You might be happy with your present TV, but we know that you’ve always got an eye on the future. What about those TVs that the likes of Sony and Samsung make that are top of the range? What should you be thinking about buying if money is no object or if you want the very best?
Here are the 2013 flagship models, the TVs to aspire to, along with the prices to match. It’s time to start saving.
LG 55-inch OLED TV (55EM970V)
The company’s OLED offering for 2013 is the LGEM970V. The picture quality of this 55-inch television is absolutely stunning, ensuring you will be the talk of the neighbourhood. It is just 4.5mm thick and weighs less than 10kg. LG’s passive 3D technology means you can use the 3D glasses you get from the cinema in your living room.
The catch, of course, is that it is more expensive than the average family car and while this is pushing the boundaries of what you need right now, it might be a little too much for watching EastEnders.
PRICE: £9,999 (BHD 3770)
Philips DesignLine
The Ambilight light tech that expands the experience beyond the picture by matching colours on the screen with lights that fire out of the back only enhances the stunning design that gives the picture a floating-like look. It’s a great picture and a great look and one unlike any other TV you’ll see on the market.
The trouble is that an all-glass design means that it is really reflective if you’ve got lots of lights or windows in the room, and to get the most of the design you need to have the space to rest it against the wall with zero clutter, not dumped in the corner surrounded by consoles and sound systems.
PRICE: £2,800 (BHD 1055)
Panasonic ZT60 60-inch TV
The Panasonic ZT60 is the big daddy of the Panasonic line and offers superb picture quality where the blacks are blacker than a black cat on a dark night. Great at handling motion, it also comes with a stack of extras such as Skype, voice control and services like YouTube and Twitter. This TV is also a limited edition, which adds to its allure.
At 60-inches it might be too big for your living room, while plasma will have serious adverse affect your electricity bill as its expensive to run. There are also rumours that Panasonic might stop making plasma televisions in the future altogether because they are too expensive to make.
PRICE: £4,000 (BHD 1508)
Samsung F8000 46-75-inch TV
The Samsung F8000 flagship TV is available in screen sizes of 46, 55, 60, 65 and 75-inches and the television comes with loads of tech and one of the best Smart TV hubs in the industry, letting you watch plenty of downloadable content via the internet. There’s also a built-in camera for Skype so you’ll struggle to find anything wrong with it. Of course, if you just like watching TV and nothing more, this is massive overkill.
PRICE: £2,500 (BHD 942)
Sony BRAVIA X9
The Bravia X9 is the company’s 4K television and comes in 55 and 65-inch versions. While you can’t get 4K quality footage easily at the moment, you will be future-proofing yourself for when that happens. In the US the TV will ship with a hard drive and download service for 4K films, but there’s no word on whether this is coming to the UK.
In the meantime Sony is launching a series of “remastered for 4K” Blu-ray discs that, while not 4K resolution, serve as a stop-gap to deliver the best picture quality available on current hardware.
If that all sounds a little too far-fetched, Sony recommends the slightly more affordable W900.
PRICE: Expected to be £5,000 (BHD 1885)
Samsung S9 85-inch 4K UHD
If you need to use your TV as an actual wall in your house, the S9 from Samsung is probably the one to go for. A monster of a television, it comes with its own easel that allows you to change the angle of the TV screen to suit where you are sitting or standing.
Samsung says that its “Precision Black” technology will give this TV impressive contrast and black levels. It’s also a full-LED TV, meaning that the backlight comes from behind the panel, rather than from the sides. This gives the best control over light, and should mean there are no random bright patches on your picture.
PRICE: Expected to be around £20,000 (BHD 7540)