Cheap 1080p LCD TVs

Round-up reviews let you compare four related products and find out which one is best for you

Last updated: 21 Dec 2007

If you're all about the numbers, you might think that a 1080p TV is the pinnacle of home-entertainment equipment. While we agree that the future is entertainment in 'Full HD', we don't recommend buying something just because it has a high number.

That said, Full HD screens are falling in price all the time, and it's now possible to get a 1080p TV for far less money than just a few months ago.

If you watch most of your movies on HD DVD or Blu-ray, a 1080p TV is an almost essential buy for you. Likewise, gamers can get a lot of benefit out of a high-resolution screen. If you mostly watch Freeview, or standard-definition cable or satellite, we don't think your needs are going to be best served by a screen like this -- you're better off saving money and getting a 720p screen.

If 1080p is something you must have, here's a selection of good-value screens that should impress with their picture quality without emptying your entire bank account.

Three of the screens here are under £1,000, and the cheapest are well under £800. The only TV that costs more than £1,000 is the trusty Sony W2000, but the extra cash outlay is worth it -- it's one of our favourite TVs ever. And because it's an older model you should be able to pick up a bargain if you shop about.

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	Samsung LE40M87	Panasonic TX-37LZD70	Toshiba Regza 37X3030D	Sony Bravia KDL-40W2000
Review date	7 Dec 07	14 Nov 07	24 Apr 07	27 Nov 06
Editors' rating	8.0	7.6	8.0	9.3
Price range	£800	£904.00 - £904.00	£700	£1,600
Review summary	If you want a 1080p screen at a remarkably low price, this is probably the TV for you. It's a good performer and beautifully designed. It has a few annoying quirks, but it's a solid LCD television Read full review	Having long proclaimed that plasma is the only technology worth using on large flat TVs, Panasonic's first ever 37-inch LCD, the Panasonic TX-37LZD70, is a generally solid, sometimes spectacular, effort. But while it stands up well versus many other 37-inch LCD rivals, we'd still take one of Panasonic's plasmas every time Read full review	We liked the 37X3030D a lot, especially when watching high-definition material -- the addition of 1080p to the middle of the Toshiba range is an excellent sign for the future. It is only let down slightly by its standard-definition performance Read full review	Sony's KDL-40W2000 has set a new benchmark for large screen displays. The full 1080p specification is equipped for the future while LCD image quality has never looked this good Read full review
User rating	8.0		9.0	8.0
Product Type	LCD	LCD	LCD	LCD
Diagonal size	40 in.	37 in.	37 in.	40 in.
Image aspect ratio	16:9	16:9	16:9	16:9
Resolution	1920 x 1080 pixels	1920 x 1080 pixels	1920 x 1080 pixels	1920 x 1080 pixels
Image contrast ratio	15,000:1	8500:1	3500:1	1800:1CR
Screen brightness	550 cd/m2	n/a	500 cd/m2	145 cd/m2
Speakers included	2	2	n/a	2
Sky High Definition compatible	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Dual TV Tuner	n/a	No	n/a	No
	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification	Full specification