GAME ON: Top 10 tellies for a World Cup kicking

Sony KDL-50W829

Not the flagship Full HD TV in Sony’s 2014 lineup (that honour goes to the KDL-55W955), but arguably the best in terms of value, the W8 combines slick design with stupidly good Full HD image quality. Deep lustrous black level performance, fruity Triluminos colour fidelity and shed loads of fine detail are all characteristic of the panel. Whatever your favourite team colours, you can be sure they’ll look at their best on this model.

Motion picture resolution is also first class, keeping fast moving action sharp without introducing artefacts. Changes to Sony’s Smart UI this year have seen an introduction of the One-Flick Discovery thumbnail search bar, which is good, and the Social View Twitter torrent, which is not. You can also Skype party with your mates during the game thanks to a dual picture outside picture function.

Sony KD-65X9005B 4K UHD TV

If you really must have it all, then Sony’s second gen X9 4K screen ticks all the boxes. From design to performance, this 65-incher could blow the doors off the Maracanã stadium. The unusual wedge design isn’t just a design affectation, it allows for bigger bass drivers. Indeed the quality of its forward-facing audio is positively hi-fi.

Naturally this big X9 has got all the usual Smart connected services, and with a nod to Sony’s FIFA sponsorship there’s a dedicated football mode which fine-tunes audio and offers shortcuts to YouTube content. Image quality is largely sensational. Native UHD, via Netflix 4K, looks spectacularly good, with monumental detail and three dimensional texture. Importantly, upscaled Full HD is photographically slick too. Motion handling, key to allsport, is accomplished with no overt artefacts. All things considered, a stunner. ®