Televisions

LG has had a topsy-turvy year in TV. On the upside, the brand’s taken the Smart TV world by storm with its WebOS interface. On the downside, it’s struggled to keep up with some rivals on the picture quality front.

This year was always likely to be a tricky one for Panasonic in TV terms, without having its ever-reliable plasma division to woo film fans. And to be honest it’s lived up – and down – to expectations, with the brand so far delivering a slightly untidy mix of hit-and-miss LCD sets.

‘Ooh, I really want a curved TV!’ said nobody ever. But today I find myself testing one anyway, thanks to Samsung’s conviction that the future of TV isn’t flat. In fact, so sure is the Korean screen king that bent is best that it currently only offers its top-tier TV technology in a curved flagship model: the 65in UE65HU8500. Is this a case of knowing what’s good for us before we do, or just trying to be different for the sake of it?

The temptation is to call 'time' already. If you want a superb 1080p LED connected TV, look no further. Buying conundrum solved – this Sony is all you need. Let’s hit the izakaya. Of course, to be that presumptuous would be madness. This new W8 doesn’t even lead Sony’s own 2014 TV fleet, for crying out loud...

It takes a lot to shock me these days, but the 90LE757 knocked me for the proverbial six in a number of ways. Firstly, it has Sharp’s name on it. This is somewhat startling, given that the brand’s TVs have been AWOL from my test bench for many months.

The latest in the new wave of UHD TVs, the Toshiba 65L9363DB, doesn’t get off to the most auspicious of starts, as at £5,500, it’s £500 more expensive than other 65in UHD/4K big-hitters from Samsung and Sony. And, although Panasonic’s L65WT600 is also £5,500, that model sports a cutting-edge HDMI 2.0 port while the 65L9363DB does not. In other words, if it’s going to justify its price, the 65L9363DB will have to perform better than its rivals – and that’s quite a challenge.

Ultra HD and OLED are the current buzzwords in AV, and plasma TV technology feels even more besieged than ever before, with confirmation from Panasonic that its 2013 range of plasma screens will be its last. Thankfully, it’s come out with all guns blazing with these models – but how much of the outstanding quality exhibited by Panasonic’s premium ZT65 and VT65 plasma TVs has filtered down into its mid-range series, as represented by the 42in TX-P42GT60?