Group test: Style TVs

In an increasingly over-populated TV marketplace, it's getting harder and harder for specific models to make themselves stand out from the crowd. Some try and catch your eye with aggressive price tags. Some try and grab your attention with a fancy feature or two. But more and more TVs go for a more direct approach, namely that they just try to look nicer than all the others. What's more, recent sales figures suggest that this rather 'surface' approach to flogging more tellies actually works. So if design is apparently so important to you, we thought we'd get together four of the most stylish TVs around, to see which ones if any have any substance to match their up-front glories. Overview Price comparison: LG 42LG6000 Price: £950 More info: LG Electronics Size (with stand): 1038(w) x 797(h) x 380(d)mm Weight: 24.1kg Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Claimed max contrast ratio: 50000:1 Claimed max brightness: 500cd/m2 Connections: Four v1.3 HDMIs; component video jacks, D-Sub PC input, PC audio input, USB input, headphone jack, PCMCIA slot, composite video input, RF input, Two Scarts, digital audio output LG 42LG6000 To ram this 42in LCD TV's design credentials home, LG launched it to the press as if it was a fashion model showing off a new couture range. This may have slightly overstated the situation, but there really is no doubt that LG's 'Scarlet' TV is certainly a bit of a looker. From the front, for instance, it's a minimalist vision - a sheer black 'wall' resembling the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Except that it's the 'monolith with a hole'; a circular section cut out from the centre of the bottom edge you can see clean through. All very clever, but as if this wasn't stylish enough in itself, the TV also boasts a strident scarlet-coloured back panel (that sticks out a mere 80mm), and lights the edges of the cut-out circle in red when the TV's in standby. Cute. Crucially, though, the set doesn't trade on its looks alone. Other highlights include a very impressive four HDMIs, full HD resolution, a vast claimed contrast of 50000:1, 100Hz processing to make motion look sharper, a 'TruMotion' system that calculates new frames of image data to make motion look more fluid, and a USB port for direct playback of JPEGs or MP3 files. All great finds on a 42in LCD TV costing under a grand in many places. The 42LG6000 proves a decent, even good performer - but doesn't quite live up to that glam exterior. The good stuff begins with colours, which are impressively vibrant too, but crucially also manage to retain natural tones at pretty much all times. HD pictures meanwhile, look very sharp, with great detailing and clarity, emphasised by the way the 100Hz system helps motion retain plenty of detailing. Dark scenes look pretty good too, thanks to some more than respectable black levels. That said, dark scenes look a bit short of detail versus the best screens in this gorgeous group. And there's another problem too, namely that the set's TruMotion processing engine causes a few unwanted side effects, such as a flicker over fast-moving objects, and occasional ghosting around small image content, like a cricket or football. Verdict Plus points Good value, a fantastic all-round design, great connectivity, bright and colourful images Minus points Lack of detail in dark areas, some processing problems

Overview Price: £1,949 More info: Loewe Size (off stand): 959(w) x 688(h) x 120(d)mm Weight: 23kg Native aspect ratio: 16:9 Claimed max contrast ratio: 5000:1 Claimed max brightness: 500cd/m2 Connections: RF inputs, two HDMIs, component video input, two Scarts, headphone jack, S-Video input, composite video input, two USBs, VGA PC input, digital audio input, common interface slot, audio output Loewe Connect 37 A style-based group test without a Loewe TV in there would be like a box of Quality Street without the purple hazelnut ones. The German brand has long ploughed its own premium furrow based around eclectic, no-compromise TV designs - and this arguably reaches its zenith in the Connect 37. Every element of this set looks unique. Its convex side panels, variety of finish options (High Gloss Black, High Gloss White and Matt Chrome Silver), stunningly sleek profile and various, imaginative stand/mounting options all contrive to make it look unlike any TV you've seen before. There's even a sort of designer 'label' sticking out of the TV's side that illuminates when the TV is hooked up to a wi-fi system. Hubba. Did I say wi-fi system back there? Sure did. For contributing still further to this TV's uniqueness is the fact that it comes with the ability to stream JPEGs and music files from any PC around your home via either a built-in Ethernet port or wi-fi. As if this wasn't enough, the Connect 37 can even optionally (for £200) be fitted with a built-in 160GB hard disk drive recording system to reduce clutter in your AV room. So far everything about the Connect 37 seems to be helping Loewe achieve its oft-stated ambition of becoming the BMW of the TV world. The TV falls just a touch short of this lofty ambition, though, with its performance standards, for two main reasons. First, Loewe's proprietary image processing engine, Image+, can cause some flickering issues during camera pans. Second, colours sometimes look a touch off-key, at least during dark scenes. A more minor complaint would be that black levels, while good, aren't up there with the best contenders in this group test. However, don't deduce from this that the Connect 37 is a dead loss in picture terms. For the reality is that at times its images look absolutely superb. For instance, HD pictures tend to look supremely sharp, textured and detailed, as the set puts its full HD screen to full use and doesn't suffer too badly at all with LCD's common blurring issues. Also, while colours don't always look entirely believable they are at least extremely vibrant and bright, and while Image+ causes a few side effects, it does also help moving objects avoid LCD's usual resolution loss issues. If the Connect 37's pictures are good but flawed, though, its sonics don't need qualifying at all. They're absolutely excellent, with more power, dynamic range and clarity than any other LCD we can think of.

Verdict Plus points Stunningly designed, multimedia functionality, built-in PVR option, outstanding sound Minus points Black levels not quite the best, some processing artefacts, occasional colour flaws, rather expensive for a 37in TV

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