Annoyingly. there are fewer options at 46/47in this year than there were in 2010 - and 3D is being pushed hard at this size.
Our favourite 46in is the
Samsung UE46D7000, which excels in 2D, but despite price cuts it's still a little out of your price range - cheapest I can find it is £1350.
However, a set we haven't yet tested - but have loved the 50in version of - is the Panasonic TX-P46GT30B plasma, which can be had for just a little over £1000 (
see Amazon deal here).That's definitely worth checking out -though as ever with plasma sets, it's probably not best if you're Dad is going to use it right by a window/major light source (plasma screens are more reflective than LCD, typically).