Well those who know me well know I watch far too much TV, about a year and a half ago we replaced our 42" Vizio Plasma downstairs with a shiny new 50" Phillips Plasma; the new set is not perfect but was a great value and been an-all-around good set, that is up until tonight!
As we were watching Entourage a red line appeared along the right side of the set, in the hope the problem would just "go away" we powered off all of the components and tired again, this time with Cold Case but no luck! I we grabbed a tape measure and it turns out that a total of 13 inches's of pixels all went out at the same time!
When we by low-to-mid end electronics we actually try to purchase from COSTCO because of their kick ass warranties, even with their revised policy I think they do things above average:
For COMPUTERS, TELEVISIONS and PROJECTORS, Costco extends the MANUFACTURER'S WARRANTY to two years from date of purchase. Please call Costco Concierge Technical Support @ 1-866-861-0450 for warranty assistance.
I always am sending folks to COSTCO for this reason and it looks like COSTCO now has a chance to prove me right or wrong! I will update the thread when I find out what their stance on this issue is.
[Update 08/14/07 9:00AM PST] I called Costco's Concierge service this morning, they confirmed the purchase date (January 29th, 2006) model number (Philips 50PF7220A/37) from my account (we couldn’t find the receipt last night) and told us “how things will proceed”. Specifically they took down all the details related to the problem, how to contact me, told me that they would “file a claim” and that someone from COSTCO corporate would contact me within three days. When I asked about what the person that calls me might say she couldn’t really say, it sounded like she thought they were seeking approval for a home visit from a technician but we will see.
[Update 08/14/07 11:00AM PST] With a little searching I found several other Phillips uses complaining about the same problem here, here, and here. Bad news is it sounds like it just gets worse as time passes, oh no 
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[Update 08/14/07 7:36PM PST] Its gotten even worse, its now about a inch wide; Costco said it would take a week for them to get back to us but by the end of the week the TV wont work at all 
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[Update 08/15/07 1:30PM PST] Well this morning I tried to call Costco Concierge service to let them know the TV had gotten worse. the person I managed to reach seemed to be confused as to why I would bother to tell them, I asked if they could tell me when someone would be getting back to me om this issue and she said she had no idea; just about thirty minutes ago COSTCO did call though and sheduled an appointment 8AM to Noon next monday to look at the TV, I asked if I could just go and exchange the TV like the policy used to work and she said that since I purchased the set when I did I could, I think I am going to do that as I want this over with..
[Update 08/15/07 9:46PM PST] This evening I managed to convince my friend Eran to help me take down the busted TV and haul it over to COSTCO with not much fuss they did the refund and we went to pick up a replacement, it was between the Sharp Aquos LC-52D92U, Vizio GV52L and the Samsung FP-T5084. When looking at the sets I was looking for 50" or greater, preferably LCD, 1080P, preferably no speakers, nice looking chassis and of course a nice picture. Unfortunatley the Vizio was not out yet (Suposidly its availible on Monday), but with that being said we had a bad experience with Vizio in the past so I didn't feel optomistic enough to wait for it (although I have heard lots of good things about them latley) that left it between the Sharp and the Samsung and although the Sharp had two inces on the Samsung I think it had a better picture, plus the Sharp has a speaker that can't be removed so I went that way.
I accidentally returned the mounting posts for the TV so I did not manage to get the set up on the wall but its working and I think it will be a great set; again COSTCO has proven they ROCK!