Vivadi Saturn Plasma TV system

In the world of AV, buzz words come and go on a seemingly daily basis. But just recently one's been much more persistent than most: convergence. Coined to describe the ever-closer union between the PC and home entertainment worlds, 'convergence' really could hold the key to the future of TV. Scratch that; we KNOW it holds the key. How do we know? Because thanks to Vivadi's extraordinary Saturn plasma system, we've already seen it…

If you've not heard of Vivadi, don't worry; you won't be alone. While this British company has in fact been toiling for years to turn a science fiction concept into an all-singing, all-dancing reality, the Saturn is the very first commercial fruit of its labours. And it's easy to see what's taken Vivadi so long. Describing Saturn as a TV is a bit like describing Star Wars as 'quite popular'.

To begin with, there is its utterly unique look. In its 'basic' form, it comprises a plasma TV (we tested an £8,000 46in version, but 42, 50 and 61in alternatives are due next year) mounted atop a tall stand made from high-grade, often curved wood, offset by neat patches of felt and metal. The result is much more like a large piece of furniture than a TV - which should suit its well-heeled, likely large-homed target audience just fine. (The first store stocking the Saturn is, inevitably, Harrods!)

What's more, the cabinet can be bought in natural cherry, natural maple and morello cherry, while the felt bits can be obtained in Petrol Blue, Ruby Red or Ebony. Plus, should you STILL not be able to find a combination that suits you, Vivadi will consider bespoke finishes too.

The 'AV as furniture' approach remarkably extends to a mammoth set of surround sound speakers which Vivadi offers as an optional (add £8,000) extra. These speakers - based on cutting edge NXT flat-panel technology - follow the same design lines as the TV console and can be had in the same wood and felt finish options.

Crucially, though, these speakers aren't the only upgrade option provided for the Saturn system. For ANOTHER £8,000 Vivadi will build in the 'Media Gateway'. This box of tricks effectively adds a fully-functioning PC to the Saturn proposition - hence our talk of convergence earlier. And so all the tricks you'd expect of a normal PC - internet surfing, gaming, storage for music and digital pictures, email, remote control of home networked systems, and so on and so forth - suddenly become available via your TV screen. What's more, to make the TV/PC integration more complete, the Media Gateway carries a built-in DVD/CD recorder/player, AND lets you record Freeview digital TV programmes onto its 200GB hard disk.

It also comes equipped with Microsoft's eagerly awaited Windows Media Center operating system. Especially created by Bill Gates' boffins to meet the needs of the 'convergence' age, this operating system tries to make running a PC and TV together as seamless and simple as possible. And contrary to what we may have expected, it really works astonishingly well. And hardly ever crashes...

Perhaps the Saturn's single greatest claim to fame, though, is its potentially infinite upgradability. Vivadi pledges that as new features and technologies come along - say, high definition broadcasts via Sky, or high-capacity Blu-Ray DVD - it will make modular upgrades that will help your existing Saturn system keep up with the technology joneses. You can even change the screen itself if necessary. In effect, then, the Saturn is the first TV genuinely able to grow old with you.

Performance
The full vision of the Vivadi Saturn concept is actually so complete that for once its performance is arguably only of secondary importance - especially as you can upgrade things as better versions emerge. But given the costs involved, it's still a relief to find that Saturn Mk 1 is certainly no second-rater.

Pictures via all sources are amazingly clean. There's strikingly little in the way of grain, dot crawl, edge shimmering, or fizzing over moving objects. What's more, the picture suffers practically no digital blocking or other nasty side effects from the process of scaling each source to fit the screen's native pixel count. Vivadi's proprietary panel driver clearly knows its onions.

The Saturn also rates highly in terms of contrast, serving up rich, deep black levels that give even dark scenes plenty of solidity, depth of field and vibrancy. There's fine detail galore on show too, delivering a rich tapestry of textures that reinforces the sense of solidity.

That's not to say the Saturn's pictures are perfect, however. The biggest glitch concerns subtle juddering over moving objects during DVD playback. Also, really dark parts of the picture can look a bit 'empty', as the screen loses a few details in the blackness. And finally, greenness can slip into skin tones during low-lit footage. These glitches stop the Saturn from being absolutely the best plasma TV performer we've ever seen. But there's no point getting too hung up on this given that you can always upgrade the screen anyway when Vivadi comes up with a better one!

Those extraordinary optional NXT speakers are mostly terrific performers, improbably justifying at least the lion's share of their £8,000 cost. We were hugely taken with the astoundingly rich, cohesive audio landscape they paint, enveloping you in a wonderfully convincing three-dimensional soundstage defined by subtlety and detail. The system is also powerful enough to open up during a raucous action scene, the subwoofer built into the main TV stand integrates impressively with the other speakers, and music generally sounds stunning.

If we were to be really picky, high notes can sound a touch warbly, and the centre speaker can sometimes get overwhelmed. But while this might mean you could get a better separates audio system for £8,000, that other system would not, of course, be designed to match your TV.