy to recommend.

LE42K0D7D

Of course, the 32CV711B isn’t the only aggressively priced TV in Toshiba’s range. In fact it’s got a nearly bewildering set of entry-level models – some exclusive to particular retail chains – with only minor differences in spec. Particularly similar on paper are the AV713B series and the 32BV500, while stepping up to the 32BV700 adds a full HD resolution compared with the 32CV711B’s 1,366 x 768 pixel count.

The DV series add a built-in DVD player, meanwhile, and the LV series throws in an extra (third) HDMI. Stepping up even further to the RV series introduces a fourth HDMI, DLNA connectivity and a Freeview HD tuner.

If you prefer edge LED backlighting to standard CCFL, then you’ll need to make the leap up to the SL, VL and WL series, the latter of which introduces 3D on a Toshiba TV for the first time in the shape of the 40, 46 and 55-inch WL768 series.

The 32CV711B isn’t quite as humble as you might expect for its money; the main surprise is the ability to play JPEG photos or MP3 music files from USB storage devices.

Multimedia options like this are usually among the first things to be axed whenever manufacturers contemplate creating price-conscious sets, but retaining them on one most likely to find a home in a second room rather than a living room makes a lot of sense. Teenagers, in particular, may appreciate the USB support if they’re lucky enough to land a 32CV711B in their bedroom.

Another unexpected plus is the presence of Active Vision LCD picture processing. Admittedly, it’s a fairly basic version of this proprietary image engine, but its ability to improve colours, contrast and sharpness makes it a welcome inclusion.

The 32CV711B’s rather dated looking onscreen menus reveals that, remarkably, Toshiba has also managed to include a decent colour management system. This enables you to adjust the gain level of each of the red, green and blue colour components, or the hue, saturation and brightness of the red, green, blue, cyan, magenta and yellow colour elements. There are TVs costing twice as much that don’t offer nearly this much control.

Some might argue that this degree of fine tuning isn’t really necessary on such an affordable set, but it adds no discernible premium and will be much appreciated by anyone particular about their pictures.

Other impressive discoveries within an ‘Advanced Video’ submenu include noise reduction and colour transient improvement options, a game mode that really does reduce the TV’s input lag time and the ability to turn the active backlight system on or off.

There are even a few fairly advanced audio options onboard, including a pseudo surround sound system, a bass booster, and a lip sync system that uses HDMI v1.3 technology to keep audio in line with the video signal. Though, as we’ll discover later, these audio tricks prove rather less useful than the video ones.

Looking elsewhere on the 32CV711B’s spec sheet, however, finds a number of fairly key limitations. The native resolution is only 1,366 x 768, not full HD, for instance. The claimed contrast ratio of 12,000:1 looks pretty feeble, too, compared with the hundreds of thousands, even millions to one quoted by many LCD TVs these days – at least the ones that use some form of LED technology.

Perhaps the single greatest disappointment, though, is the lack of a hi-def TV tuner, restricting out-of-the-box viewing to plain old Freeview.

A paltry pair of HDMIs and absence of any 100Hz processing or DLNA/online capabilities, however, are par for the course at this price.

All in all the 32CV711B’s feature spec seems just a touch confused. While many potential buyers will appreciate the USB stuff, it seems likely that the same buyers would probably also gladly sacrifice much of the fancy picture tweaking in favour of a full HD resolution and a Freeview HD tuner.

The set’s glossy black bezel offset by a grey strip has a certain charm, but the build quality is very plasticky and lightweight and the chassis is also quite bulky by modern LCD TV standards.

The 32CV711B’s onscreen operating system isn’t significantly different to that employed by sets higher up Toshiba’s range. Unfortunately, this system is starting to look and feel pretty dated and in this instance is harmed further by its need to liaise with an uninspiring remote control.

The menus are essentially just a mass of white text against black backgrounds. This makes them consistently clear to read, but they are awfully dull. They’re also a little intimidating at times, creating the feeling that it might have been a good idea to divide the features up into a few more sub-menus.

The flimsy remote control isn’t a total disaster once you’ve got past the unappealing impression it makes when clutched in your hand.

For instance, it manages to keep the button count impressively low without leaving you confused over what you need to press to achieve a desired end. Its layout isn’t bad, either, with most of the important buttons falling reasonably easily to hand. In the end, though, its cheap feel is the thing that makes the most lasting impression.

One final little operating irritation concerns the set’s electronic programme guide. Toshiba has opted to present its guide in a rather different way to most, with the channel list down the left side, and all the upcoming listings for the particular channel you’ve selected appearing vertically on the right.

Initially this feels like quite an intuitive approach, until you realise that the TV has to switch channel every time you select a different channel on the listings. This both slows EPG browsing down and makes it impossible to keep watching or even listening to the channel you were on when you first called up the EPG.

The 32CV711B’s picture quality is similar to its features in that it’s a real mixed bag.

The first problem you spot is the appearance of some fairly noticeable motion blur, especially when watching standard-definition stuff. The screen’s native response time is quoted at an unimpressive 8ms and it doesn’t appear that the Active Vision processing does anything significant to boost this.

The set’s biggest weakness is something that’s becoming alarmingly common across Toshiba’s current LCD TV range: backlight inconsistency. While it doesn’t affect sections of the picture as large as those seen with Toshiba’s edge LED TVs, during dark scenes you can still clearly see as many as six patches of the screen that look markedly brighter than the rest of the picture.

Thankfully, many of these patches on the review sample were restricted to the screen’s extremities, but that certainly isn’t to say they aren’t still very distracting when they do appear and adjusting the set’s backlight and contrast settings is not a satisfactory remedy.

The 32CV711B further displays a rather limited approach to colours. Tones are quite bold and vibrant for a small-ish, entry-level TV and are also a little short on blend subtlety and range, resulting in images that occasionally look a trifle overripe.

Still, the lack of a little subtlety doesn’t seem a major price to pay for having the sort of basic picture vibrancy that will grab and hold the viewer’s attention even in a very bright room.

Motion blurring reduces quite a bit during HD viewing, enabling you to appreciate all that extra detail and crispness. This does not mean that the 32CV711B produces anything like the sumptuous hi-def clarity witnessed on the very best TVs around, though; there’s still a marginal residual softness, even when there’s not much motion going on in an image.

Dark scenes, meanwhile, enjoy solid amounts of shadow detail for a budget 32-inch set, despite it being able to produce a respectable enough black colour – except for where the backlight inconsistencies show up. As with most LCD TVs, though, the picture suffers some pretty major reductions in both contrast and colour saturation if watched from much of an angle.

The 32CV711B’s pictures leave it tilted marginally towards the positive end of the quality scale, certainly if it’s being considered as a second room set, but no TV that suffers from such blatant backlight issues can ever be given a wholehearted recommendation.

Sound

The 32CV711B produces a soundstage that’s uncomfortably short of power and dynamic range. Even simple dialogue sequences struggle to convince, so compressed is the sound into a cramped middle range. So you can imagine how thin and generally unconvincing the sound quickly starts to become when pushed even slightly hard by an action sequence.

Unsurprisingly, with so little raw power and range, the sound features noted earlier prove to be nothing more than just ways to make the soundstage sound even worse.

Value

If its low price, USB multimedia capability and bright, colourful pictures tick your boxes, the 32CV711B is a compelling option as a second-room set, but it doesn’t pack enough of a performance or feature punch to become a truly satisfying main TV.

The 32CV711B’s price-busting remit chimes nicely with the current state of the economy and it is passably attractive, if rather flimsily put together. But there are early signs of price-induced corner cutting as a hunt for connections throws up, among other things, a mere two HDMIs, and no Ethernet port.

It’s not all bad connection news, though, as the set does carry a D-Sub PC input and a USB for music and photo playback.

The 32CV711B impresses with some aspects of its features too, particularly its delivery of a really pretty potent colour management system. But it also falls short in one or two areas, notably its lack of motion processing, its mere HD ready resolution, and lack of Freeview HD tuner.

Pictures seem tailor-made for second room use, emphasising brightness and colour saturations at the expense of some of the subtleties you might be looking out for on a main TV.However, while pictures are mostly quite satisfying, there are colour flaws, motion problems, and worst of all, backlight inconsistencies, the latter of which can at times be really distracting.

The 32CV711B hardly covers itself in glory with its audio, either, which is unusually weedy, even by the typically uninspiring standards of cheap LCD TVs.

The net result of all this is that the 32CV711B isn’t the awesome, all-conquering bargain it might first appear, but might still give decent service as a second-room set.

We liked

If you can see past the 32CV711B’s rather unimpressive build quality, it’s not a bad looking set for its money. Its pictures are bright and colourful and it’s great to find such a cheap set able to play photos and music from USB devices. Plus, of course, it’s cheap.

We disliked

It’s a shame there are only two HDMIs on the 32CV711B, and that the set doesn’t have a Freeview HD tuner. Backlight inconsistencies damage dark scenes too, HD pictures could look sharper and there’s obvious motion blur, especially with standard-definition sources.

Verdict

The 32CV711B offers far more set up flexibility than your average cheap and cheerful TV, but also suffers from two predictable flaws: wince-inducingly underpowered audio and some very noticeable backlight consistency problems.

Its colours and detailing lack subtlety too, and the set’s connections only include two HDMIs. However, at least the picture is bright and colourful, facts that join with the set’s solid multimedia features and aggressive price in making the 32CV711B a potentially decent option as a second-room TV.

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This latter omission is particularly striking, given that hi-def terrestrial tuners are now fairly routine fixtures on modern TVs.

The £500 price is cheap for any 32in LCD TV, though, let alone one with an LED backlight.These are proven to deliver better pictures than standard (CCFL) lamps and are usually found only on premium LCD TVs such as Samsung’s 32C6000, which comes in at nearer £800.

So Toshiba’s thinking with the 32SL738 suddenly becomes blindingly clear: it wants to grab headlines by delivering the cheapest 32in LED TV it can, even if that means stripping away a few key features.

If you want a 32in TV from Toshiba that does carry Freeview HD, take a look at either the 32SL753 or the CCFL-powered 32RV753. Other edge LED options come in the shape of the WL and VL series, but for these start at 40in and are considerably more expensive.

The 32SL738′s use of edge LED lighting has to be its stand out feature, partly because you wouldn’t expect to find it in play on a £500 32in set and partly because it enables a stylish, strikingly slender body.

The backlight also helps Toshiba rustle up a mighty claimed contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1. As ever, this figure needs to be taken with a pinch of salt, given the impossibility of realising that amount of contrast in ‘real world’ conditions, but the figure is at least illustrative of the differences in how CCFL and edge LED technology work and suggests how much better the latter has the potential to be if it’s done well.

Price-driven compromises are manifested in the lack of an Ethernet port and three HDMIs where Toshiba nearly always manages four. There is a multimedia-capable USB port, though, as well as a D-Sub port that enables the screen to double up as a PC monitor.

Heading into the onscreen menus uncovers a pretty extensive set of adjustments including a selection of picture presets as well as adjustments to backlight output and colour temperature, with the latter extending so far as give you control of the gain level of each of the red, green and blue colour components.

Even more surprising on such an aggressively priced – and apparently stripped down – TV is the stuff tucked away in its ‘Advanced Video’ menu. This includes noise reduction options, a multi-level colour transient Improvement circuit and an ‘Adaptive Luma Control’ option that adjusts the brightness and contrast based on analysis of the incoming image.

Other tweaks include the option to deactivate the default active backlight if you find its continual brightness adjustments distracting, the ability to limit or set to full the HDMI RGB range and a flexible colour management facility that enables you to manipulate the hue, saturation and brightness settings for all six of the main colour components (meaning cyan, magenta and yellow, on top of RGB).

Even the audio features menu has a couple of noteworthy features, including a lip-synch mode, a bass booster and a pseudo-surround sound processor.

The set includes a bit of picture processing too, in the form of Toshiba’s Active Vision LCD. Potentially significantly, it has neither 100Hz processing for reducing motion judder and blur nor Resolution+ for upscaling standard-definition.

Hopefully, the fact that the 32SL738 only has to upscale standard-def to an HD ready rather than a full HD panel will mean that Resolution+ isn’t missed all that much. There’s no Freeview HD tuner or any built-in online capability, though, and you can’t stream material from DLNA PCs.

The remote control feels cheap and plasticky and doesn’t rest comfortably in your hand. The layout feels anti-intuitive, with the important buttons along the bottom of the remote falling to hand less readily than the larger but less important numerical buttons at the top. The main menu button is particularly awkward to reach, as well as being extremely tiny.

The onscreen menus, meanwhile, look dull and dated, filling your field of vision with lots of boring text and not doing anything to streamline your route to certain feature areas.

Two examples of this latter point are the lack of a direct means of accessing the TV’s Media Player (for USB playback) and the hiding of an important Game Mode within an unhelpfully named Preferences menu (why not put it in with the other picture presets?).

The EPG is decently presented compared to the main menus, though it’s slightly clumsily executed. Rather than the usual approach of leaving the channel you were watching playing while you browse the listings for other channels, instead it changes to whatever channel you select on the list, and then presents you with the next few hours of entertainment on that channel on the EPG.

This seems to run contrary to the idea that you use an EPG mostly to browse for a time slot or a specific programme rather than a channel. Plus, having to change channel every time you move to a different channel on the EPG really slows down browsing.

One final barrier to a straightforward relationship with the 32SL738 is its unhelpfully concise instructions manual.

The 32SL738′s picture quality has its moments, but ultimately feels a bit average by edge LED standards.

It’s at its best with bright, colourful footage, as most LCD TVs are. With such footage – animation Blu-rays, studio news footage, chatshows and so on – your eye is treated to some appealingly richly saturated colours, decent, if hardly explosive, levels of sharpness and clarity, notwithstanding a little motion blur with standard-def and a little judder with Blu-rays, thanks to the lack of any 100Hz processing.

The motion issues aren’t as continually distracting as they are on many other high-value 32in TVs, though.

Other strong points include a solid degree of subtlety when showing colour blends and tricky tonal shifts, even with skin tones and respectable upscaling of standard-definition that leaves programmes from the Freeview tuner looking at least a little sharper without drawing undue attention to any MPEG noise they might contain.

Anyone averse to overt video processing might enjoy the very natural look to the 32SL738′s pictures, though a good image engine might have reduced judder and enhanced sharpness.

From here on in, though, the news is mostly bad. The worst flaw is inconsistent backlighting. The sample used in this test betrayed two obvious patches during dark scenes where the light level on show was notably higher than elsewhere on the screen.

One portion along around a third of the top right edge was really extremely noticeable, to the extent that it suggested a possible fault with this particular sample, but then these sorts of problems have been common with Toshiba’s recent edge LED TVs.

Another issue is the 32SL738′s black levels. While the set is capable of deep black hues the dynamic backlight is very clumsy and overbearing, reacting slowly to extreme changes in content, then often too strongly.

The result is that you often get distracted, especially during movies, by shifts in overall brightness as the screen tries to figure out how best to adjust its images to the changing content it’s showing.

The active backlight problems will likely tempt many people to turn the feature off. Yet if you do, the general black level response takes a discernible hit – unless you’re fortunate enough to be able to run the screen in a darkened room, where the picture can still look good with a very reduced brightness/backlight level.

Further issues find the set’s backlight consistency problems being exaggerated if you start to move sideways from directly opposite the screen, and some slightly uncomfortable colour balances using the TV’s out of the box settings. Reds look rather forced, for instance, and skin tones can look unnatural. The set does provide the colour management tools to address these problems, however.

Sound

During even a half-hearted action sequence the 32SL738 sounds woefully underpowered, with no bass at all and a very cramped mid-range that doesn’t even have enough breathing room to allow treble details to emerge with any clarity or ease. At times some sound effects and vocals go more or less entirely AWOL, due to the speakers’ inability to cope with anything but the most basic audio mix.

Value

The 32SL738 is a very attractive edge LED TV on paper, but its performance is underwhelming and some significant feature compromises have been made.

Ultimately, the 32SL738′s £500 tag looks fair, rather than remarkable.

The slim cabinet and glossy finish certainly don’t look like they belong to such a cheap TV.
Signs of its budget nature start to appear with its connections, though, as we fail to turn up an Ethernet port and only find three HDMIs rather than our preferred four.

Not having an Ethernet immediately indicates, of course, that the 32SL738 doesn’t have a Freeview HD tuner, and that it can’t access DLNA PC content.

It does play JPEGs and music files from USB sticks though, and can double up as a PC monitor, so it’s certainly not completely anti-multimedia.

Picture quality is a mixed bag. Light sequences look good once you’ve calibrated away a few colour imbalances, thanks to a strong brightness output and vivid colour saturations. But dark scenes are upset by twin issues of an inconsistent backlight and an over-aggressive, underwhelming dynamic backlight system.

Add to these hit-and-miss pictures a really very feeble audio performance, and you’ve got a set that isn’t quite the edge LED blockbuster it might at first appear.

We liked

The 32SL738 is very nicely designed and has a fair amount of multimedia support for its price and its pictures are enjoyable when fed bright, breezy sources.

We disliked

Its operating system feels dated and perplexing in places and audio is below par, while dark scenes are troubled by backlight problems. The lack of online capability is mildly disappointing and the absence of a Freeview HD tuner is a big letdown.

Verdict

The 32SL738 looks good and is well connected, but the lack of a Freeview HD tuner feels like a trim too far and the backlight inconsistency is a worry.

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Sandwiched between two very well reviewed 32-inch 32PFL9705 and 46-inch 46PFL9705H sets in Philips’ high-end 9000 Series, the 40-inch 40PFL9705 is an expensive TV and is closer to the spec of the stunning £4,000 58-incher 58PFL9955H than it is to supermarket cheapies.

Alongside Philips’ 40PFL9705 unique Ambilight mood-lighting feature, the 40PFL9705‘s cutting edge credentials include direct, – or ‘full’ – LED backlighting, connected TV status and 3D readiness.

The light source arranges 224 individually controlled diodes behind the LCD panel to enable local dimming and therefore wider contrast and deeper blacks. It’s the costliest, but most effective way of implementing LED backlighting.

It’s largely being phased out by other brands, which are increasingly relying on cheaper, and slimmer edge LED designs (where LEDs fire only from the sides of the panel), so it’s nice to see Philips’ high-end credentials continue.

The 40PFL9705 is also 3D capable, though you’ll have to attach the bundled 3D transmitter to add that third dimension.

There is, however, one small omission that may seriously hamper the 40PFL9705‘s chances of mass-adoption (apart from its high price). Due to a misjudgement concerning Freeview HD’s popularity, the 40PFL9705 is fitted with a bog-standard Freeview tuner only.

That could compromise the appeal of this otherwise delectable TV – and that’s a huge shame, because nothing in the 40-inch category touches the 40PFL9705 for sheer image quality.

The battle between edge and full LED arrays is not yet settled, but the 40PFL9705′s performance suggests that the former is for those after a slim TV with decent contrast, whereas the latter is for anyone after a TV with exceptional all-round skills – and the 40PFL9705 is certainly that.

We liked

Rich in contrast and colour, this set’s 2D pictures – with hardly a trace of motion blur – are among the finest around. A user-friendly interface, peerless remote control, adaptable Ambilight features and luscious build quality make for a TV that exudes class.

We disliked

Perfect Pixel HD is a wide and powerful suite of enhancements, but it is rather hidden from view and it would be no surprise if many customers never experiment with it. That’s a shame, because they’ll miss out on the 40PFL9705′s top-draw 2D pics.

For now, 3D on the 40PFL9705 rates as merely average, but it’s a slightly less uncomfortable experience than on other 3D LCD TVs. It’s also probably 10 or so inches too small to provide fully immersive 3D action. The lack of Freeview HD is also a massive ommission.

Final verdict

With flatscreen TVs now such a common commodity it’s becoming almost impossible to find something unique. Almost, but not quite; Philips has long been a brand you might expect to find selling TVs for peanuts in the high street – and that hasn’t changed – but it’s also the only mainstream brand whose high-end TVs have retained both their high price and delectable mix of style and brilliance.

The highly capable 40PFL9705′s combination of fine 2D with half-decent 3D, brilliant build quality, Ambilight and some of the best speakers around – together with a thoroughly high-end feel – carry on that tradition.

40PFL9705

Designing a 55-inch TV to look imposing but not overbearing is no mean feat. The mammoth, yet elegant 55WL768 is the result of Toshiba’s collaboration with leading European design agency, Jacob Jensen Design studio, an outfit credited with the sumptuous looks of many a Bang & Olufsen TV.

Edge-lit LED skinniness combines with a glossy black bezel, discretely backed by a metallic frame and invisible touch-sensitive controls hidden within the bottom edge of the frame.

This is no air-headed supermodel. The 55WL768 is Toshiba’s flagship screen, boasting a clutch of image processing tricks, Freeview HD and satellite tuners, 3D playback and the best multimedia capability on any TV yet from this manufacturer.

Toshiba has been playing home entertainment catch-up of late and the 55WL768 will really need to deliver the goods to give it a boost in the ratings against the likes of Sony’s KDL-55NX813 and comparable behemoths from the likes of Samsung and LG.

The headline feature is 3D playback but there’s no 2D-to-3D conversion. This counts less against the 55WL768 than it should do because 3D is more of a sideshow than a main event, as the lion’s share of viewing on any TV is 2D.

You are provided with only one pair of 3D specs, which is a pity, because the special event nature of 3D viewing means watching it is rarely a solitary pursuit and additional pairs cost between £75 and £100.

A big positive is that the screen’s connectivity roster is comprehensive, with four HDMIs, Ethernet and dual USBs leading the way. Thoughtfully, the designers have placed two HDMIs face down and two facing to the side, providing flexibility for cable management depending on where the screen is mounted.

Multimedia is a mixed bag with iPlayer and YouTube the only ‘Smart TV’ services on offer. No movie streaming or access to popular connected services such as Facebook, Picasa and Bloomberg and no browser. This is not really good enough for a flagship set.

Anyone who’s lived with built-in Wi-Fi access to iPlayer gets accustomed to the convenience and craves similar players from the other main channels. Some day all TVs will be made this way.

Networking is impressive with DLNA wireless connectivity built-in (or you can take a hike down the Ethernet path) plus there’s a USB media player (although you can’t record from the tuner to a disk using the USB connection)

Networking has an unusual twist: the screen can act as a digital media renderer. This lets you use a (Windows 7) computer to choose what content you want to display, rather than using the TV’s remote control.

There are myriad of options for adjusting the picture with Active Vision M200 HD and Resolution+ the most significant. Active Vision quadruples the 50Hz rate to reduce blur and is complemented by a film stabilisation mode that has three settings for motion smoothness, hopefully without introducing artefacts.

The screen’s other picture processing functions include an AutoView mode, which takes into account the room lighting and analyses the content being shown in real time. An ambient light sensor constantly adjusts the screen’s backlight depending on the lighting condition in the room to provide a better viewing experience. In light rooms backlight is increased, in dark rooms backlight is dimmed. Other run of the mill viewing modes include two movie modes, standard, game and PC modes.

The intensity of the backlight can also be adjusted manually using the set’s Backlight Adjustment Pro tool – but there is no way of reducing excessive backlight near the edge of the picture.

Regular adjustments for brightness, contrast, black level (aka static gamma) and colour can be made of course, although the latter is buried in a sub-folder called Expert Mode. This give you the option to switch off the red, green and blue components individually to adjust saturation and tint. You can also adjust the white balance in either 2pt or 10pt steps.

The remote control doesn’t match the design standard of the set itself. It’s very angular and has thin L-shaped buttons that look cool, but aren’t as easy to use as they should be. At least there’s a dedicated 3D button on the handset. The 3D specs are fairly comfortable, too.

One annoyance is that when watching Sky in 3D the Sky+ remote doesn’t work while the TV is in 3D mode, so you can’t pause or wind forward unless you switch back to 2D mode (with the screen split in two side-by-side images). This is not a problem exclusive to Toshiba: it also seems to affect Panasonic screens.

Toshiba’s Freeview EPG is unusual too with black text on white. It certainly packs in the info, with a grid of 13 channels shown over 1.5 or 2.5 hours. Aural but not visual continuity is maintained with the live broadcast.

The set’s operating system has a dated feel to it, lacking the panache of models from the likes of Sony, LG and Samsung. It’s by no means unpleasant to look at or work with but, as with too many screens, some functions that should be easily accessed are buried in sub-menus.

The iPlayer is user-friendly, and it’s easy enough to hunt around for recently broadcast gems in HD or standard definition. Note that you can’t navigate along the timeline and some shows suffer with an audio lag.

Setting up a wireless connection with a BT Home Hub proved straightforward but a Toshiba Windows 7 netbook required a wired Ethernet connection. File playback is unsurprisingly flaky but the screen should be able to play DivX, AVI and MKV video files. Taking the USB flash drive option seems more reliable.

One of the biggest challenges of edge-lit LED technology is ensuring an evenly lit image. Toshiba hasn’t quite mastered the art on the 55WL768, which has pools of brightness along the edge of the frame. Fortunately, you are only really likely to notice it with solid dark images such as title sequences.

The vast majority of viewing on the 55WL768 is likely to be done with 2D HD sources and it’s a pleasure to be able to report that this set serves up some pretty high quality stuff.

The secret is to find the settings that suit your environment and stick with them. Bumping Resolution+ up to its maximum setting does wonders, eking out greater detail in the 2D Avatar Blu-ray so that the bristles in Sully’s beard are almost as clear as you get on the best screens. Without Resolution+ engaged the picture can look a little soft.

Otherwise, there is little not to like with accurate colours, excellent contrast and plenty of brightness. Broadcast HD is equally enjoyable, especially movies and sport on Sky.

Standard-definition shows on Freeview are acceptable with Resolution+ engaged, if a little softer than their HD counterparts. The biggest weakness – also present on HD sources – is MPEG noise over large amorphous areas but it’s nothing like as noticeable as on Toshiba’s 40WL753, for example.

It’s worth playing with Active Vision and the Film Stabilization settings, which work in tandem. With the Active Vision engaged camera movement is smooth and there are no artefacts but Film Stablization must be kept to a minimum. Film Stablization and Active Vision M200 Pro are to be avoided with movies or filmic material as they detrimentally affect the look but can improve sports viewing.

It pays to know that if Active Vision and Film Stablization are off, switching Active Vision on automatically sets Film Stablization to its standard setting. Switching Film Stablization off also deactivates Active Vision M200 Pro.

Starting with both off, putting Film Stablization to its highest setting automatically turns Active Vision M200 Pro on yet setting Film Stablization to standard or middle doesn’t engage the latter. Got that? Good.

The viewing angle of the screen is excellent, with no drop-off in contrast or brightness at extreme angles.

The 55WL768′s 3D performance does give cause for concern. It’s not so much crosstalk, which is better than average (but only just), it’s more the lack of depth. With the Monsters vs Aliens 3D Blu-ray you just don’t get the same sense of objects projecting either into or out of the screen.

Brightness levels are affected more than they should be, but even so it’s impossible to get 3D with the same amount of punch as you’d expect from a 55-inch screen.

It’s not the fault of Toshiba’s 3D Blu-ray deck (used as a source) either as Sky 3D also suffers by comparison with rival screens. Take David Attenborough’s superb Flying Monsters programme. Too many of the carefully staged shots lose impact and the loss of resolution makes some long shots akin to watching a VHS tape. It really makes you wish they’d made it in 2D.

As big screens go, the audio performance of the 2 x 10W speakers is fairly decent. They have a broad dynamic range that makes dialogue easy to hear in most environments.

There are some useful audio features. SoundNavi is a function that configures the speaker control settings according to the setting, either on a stand or wall-mounted.

Dolby Volume evens out unwanted sudden changes in volume that can occur during commercial breaks and when switching between channels or sources. The screen also has Voice Enhancement, Dynamic Bass Boost and two surround sound settings, Spatial and Cinema.

It’s worth tinkering with the settings, depending on what you’re watching but a separate sound system is of course essential when watching a drama or movie.

Value

In the 55-inch 3D LED sector you can pay £2,500 for Sony’s stunning Bravia KDL-55NX813, £2,300 for LG’s 55LX9900 or just £2,000 for a Samsung UE55C8000. Clearly the Toshiba 55WL768 is the least expensive model at £1,800 so represents good value – even if its connected TV offering is no match for its rivals.

If you’re prepared to sacrifice a few inches and switch to plasma Samsung’s excellent PS50C680 can be snapped up for no more than £1,000.

Toshiba’s 55WL768 does most of the things you expect of a flagship model. That its connected TV offering is less exciting than its rivals is reflected in its price and at least iPlayer is provided. It doesn’t look quite as thrilling as some of the other screens out there, but a lot of thought has clearly gone in to making it as user-friendly as possible.

Like so many 3D models, it does a lot better with 2D material than 3D, serving up some stunning HD images that will keep movie, drama and sports fans more than happy.

We liked

An appealing yet understated design with clever placement of the connections on the back panel. Dynamic, punchy and realistic images make watching HD broadcasts and Blu-rays a delight. Resolution+ really does eke out every last drop of detail. Hooking up wirelessly to a broadband router is a cinch, too.

We disliked

Active Vision has benefits for sport but makes filmic material look weird. Film Stabilization just seems to complicate matters. DLNA networking requires someone with good IT skills to set it up and the remote control could do with improvement.

Verdict

As is so often the case, it’s the 3D performance that proves to be the Achilles’ heel of an otherwise impressive slimscreen. The 55WL768′s 3D performance is lamentable and its multi-media capabilities are a bit of a mixed bag, but it is an excellent 2D screen.

Take 3D out of the equation and you have Toshiba’s 55WL753, which is a 2D-only version of the 55WL768 and would be well worth considering. If 3D and/or connected TV are your bag, though, you’d be best advised to look elsewhere.

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Panasonic’s enviable reputation is based on a combination of rip-snorting high-end screens and solidly respectable everyday sets.

The X20 Series represents Panasonic’s current plasma value offering; it lacks much of the more advanced functions seen further up Panasonic’s range, but for frugal buyers who don’t want to pay for extra bells and whistles, it delivers big performance bangs for a modest buck.

The TX-P37X20 enjoys a surprisingly solid construction, although it’s numbingly ordinary from a design point of view. This not-so-thin (94 mm) flatscreen has a glossy plastic frame and standard-issue oval stand. The textured plastic bezel and pedestal certainly won’t be to everyone’s taste.

The best you can say about the styling is that it’ll blend with most décor and not attract undue attention to itself.

The TX-P37X20 has a resolution of 1,024 x 720 pixels. Its sibling screens (the TX-P42X20 and TX-P50X20) are 1,024 x 768-pixel models. This makes them HD ready, rather than Full HD, though the extent to which this represents a sacrifices entirely depends on the type of video sources you tend to use.

If Blu-ray isn’t high on your agenda, you won’t suffer a significant visual penalty. Perceivable differences between a 1080p and 720p image are often governed more by screen size and viewing distance than raw resolution.

It is arguable, even, that a 720p screen is an advantage on a screen of this size as it uses larger pixels than a 1080p model and is consequently significantly brighter. For plasma viewers this is a real plus, as it enables the TV to perform well in rooms with high ambient brightness.

All the X20 models offer 100Hz Double Scanning. In the ever escalating war of numerical specification claims, 100Hz is pretty old hat, but it’s certainly good enough to remove traces of image flicker commonly associated with 50Hz displays.

The remote control is a standard Panasonic design with directional arrows and a central OK confirmation button. It’s easy enough to master. AV inputs are toggled through with the Input TV/AV button at the top of the remote.

Rear-side connections include just two HDMI inputs, component video, a pair of Scarts and phono stereo and optical digital audio outputs. Additional side inputs include a CI (Conditional Access) slot, a third HDMI input and a set of AV phonos. There’s also a mains power switch.

The side is also where you’ll find an SD card reader with Viera media player software; this makes playback of digital still images and AVCHD movies a snap. Browsing pictures is made easy through thumbnails, and you can even enhance your slideshows with background music and assorted transitional effects (Fade, Slide, Dissolve etc) Motion.

Video file playback support covers AVCHD, AVCHD Lite, MPEG2 and H.264/AVC formats. The Media Player interface is really rather nice. It’s a shame Panasonic couldn’t stretch to the inclusion of a USB input on this set, for additional multimedia playback support.

The TV also supports CEC control over HDMI as standard. CEC is the (almost) generic function that enables a single remote to control multiple devices linked by HDMI. Panasonic calls its version of the system Viera Link.

On the TX-P37X20 it’s been embellished with compatibility for the brand’s Lumix digital cameras. Simply connect your shooter via HDMI and you’re granted remote control over all images stored on the camera.

Perhaps the most significant feature omission here is a Freeview HD tuner. For many shortlisters, this alone will rule the screen out of contention. It’s certainly a shame, given the HD performance of the panel itself. Of course, the lack of Freeview HD is less significant if you already subscribe to Sky+HD or Virgin media pay-per-view (PPV) services.

Little about using this stripped down set is likely to cause consternation. The interface is Panasonic’s usual, box-like affair, with nested functions and it’s easy enough to use. There is also the horizontal Viera Tools bar, which enables a more graphical navigation. Options here include a Pause Live TV button, Photo and Video modes (for playing back content from an SD card and Viera Link control.

During the setup procedure you have the option to set an owner ID. This comprises your name, house number and postcode, protected by a PIN number. It may prove useful should you ever need to recover the set if it goes astray.

Tuning channels is fast and straightforward. Once tuned, preferred channels can be added to a Favourites List for quick access; alternatively, you can hide unwanted stations. Given the amount of shopping channel dross on Freeview this is no bad thing. All hidden channels can be recalled from banishment via a simple Reveal/Hide key press.

If you do take a bunch of channels off the EPG grid, make sure the rest of the family know what you’ve removed from sight, else it could lead to a lot of confusion. Helpfully, you can rename your AV inputs to better reflect the way you use your system, perhaps adding brand names to specific HDMI inputs (eg Sky box). This should make the set easier for everyone to use.

Panasonic’s seven day programme guide, supplied by GuidePlus, will never win prizes for its design. The vertical ad slot (revenues from which apparently do not go to Panasonic, but to GuidePlus’ owners, Gemstar) restricts the amount of screen space available for programme listings.

That said, the Display Information banner pulled up over broadcast TV is neatly done. It relays channel number and station name, the programme’s start and finish times and relays a little fuel gauge graphic which confirms how much of the show is left to go.

The TV itself offers a variety of aspect ratios (a trio of zooms, 4:3, 14:9 and 16:9). There’s an Overscan defeat for the Auto and 16:9 modes that enables you to prevent any of the picture information from being lost behind the bezel.There is also an Off Timer, should you have need of such a thing.

One aspect of the set that could be easily overlooked is its Radio Mode, which turns off the picture display automatically when a radio channel is selected. This is a boon for anyone who likes to use their Sky and Freeview boxes to listen to radio stations.

Not only does this mode reduce power consumption, it also prevents any unwanted image retention from static logos. The screen is only in a sleep mode, and pops back to life when any button is pressed on the remote.

The TX-P37X20 performs well with a combination of test patterns and content types. Using standard monoscope test images, clarity is dictated by the native resolution of the panel; consequently a 1,080-line test signal maxes out at 720 lines on screen and much of this definition is retained during movement.

A test developed by the Advanced PDP Development Centre, sporting an ever-decreasing graticule grid, reveals only a modest loss of detail. Scrolling horizontally at 6.5ppf (pixels per frame), image definition dips to around 700 lines.

A little more detail is shed when the speed of the pattern increases to 12.5ppf. A secondary test pattern, comprising of scrolling Japanese and English text, shows just how robust the image quality is, with no smudging at 100, 50 and 30 per cent brightness.

The set only offers simple picture parameter control (in keeping with its likely use). There’s the various viewing modes (Dynamic, Normal, Cinema, True Cinema and Game), plus basics like Brightness, Colour and Sharpness, plus colour balance.

There’s not much picture processing beyond this, although you can elect to engage C.A.T.S. (Contrast Automatic Tracking System), which automatically tweaks settings depending on ambient room lighting, P-NR (Picture Noise Reduction) noise reduction and 3D-Comb, which purports to make still images more vivid.

You can’t fiddle around with gamma levels, although the TX-P37X20 does use Panasonic’s proprietary Real Black Drive system, which in itself is rather adept. Using pre-discharge control technology, it keeps phosphors under tight reign allowing crisp, deep blacks to sit alongside peak whites.

Contrast is rated by Panasonic at 2,000,000:1. This is a dynamic, rather than a native figure, so take it with a big pinch of salt. However, a test sequence of the Tokyo tower, shot at night, reveals just how dynamic images can look.

While the night sky is convincingly black, the neon highlights on the tower and brightly lit surrounding trees, give tremendous depth to the image. A 20/20 B&W scale confirms this excellent greyscale performance.

Unlike competitively priced LCD screens, which often suffer with uneven backlighting (be it LED or CCFL), the smooth tonality of the Panasonic image is unquestionable.

The viewing angle is also first rate. Plasma is intrinsically more supportive of wider viewing angles than LCD/LED screens, retaining colour and contrast when viewed off axis.

Colour fidelity is terrific. Hues ping, particularly reds. A test sequence comprising brass instruments and varnished violins looks completely natural.

For gamers, there’s a dedicated mode; the lighting fast response of the panel makes it a fine choice for rapidly moving titles such as Call of Duty: Black Ops. Panasonic rates the response time on this panel at 0.001ms.

To help prevent screen retention, contrast is also lowered automatically after a few minutes if no control signals are sent to the set, or no operations are performed. Low contrast negates any likelihood of screenburn.

Despite the lack of headline grabbing fast frame rates, this screen is wonderfully smooth. A cinematic panning test from Sleeping Beauty (Blu-ray) has Prince Charming cantering behind a rocky outcrop with buttery ease; there’s no judder. Yet despite this glacial smoothness, the screen always looks cinematic. Panasonic’s 100Hz IFC processing does not add any additional (unwanted) artefacts to the image.

Audio performance is great for a screen of this size. There’s enough power on tap to satisfy causal viewers and a trio of modes are available to tailor the sound when required (Music, Speech, User). When in the User mode, a simple graphic equaliser becomes available.

For a little extra audio whammy there’s V-Audio processing, which comes in two flavours: the standard engagement offers a wider stereo soundstage, while V-Audio Surround attempts to offer a more immersive listening experience. In truth it simply widens the stereo soundstage even more, but some might enjoy the effect.

The screen also supports the Audio Description service. This opens up an additional sound track that narrates events on screen for visually impaired viewers. You can switch the service to Auto or Off, and adjust the volume of the description sound track itself.

Value

For those on a tight budget, this Panasonic represents tremendous value if you rate picture performance above media streaming and network connectivity. The fact that the screen is 720p will be an issue for some, particularly if it’s to be paired with a Blu-ray player, but the fact remains it gives a bright, sharp, stable image that’s easy to appreciate.

We think you’ll struggle to find a comparably priced TV able to compare when it comes to image quality.

Despite its distinctly unglamorous demeanour and sparse feature set, the TX-P37X20 is a screen that rewards cautious investors. It offers a picture quality that’s very easy to live with and comes with few caveats outside of the HD ready nature of the panel itself.

To get the best from the model, partner it with a hi-def capable set-top box, with an output matched to 720p. The speed and smoothness of the TX-P37X20, meanwhile, is ideally suited to fast moving action games.

We liked

The set’s fine motion resolution performance and super-smooth panning, not to mention its great dynamics; the brightness of the 720p panel and its well considered usability also impress.

We disliked

The lack of any network function and the absence of a USB port for local media playback; the lack of a Freeview HD tuner also dents its appeal.

Verdict

If you are in the market for a low cost, high-performing plasma this sub 40-incher is certainly worth an audition. It may lack cutting edge niceties, but it’s well mannered and undeniably able. Panasonic may have stripped its plasma proposition back to basics but it hasn’t lost sight of what gives the technology an edge. We rate this as a bargain value buy.

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The pleasingly extensive features include Ambilight, open internet access and Pixel Precise HD processing and there is a high degree of multimedia support, with all sorts of video, photo and music files being playable via either USB storage devices or DLNA PCs. You can make the TV Wi-Fi ready, too, if you add an optional USB adaptor.

The feature count isn’t totally comprehensive, though, as the set sports neither 3D support nor a Freeview HD tuner. The former omission is entirely forgivable on a £620 edge LED set, but the missing HD TV tuner is harder to stomach, although this is a flaw common to every set in the current lineup.

The 8000 series above the PFL7605H adds 3D playback via a bundled pack and introduces the more powerful Perfect Pixel HD video processor. If money’s no object, meanwhile, the 9000 Series, with direct LED lighting and superior 3D capabilities (except on the 32-inch model), is well worth investigating.

The backlight makes for an extremely svelte TV and a distinctive metallic silver livery and rounded corners complete an extremely pleasing picture.

Ambilight Spectra 2 ranges rows of LED lights down the set’s left and right sides to cast pools of coloured light onto whatever is behind the set, changing the hue and intensity to suit whatever is onscreen, usually uncannily accurately.

It might sound gimmicky, but the feature is now so sophisticated that is can even compensate for the colour of your walls and repeated tests of the system suggest that it makes long-term viewing less tiring and more engaging.

The surprisingly generous connections kick off with four HDMIs, one of which is built to the v1.4 spec, enabling it to offer an audio return channel to your AV receiver. If you’re a multimedia type of person, you will also doubtlessly get plenty of use out of the provided USB and Ethernet ports, both of which enable playback of most of the main photo, music or video format types from USB storage and DLNA PC devices.

The Ethernet also provides the portal to Philips’ part weird, part wonderful online service, NetTV. The weird part is the section devoted to ring-fenced content controlled by Philips and is designed to work well with a TV operating system. There is plenty of video content, but sadly most of it is subscription only and it doesn’t help that much of it is foreign (ie, non English) language.

The wonderful, currently unique aspect of NetTV is that is enables you to surf the web at large via a built-in Opera browser. This has limitations (it doesn’t work with plug ins, for instance) and having to input lots of text and navigating web pages using a TV remote isn’t ideal, but having more or less unfettered access to the internet feels genuinely liberating.

The last really important feature of the 32PFL7605H is its picture processing. Pixel Precise HD might only be half as powerful as the top-end Perfect Pixel HD engine, but it is still extremely potent and outperforms most if its rivals in such important areas as colour, contrast and motion handling and gets an added boost from 100Hz scanning.

If it isn’t to your taste, every individual facet of the processing is adjustable via the onscreen menus.

The 32PFL7605H’s ingenious remote control combines an elegant, tactile design with a remarkably low button count while managing to handle the vast amount of features at your disposal with ease.

The onscreen menus are similarly well considered; they’re not particularly pretty, but are mostly logically organised and it is clear that considerable time and effort has gone into striking the optimal balance direct button feature access and selection from the onscreen menus.

The only downside to the system is the extent to which you need to get involved with the 32PFL7605H’s various processing tricks. This is because some of the tools available can make pictures look worse if you set them too high or apply them to the wrong sort of material and Philips still doesn’t seem particularly adept at adjusting all the processing options automatically.

In other words, you’ll need to revisit the picture set up menus quite regularly if you want to get the best from the 32PFL7605H.

Put some effort into optimising the picture and the rewards can be considerable. Sharpness with HD sources is prodigious compared to many similarly priced rivals, thanks to a combination of raw clarity, and detail reproduction, while Pixel Precise all but entirely eradicates motion blur and judder.

The high processing settings needed to achieve this, though, result in a picture that looks a bit too smooth to be real, especially with film sources. Plus, the complete removal of motion artefacts require the HD Natural Motion and 100Hz systems to be set to their highest level, which can result in shimmering noise around moving objects.

Running the motion compensation circuitry on a low level seems to work best, though it is worth experimenting with pushing up higher for some material and turning it off altogether for others.

The processing also helps deliver a well above average standard-definition performance. All but the lowest-quality Freeview sources are rescaled to the full HD screen with good sharpness and without too much noise and there’s little, if any, sign of any reduction in colour accuracy.

Tones, while certainly vigorous and bold, look a notch more believable at all times than they do on most comparable sets, enjoying a surprising degree of subtlety when portraying such tricky fare as skin tones and detailed landscapes.

While the 32PFL7605H’s is often a potent, engaging force to behold, however, it fails to excel with black level response. Dark scenes are a little greyed over, arguably more so than with its TV’s 40in sibling, the 40PFL7605, making dark scenes feel a little flatter and less richly detailed than brighter moments.

The 32PFL7605H also suffers slightly more noticeably from backlight inconsistencies than the larger version, with thin strips of extra brightness in a couple of places along its bottom edge and one along the top. Thankfully, these don’t spread across much of the picture, but can still be a little distracting during very dark footage.

Pixel Precise HD doesn’t upscale standard-definition material quite as cleanly as the newer Perfect Pixel processing engine and is more prone to leaving shimmering around moving objects if you’ve got the Natural Motion circuitry operating, but its strengths are still considerable for a £620 edge LED TV.

One final weakness that’s pretty much a given with LCD is that the screen isn’t particularly tolerant of wide viewing angles: contrast drops off and colours lose saturation from as little as 35º off-axis.

Sound

The 32PFL7605H is a decently accomplished audio performer with a mid-range wide enough to leave vocals sounding rounded and credible and trebles sounding clear without becoming harsh, sibilant or over dominant.
There’s even a small amount of bass in the mix, though as usual with a very slim TV, this remains an area where things could be improved.

Value

Performance and features are both sufficiently high compared to Toshiba’s ridiculously cheap 32SL738 model to justify the Philips’ extra cost comfortably.

The 32PFL7605H catches the eye by being unusually cheap for a Philips TV, but its early appeal runs much deeper than that. For a start, it looks classy, thanks to a slim profile and an unusual metallic silver bezel finish, not to mention the Ambilight light pools spilling from its sides.

It’s also got all the connections you’d expect to find on a more expensive TV, including extensive multimedia capability. Particularly good to find for £620 are the set’s DLNA support and online features that include open internet access.

The video processing, while not Philips’ most advanced, is still impressively potent for the money and does a very good job of making standard and high-definition pictures look very impressive, provided you’re willing to revisit the setup options reasonably frequently.

With some decent audio to accompany the good pictures, the only thing stopping the 32PFL7605H bagging a maximum overall mark is a slightly uninspiring black level performance.

We liked

Televisions as attractive and distinctive as the 32PFL7605H are rare beneath £650. It’s exceptionally well equipped for multimedia, features one of the best remote controls around, and is, for the most part, a good performer.

We disliked

The set’s black level response and backlight consistency aren’t quite as accomplished as those of this TV’s larger siblings and you need to spend more time than usual in the TV’s many onscreen menus in order to keep getting the best out of the set, as some of the processing options can cause problems with certain types of material. The omission of a Freeview HD tuner is also unfortunate.

Verdict

The 32PFL7605H puts sophisticated LED technology within reach of a mainstream audience with no significant compromises to performance.

The set also manages to cling to an impressive roster of features despite its affordability, with highlights being its potent video processing mix and its online capability, especially open web access.

The 32PFL7605H falls marginally short of top marks on account of not having a Freeview HD tuner and problems with deep black level response, but it’s still really good value, especially for someone after a quality second room set.

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