The tv still works pretty darn good but like I said, the picture is dark and washes out when the brightness and contrast is turned up. Plus the front scratches are somewhat of a distraction.
I have no idea how it could have gotton scratched the way it did but looking at it up close and with a magnifying glass, someone managed to gouge 3 scratches in the glass about the size of a small band aid. Probably something fell against it or was laid on its face roughly sometime in the past.
Great information here and from what I have read so far, I'm going to get at it sometime tomorrow or this weekend.