Panasonic Viera Plasma Purple Vertical Line
 

My Panasonic Viera no. 42PZ700u Has developed a purple line about two inches wide going straight down the center. Can I replace the board to fix this easily and cheaply or is this the end for this set? The rest of the screen is not effected.

This isn't terribly easy to explain, but I'll give it a try-

Plasma panels have buffer boards along the top and/or bottom of the panel that control each vertical line. Sometimes these boards will have a chip fail and a section of the screen will go black (or show garbage/colors, etc).

Most modern plasma TVs (post 2007) have buffers on the top or bottom. Earlier TVs have them on top AND bottom.

Basically if your line goes completely from top to bottom, follow the line down to the bottom of the screen and see which buffer board is directly below the line (I am betting that model will have two, bottom-mounted buffer boards). Replace that board. Be very careful with the ribbon connectors! If you rip them, the set is scrap.

The good news- buffer boards are cheap. Probably less than $20 shipped.

The bad news- there is probably a 60% chance that board will fix the problem. It's a dice roll, but it's not too costly to try...

Now, the worse news- if that doesn't fix it, you have a bad panel, and it's probably not worth fixing.

Now, slightly better news- if it isn't repairable, and you feel up to it, sell the boards on ebay. Working Panasonic power supplies bring decent money.

Plasma Vertical Line
 

Thank you for the info. I will look at the board under the line next week and take it from there.