The propaganda

Samsung's engineers did an amazing job on the design of its range of High Definition televisions - there's something about the minimalist feel and that little circle at the bottom that really defines HD for me. Maybe I'm just strange like that. Regardless, the Samsung PS50Q7HD ticks all the right boxes in terms of specs too. The image resolution of 1377 x 768 makes it HD Ready, the contrast ratio is right up there at 10,000:1 and the13-bit video processing delivers a whopping 549 billion colours.

And there's more: an integrated digital tuner with 7-day EPG and enhanced by a CI slot, digital audio output and Samsung's DNIe picture processing system. This is designed to improve colour tones and vibrancy, with finer detailing and deeper black levels. The Smooth Motion Driver, which integrates something like 10 extra frames per second into the source picture, reduces the motion judder and false contouring.

The propaganda

The 42PF9831D/10 is currently biggest, baddest LCD HDTV that Philips has to offer. LCDs use to play second fiddle to plasma technology when trying to produce decent black levels. LCDs used struggle with fast moving images. Not any more.

The 42PF9831D/10 was the first set to offer Philips' ClearLCD system which, in fact, incorporates two further technologies: Overdrive Control and DSB (Dimmable Scanning Backlight). Overdrive accelerates the reaction of the liquid crystals by increasing the voltage, thereby reducing the effective response time down to 3 milliseconds (measured in perceived Blur-Edge-Width). Meanwhile, DSB uses new Hot Cathode Fluorescent Lamps (HCFLs) that simulate the scanning effect in CRT TVs. A ClearLCD set therefore allows for the progressive lighting of pixels for a shorter duration by allowing pixels to receive different amounts of light at the same time.

That not enough for you? Well that's okay; this set also uses the new Ambilight 4 full surround system and the new Pixel Plus processing engine (PP3HD). The latter improves on previous versions of the Pixel Plus engine with better artefact processing, which should see a big improvement on standard definition images. The Ambilight full surround now sports coloured lighting from all four sides of the set for even greater immersive properties.

The propaganda

Plasma TV technology has recently been fighting a losing battle against LCDs for control of the HDTV market. It's easy to see why: LCDs have been advancing in leaps and bounds, and are now available in larger sizes, have better contrast ratios, faster refresh rates and wider viewing angles than ever before. Meanwhile, Plasmas are still seen as heavy, fragile monstrosities that suck power like swarm of Mynocks. Panasonic, remaining stalwart in the face of diminishing odds, is keen to demonstrate that Plasma is still the best solution for screen sizes of 37" and higher - last year it revealed the PX600 series and we've gotten our mitts on the 42" TH-42PX600 model.

The 42PX600 offers native resolutions of 720p and 1080i and uses Panny's V-Real picture processing engine. V-Real improves the detail of SD signals, enhances the accuracy of red, green and blue colour handling and includes a gamma control system that apparently means the set can produce up to 29 billion different colours.

But the real ace in every Plasma screen's sleeve is the sheer level of contrast. The 42PX600 has a contrast ratio of 10,000:1 and uses the latest Real Black Drive to enhance those black levels.