The design of big-ticket consumer goods tends to reflect the era in which they're made. Way back in the mid-20th century, cars had a Space Age, aerodynamic look, and TV sets resembled the monitors from a sci-fi movie. In the SUV-and-Hummer era, TVs grew unapologetically large, with hulking cabinets that only a McMansion could accommodate comfortably. I'm not sure what recent designs say about our current time, but a significant trend I'm seeing is TVs with minimal frames that seem to disappear into thin air.

Toshiba is actively pushing this look with its Super Narrow Bezel design. Its top LCD model, the 52XF550U, not only has a 1-inch-thin bezel, but a new version of its ClearFrame 120-Hz technology, which eliminates blurring from fast-moving programs like action movies and sports. Notably, the set supports 1080p/24 input signals from Blu-ray Disc players, with a "5:5 pulldown" option that preserves the original film-frame sequence.

View the set straight on, and only a sliver of gloss-black frame peeks out from the top and sides of the 52XF550U's screen. Its SoundStrip speakers are also compact; the strip juts out just an additional inch from the TV's bottom. Around back you'll find a full array of connections, including three HDMI and a pair of component-video jacks plus a VGA port.

Toshiba's big remote is a handful, and the keypad isn't backlit. Fortunately, the buttons are also large, and the layout is clean, making it fairly easy to locate a specific control in a dim room. To switch sources, you hit the Input button and scroll through options listed on an onscreen menu.

Hitting the Pic Size button calls up the set's comprehensive selection of display (aspect ratio) options. Natural and Full modes display 4:3 and 16:9 programs, respectively, while the Native mode scales images to fill the screen for all standard- and high-def formats, and displays them with no picture overscan.