Feast your eyes: 10 'fortysomething' smart TVs

Spoiling telly addicts this Christmas

Sony 48-inch Bravia KDL-48W605B

At first glance there’s not much to separate Sony’s W600B series from its W700B siblings, apart from the slightly different screen size selection. Both feature a quartet of HDMIs, share X-Reality Pro picture processing tech and offer a comparable connected experience.

Get to grips with it, though, and the lesser build quality quickly anchors this lower down the pecking order. That said, this is a solid 2D-only performer, boasting an extremely good black level performance, broad rich colours and above average motion handling, making it a fine choice for movie and sport lovers.

Price £550
More info Sony

Toshiba 47-inch 47L7453DB

This Full HD Toshiba looks a good deal more expensive than it actually is. Build quality and cosmetics are high. It’s also a decent picture performer, capable of profound black levels and dramatic colour. Edge enhancement comes via the brand’s Resolution+ picture processing engine. Motion handling is best described as fair – stick to the Standard ClearScan setting for the most artefact-free results. There’s actually no shortage of presets and calibration modes – but all can be ignored. Just turn off AutoView and Dynamic modes and stick with the Standard setting.

This L7 screen also features Toshiba’s best-yet 'net-connected platform (admittedly previous attempts have been fairly lame). Toshiba’s titular Cloud TV service mixes a live tuner feed with content thumbnails and a Twitter window that pulls feeds from a trio of (non-specified) shows being broadcast. Connected services include Netflix, YouTube, Vimeo, IPlayer, Blinkbox and Viewster. 3D is of the passive variety. The set also incorporates MediaGuide Replay, which is essentially a Series Linking function should you connect a USB hard drive to the TV for timeshifting. Overall, this is a good value proposition for those looking for a well-built, upscale screen. ®

Price £700
More info Toshiba