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When most people talk about slim TVs these days, they're referring to the upcoming trend towards ever-skinnier rear ends. But when Toshiba talks about the slimness of the 46XF355D, it's not talking about depth but width.

For this is the second TV we've seen from the brand (following the 40in 40XF355D back in early December) to sport Toshiba's striking Picture Frame design, whereby the bezel around the screen is a mere 23mm across. The result is that the 46in 46XF355D occupies around the same space as many standard 42in screens.

You can get some sense of just how striking an effect this impressive achievement has from the pictures in this review. But the impact of the skinny bezel is even more striking ‘in the flesh', and looks even more remarkable wrapped around the 46XF355D's bigger screen than it does on the 40in model.

This really is the closest thing yet to that apparent manufacturer Holy Grail of the ‘completely invisible TV', where the only thing you see is the picture. And we have to admit that the effect really is gorgeous.

Unlike one or two actresses we can think of, though, the 46XF355D doesn't get by on looks alone. For instance, it's also prodigiously well connected, with three v1.3a HDMIs dominating proceedings (two on the rear, one down the side). And as you'd expect of v1.3a-type HDMIs, they all can receive those ultra-pure 1080p/24 HD images so beloved of the Blu-ray owning fraternity, and Deep Colour from any sources that support it (JVC and Panasonic's latest HD camcorders, for instance).

Elsewhere there's the inevitable component video input to help the TV earn its HD Ready wings, a digital audio output for outputting 5.1 sound received via an HDMI or Freeview broadcast, a D-Sub PC port, plus all the usual SCART, S-Video and composite fallbacks for anyone daft enough not to stick with the higher quality alternatives.

Perhaps the single most unusual jack, though, is a subwoofer line-out; there so that bass heads can ramp up the TV's audio rumbles by adding a separate low-frequency speaker.

We mentioned earlier that the 46XF355D can receive 1080p images, so you'll be pleased to know that it also sports a full HD native pixel count of 1,920 x 1,080 for presenting 1080-line sources with maximum integrity. To further support this, the TV carries an Exact Scan aspect ratio that can show 1080-line sources without any overscanning applied.

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