From link: infoforbetterbuys.blogspot.com

Sony KDL46V3000 has a design flaw?

I believe there is a design flaw with this TV. The manual controls for the TV are located on the top center preventing proper heat ventilation for the LCD panel and tcon pcb curcuit board directly under it. This is the likely cause of a heat related LCD failure.

Sony LCD TVs are essentially Samsung or Sharp LCD TVs

Did you folks know that Sony LCD TVs are actually made with either Sharp or Samsung LCD panels. I found this out when my Sony KDL46V3000 LCD TV panel failed at 18 months and out of warranty. I checked to see if just replacing the TCON pcb at about $49, would fix the single vertical red line problem in the middle of my display. I noted the part number for both the TCON pcb and the LCD panel was a Samsung part number. It turns out they must be replaced together, and the LCD panel costs more than the TV is worth.

I paid a premium for the Sony brand name believing it to be more durable than Samsung or Sharp. Therefore it would seem that the smarter purchase for this Joe consumer would have been to buy the Samsung or Sharp and use the Sony premium difference to pay for the extended warranty. It turns out there is a pretty high failure rate in LCD panels, and they are not repairable.

http://www.shopjimmy.com/samsung-lj94-01837h-t-con-board.htm
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100528202127AA5hSbn