Saw my first trashed flat screen TV today

[uxwbill]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Who actually makes "Westinghouse" branded LCD televisions? I don't think they are made by Westinghouse itself, if the company even exists any longer -- which I doubt as well.

They are probably sourced from different manufacturers. I traded the repair of a Westinghouse LCD flat panel TV for some stereo equipment and found a Chi Mei Optoelectronics panel and Delta power supply board inside it. Listening to it clearly revealed that the power supply was in distress and replacing every bloated cap I found on that board got it working again.

That was probably two years ago and the TV is still running. It's used in a local thrift store.

As such, quality is likely all over the map.

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

You mentioned a "Wii accident" that can ruin these TVs. What harm can a Wii video game console do to the set? Do the consoles run the panel at such high brightness (much higher than normal video drive levels) that the entire video chain eventually burns out, or the panel itself is damaged or destroyed by image burn-in?

No. The Wii controllers themselves are the problem. They work by sensing motion and come with a wrist strap to keep them "under control". Sometimes people don't wear the retaining strap and a controller goes flying. At sufficient velocity, this can break the panel display.