Philips 32PF9830 HD ready LCD TV

When it comes to trickery, not even Potter can match this HD telly.

Not content with their Ambilight TVs being among the World's finest, the folks at Philips just had to go one better - by putting the technology in stereo.

This gorgeous-looking, HD-ready 32-inch LCD set is the first model we've seen that features Ambilight 2. The original Ambilight involved shining ambient light from the back of the TV that changed colour and intensity to match the overall tone of the image on screen. This tricks you into perceiving a better picture. The new version is in stereo, with different lights on either side to shine two colours at the same time. The good news is that it works even better to seemingly improve contrast and brightness. It's particularly good when moving from a bright scene to a dark scene, enabling you to see much more detail in the shadow areas.

You also get the new Pixel Plus 2 HD image-processing technology, which provides amazing picture quality. Hook up a DVD player via just a Scart lead and the crispness and detail are ramped up to astounding levels. What's more, there's no visible increase in noise or artefacts - we tried Collateral and it looked almost like an HDTV broadcast. There is a slight downside to this wizardry - occasionally you'll spot a slight shimmer around moving objects - but overall it's simply awesome. Sound quality is excellent too, with lots of bass as well as subtle detail.

In terms of connectivity, everything has been catered for, with HDMI, DVI, component and three Scart sockets. You can even plug in memory cards to view digital pics. The only letdown is that the tuner is analogue rather than Freeview.

The styling is slick, but it's the jaw-dropping picture that makes this one of the best tellies we've ever seen.