Toshiba 56H80 HD 1080i shutdown - SD works fine :(

Hello all and thank you for reading this post..

I have a Toshiba TW 56H80.
Everytime I switch to an HD source such as HD cable, Computer output or Blu-ray the screen immediately compressess, shifts right and down, distorts, turns a bluish green and gets brighter over a period of 30 seconds till it shuts down - blinking red LED power light.

Standard def sources are fine.

My question is, any idea if it'd cost me more to repair this TV than its worth? And would it last me long enough to warrent the repair cost?

I am only seeking "opinions" and "best guesses", I understand noone can tell me for certain without testing the TV.

I live in Tucson, AZ and am having a hard time finding someone thats even interested in even coming out to test the TV : /  Can this TV even be repaired still??


I am leary of the LCD's because it seems they all have such a motion blur problem - for example when the scene is busy and the camera is panning.  I have not looked at LCD's in the 46" - 56" range in a few months; maybe they've improved and come down to a price point I can afford and justify (max $1500).

Thanks,

Sincerely,

Toaster

Dan, thanks for replying: )

The problem appeared years ago when I was watching Discover HD using a Cox Cable HD-DVR (1080i I think).  At that time it worked and was crystal clear but the picture was slightly rotated and slightly mis-shaped.  Enough that it drove me nuts to watch it that way.  The set had never been calibrated and even normal SD channels were distorted on the edges and convergence was pretty far off - red and blue edges, especially around text, etc.
I learned about service mode and I tinkered - too much :(  It was after tinkering that the HD portion became screwed up as described above.  I had written down the original values but resetting back to them did not fix the HD portion.

At that time there wasn't much HD programming and I had little time for tv viewing. I sent the HD-DVR back and forgot about it. Now years later, I want to get a blu-ray player and also stream HD content from my computer and OTA. Remembering the problem, I tried the computer source which is 1080p and bam, there was the problem again.  The problem occurs regardless if I use Color Stream 1 or Color Stream 2 component inputs.  There is no D-sub input on this model. I'll check again re making sure the inputs match the tv capabilities - (i vs p). 

I did reach a service person today (Friday) - they said parts are no longer available for the TV but they'd try to fix it by testing the board and replacing bad parts (suspected bad capacitors).  Minimum cost $350 - provided they can even fix it.  The board can't be tested in the set so they'd have to remove it - it's soldered to the chassy.  Not sure what the success rate is for replacing soldered parts on those boards and no guarantee that they can get it working that way makes me leary of spending the money.

I do have a lighting problem so I'll look into the Panny plasma's, thanks for the suggestion : ) 

Take care and thanks again for the reply.  Suggestions are appreciated!

Eric

Thank you Dan,
I will take you up on your advice and re-post to Display devices and see what an ISF calabrationist says.  That'd be great if it was just an adjustment problem.

Eric