Group test: 46-47in flat TV

With prices in the flat TV world still falling at a breathtaking rate, people are starting to think ever bigger when contemplating their next TV purchase. So much so that we're fast entering an era where 40-42in TVs are considered the 'standard', and 46/47in TVs are considered the 'step up' models for people who've had a good month at work or won a few quid on the gee-gees.

Unfortunately we personally have had a perfectly normal month at work, and our usual zero look with the horses. But magnanimous souls that we are, we've still managed to round up a quartet of 46in LCD models for the luckier members of our readership to get their teeth - and wallets - into.

Overview Price comparison: Philips 47PFL9632D Price: £1,850 More info: Philips Size (no stand): 1170(w) x 736(h) x 125(d)mm Weight: 33.5kg Resolution: 1920x1080 Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Claimed max contrast ratio: 8000:1 Claimed max brightness: 550cd/m2 Connections: Three HDMI inputs (PC and video), two Scarts (1 RGB), component video input, composite video input, S-Video input, D-Sub PC input, stereo audio output, headphone jack, stereo audio inputs, CAM slot, RF input, service port, USB port for JPEG, MP3, slideshow, MPEG1 and MPEG2 playback Philips 47PFL9632D With TVs as with so many things in life, size matters. But it certainly isn't everything. Philips seems to understand this perfectly, deciding to reinforce the mere 47in size advantage of its 47PFL9632D with one of the longest feature lists we've ever come across. The set's most immediately obvious trick is Ambilight, whereby pools of coloured light sympathetic to the content of the picture spill from the TV's sides. As well as giving the 47PFL9632D a striking after-dinner talking point, Ambilight genuinely makes long-term viewing more relaxing. Arguably the most significant 47PFL9632D feature, though, is its Perfect Pixel HD image processing. This builds on the detail-boosting, noise-reducing talents of Philips' previous Pixel Plus 3 system by adding a new 100Hz system designed to counter LCD's problems with motion blur, and an HD Natural Motion element to make movement more fluid. We could bang on for days about the 47PFL9632D's other features, but for the sake of space and your sanity we'll restrict ourselves to just one more: an Active Control system that can assess both the content of your images and your ambient light conditions to automatically optimise a series of image settings. Thankfully all the 47PFL9632D's high-falutin' technology delivers dazzling results. Immediately apparent, for instance, is how stunningly sharp and crisp HD pictures look - though the Perfect Pixel engine helps standard definition fare look remarkably detailed too. Even better, the sharpness we're describing is relatively unspoilt by LCD's usual problems with motion blur and judder. Colours, meanwhile, are jaw-droppingly rich and vivid, yet also possess exceptional subtlety and, for most of the time, entirely believable tones. It does no harm to the excellent colour situation that the 47PFL9632D's black level response is really good by LCD standards, avoiding much of LCD technology's still-common grey clouding problem when trying to show dark scenes. Our only concerns about the 47PFL9632D are that it's not especially cheap, and that it requires care in how you set images up, as occasionally the high-level picture processing goes slightly awry if it's not adjusted correctly to suit a particular source type. But these really are trivial concerns in the face of what makes a very good case for being the finest big-screen LCD picture quality we've ever seen.

Verdict Plus points Superb picture quality, features galore, Ambilight design Minus points Care needs to be taken with picture settings, occasional processing glitches

Overview Price comparison: Sharp LC-46XL2E Price: £1,700 More info: Sharp Size (no stand): 95.8(d) x 698(h) x 1101(w)mm Weight: 30.5kg Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Claimed max contrast ratio: 10000:1 Claimed max brightness: 450cd/m2 Connections: Three v1.3 HDMI inputs; Two Scarts (both RGB); component video inputs; composite video input; S-Video input; D-Sub PC input; headphone jack; stereo audio inputs; CAM slot; RF input; digital audio output; RS-232C

It gets off on the right foot, at least, by looking rather lovely thanks to the way a smoked glass cover has been placed over the normal black bezel. It's well connected too, with three HDMIs, a PC port and a digital audio output among the highlights.

When it comes to features, meanwhile, the 46XL2E doesn't just depend on its 100Hz system (which doubles the image's refresh rate to counter LCD's typical motion blur problem) for its appeal. You also get a very high claimed contrast ratio of 10000:1, Sharp's proprietary truD anti-judder processing, and a game mode that reduces processing levels to minimise image lag.

It thankfully takes mere seconds in the company of the 46XL2E's pictures to realise that Sharp has completely transformed its 100Hz system, with hugely winning results. Now any motion in an HD action scene looks fluid, clear and most importantly completely natural, rather than processed, nauseatingly slick and almost as if it's been superimposed over the background, as happened with Sharp's first-generation 100Hz sets. Phew.

Turning to other elements of the 46XL2E's picture performance, a keen eye for fine detail makes it an exemplary HD monitor. Seriously, the clarity, sharpness and lack of noise in its HD pictures really is a sight to behold.

The 46XL2E's clarity also helps it with colours, which appear superbly smoothly blended even when showing notoriously tricky material such as close-ups of faces. Colour tones look natural with HD too, and finally the set's black levels are comfortably the best Sharp has ever done, looking tinged with neither grey nor, as has been more common with Sharp sets, blue.

But what lets the 46XL2E down is its standard definition performance, which introduces colour noise, some strange colour tones and a disappointing degree of softness to proceedings. Darn. If only the TV world was all HD already…