Is a flat panel TV worth fixing?

[zatoh]

My kid just broke our 3 year old 46" Sony flat panel TV. Did a forehead plant into the screen. Now all it displays is an illuminated crack radiating from a central point. Quite pretty actually. He gets a "little" excited sometimes.

Is this TV worth fixing?

[Breadfan]

Time to go tv shopping

[oddjob]

When I was at Costco shopping for a TV I asked this question. The two TV folks told me no. Dump it and get a new one. They even told me not to buy the ones they had for sale at the time. Both told me to get a LED TV because it ran cooler and lasts longer.

[Robidouxs]

I just replaced a failing LCD screen with an LED screen. Wow is all I can say; great color and contrast. Go for it, you will thank me later.

[510GUY]

It will probably cost the same to buy new than to fix it ,go new and go bigger if you can

[killathrilla]

Next time mount the tv on the wall away from the little ones as this will eliminate the issue and allow for 10+ years of enjoyment

[Yugo]

I install these for a living and am best friends with a electronic repair shop, I brought him a broken screen on a 32" and said can we fix it, He laughed at me then took the tv and through it in his dumpster (i took it out to sell off the other parts, boards, wires etc.) so I hope this answers your question.....PM me and I can give you a great price on a new one I am Authorized dealer for every major brand. Just give me a model number and I will get you a price. I can ship as well. That goes for anyone just send me a message and I will give you a fellow CG discount. (wink wink).

[Kodemonkey]

Just so you all know, a LED TV is just an LED backlight instead of a cold cathode fluorescent tube. It's still an LCD TV. The LED backlight just allows the TV to be slimmer. To be honest, the white LEDs that exist today do not provide as full a spectrum of white light that CCFLs can produce. Also, be aware that some of them are sidelighted instead of back lighted. If they don't execute the lighting correctly, over time you will have a dead band in the middle as the LEDs diminish in output.

Backlight life might be longer on an LED theoretically, but to be honest by the time your backlight goes out on an LCD panel you will be in the market for something new.

[Yugo]

Just so you all know, a LED TV is just an LED backlight instead of a cold cathode fluorescent tube. It's still an LCD TV. The LED backlight just allows the TV to be slimmer. To be honest, the white LEDs that exist today do not provide as full a spectrum of white light that CCFLs can produce. Also, be aware that some of them are sidelighted instead of back lighted. If they don't execute the lighting correctly, over time you will have a dead band in the middle as the LEDs diminish in output.

Backlight life might be longer on an LED theoretically, but to be honest by the time your backlight goes out on an LCD panel you will be in the market for something new.

kind of! if you get a led TV look for a full panel not edge lit. And as far a WHITE's they are not as important as the BLACK's.

[Cokebottle]

Not worth it.

If you don't have the original packaging, it's going to cost you $200 for a new box.
Add $400 for truck-freight shipping both ways and you're at $600... and they haven't even taken it out of the box to repair it yet.

The LCD is the most costly item in the unit... and TVs are generally no longer modular where a "board" can be swapped out to effect a repair.
Component-level repair at the commercial level has been a lost art for 20 years. It is simply too costly to pay a tech that actually has training to spend the time on the bench to troubleshoot and repair a $2000+/- device.

[Yugo]

^ what he said!

[Kodemonkey]

kind of! if you get a led TV look for a full panel not edge lit. And as far a WHITE's they are not as important as the BLACK's.

Yeah, but the color is rendered through that white light. I am going to make an assumption here that higher CRI is going to show better color in a backlit LCD panel. I know it makes a heck of a difference in forward lighting stuff. Higher CRI stuff (>85 is what I am talking about) is more difficult to get done with the conventional blue LED with yellow phosphor. It can be done with RGB LEDs but I guarantee they don't use those in TVs.

[Which Way Out]

Wow if only you could a picture on the screen at the range. Can you say Target !!!!!

[Merc1138]

If it's the electronics that went bad, sometimes you can fix that(fix it yourself if you're capable) for less than the cost of a replacement. Physical damage to the screen? Buy a new one.

[Yugo]

Wow if only you could a picture on the screen at the range. Can you say Target !!!!!

not a great idea, cause it will let out mercury just like batteries you dont want to through them in the trash they should be disposed of correctly. FYI