[questionstv]

I have a Toshiba 36 inch TV that is at least 15 years old. For the past 6 to 8 months the picture has been slowly expanding to the point now that closed captioning, weather ribbons at bottom of screen, ticker tapes at bottom and top of screen, channel indicators, and menu items at top and bottom are off the screen and no longer visible. Is this something that I should consider having repaired, or should I junk it and spring for a new TV?
William

[TWS04011]

... two things could be causing this. First is power supply; unstable supply voltages can cause the picture to shrink or expand (although that will be both horizontally and vertically). This would be especially noticeable when the picture changes, especially from a dark to a light screen; you'll see the picture 'bloom' when it gets brighter. Second possibility is something going amiss with the vertical deflection circuit (if the picture is only expanding at the top and bottom). Most CRT-type TVs have at least a 'vertical size' adjustment inside the set. This may or may not be accessible through the back of the set (if it is, there will be a hole with a 'vert size' marking in the back). It may be as simple as tweaking that adjustment, if you can find it. However, if that adjustment doesn't work, or if you're seeing other symptoms like 'foldover' (the top or bottom of the picture appears to 'fold over' onto itself), you've got bad capacitors, bad vertical output transistors or a bad vertical deflection IC (many sets have the vertical deflection on a single large IC; others also use output transistors, which I would expect on a large-screen TV).. . As far as getting this fixed, I don't mean to be the bearer of bad news. But as someone who used to be in the business I have to tell you, reality is that you have several things working against you: the age of the set, the availability (or lack thereof) of someone who can fix it (there are fewer and fewer TV repair shops left, as it is often not economically feasible to have even minor problems fixed anymore), and the fact that digital and HDTV are making CRT TVs more or less obsolete (I don't think anyone is even making them anymore; it's all flat-panel, that is, LCD or plasma, now)... That set of yours wasn't exactly cheap when it was new, so it really comes down to whether it's worth it to you to try to get it fixed...

[questionstv]

Thanks TWS04011. Ever since noticing the problem I have been thinking along the same lines as you, that it is time for a new TV. You gave me what I really wanted and that is an opinion from someone who knows something about about TV's. I've been holding out but it looks like I will be forced into the HDTV world. I bought the TV second hand 14 years ago so I can safely say I got my money's worth. Thanks again.