Red line on HDTV

[ptfitzy]

Hello everyone. I am new to the Forum and wanted to say hi and thanks for allowing me to be a member.
I have a perplexing problem. I have a 37" Sharp Aquos that is about 2 years old.
Just recently and just to the left of my screen is a faint red line running down the TV vertically. It looks like a lightning bolt. It mainly is most prominent when viewing a light colored screen. If for instance there is dark blue on the screen, it can be seen just barely, but not in red. I have not had much luck with finding any suggestions as to what caused this all of a sudden. I have heard feom amateurs it is a bad circuit board, a bad resistor, dead pixel, bad panel and the last two "Bad Substrate" or an "Over Scan Switch" which I have no idea what these last 2 mean.
Any help wold be appreciated.
ptfitzy

[Mr Peabody]

Welcome to A R. Unfortunately, I would just be giving additional guesses as to your problem. Is the problem there with other sources, no matter DVD or TV? TV located close to anything that might interfere with it like an unshielded speaker or a large electro magnetic gizmo you are planning to take over the world with? Have you tried a different cable between TV and source? I have a Sharp but fortunately I haven't had your problem. Have you ever used a test disc to check the picture settings? Even a simple check through one of the THX set up/test menus in certain movies might show if something was off enough to cause a picture problem. The Wall-E Blu-ray has a video test sequence and does several DVD's that are THX.

[pixelthis]

Is the line on the picture or just next to it?
"overscan" refers to the part of a picture that is offscreen, a TV pic is slightly larger
than the TV (idealy).
In other words your "red line" might have always been there, but for some reason your set
picture has shrunk, reveling the line.
I had a red line on the side of my set when I first got it, but it didnt last long, my pic did a few changes and it was gone.
I would take it to a tech, they can either fix it or adjust the size of your sets pic slightly so that it disapears.
Unless its a bad panel, no way to fix that.
AFTER WATCHING a friends Sharp VCR literally fall apart in less than a year I
dont buy the brand, or reccomend it, usually, but this was awhile ago, dont know
the quality of stuff they are making now, I DO KNOW THEIR led SETS LOOK GREAT.

[ptfitzy]

The line is on the picture. I do keep it on "Zoom 1" for a larger picture and it just started showing up recently. I will check my cable. My speakers are shielded but I'm not sure if they can still cause a problem. I'll check my cable too and look into a Test Disc.
Thanks so much guys for your help. Mr. Peabody. I'm in Kansas City. I grew up my first 26 years in St. Louis.
ptfitzy

[pixelthis]

The speakers won't affect LCD screens.
But that is a good test, put the set on "zoom", if the red line disapears then
good news, its not your panel.
If the red line doesnt disapear, then look out.
A red line that disapears during zoom indicates a video proc problem,
or maybe a tuner issue, might even be fixable through the service menu.
If it doesnt disapear during zoom then its probably panel trouble,
might want to check for warranties, hidden or otherwise.

[Mr Peabody]

Well, it's sometimes a small world There are a couple others here from Stl and at least one other I know is in the KC area.

[ptfitzy]

Well thank you very much for the help.
Just a couple more things. My 37" is a 720P about 2 years old. I presume a "Panel" is expensive. Is it worth repairing? Also,
I may have failed to be clear on something. It's red and more prominent on the lighter screens such as a TV Show with daylight or sports game. In dark scenes, it is harder to see but you do see it and it isn't necessarily red.

[Mr Peabody]

Unfortunately, most service has priced themselves so high it's almost always better to just buy a new one. LCD has come down in price pretty well too. Here's your excuse to get a 1080p. It's worth checking all options though before such an expense.

[pixelthis]

ITS CERTAINLY NOT WORTH A PANEL.
Get one of the new LED models if you can afford it.
There has been so much advance in the last few years its more than worth it to get any kind of new one.
And price has gone down, a 42" 1080p can be had for 800 bucks now.