Don't know if this is the same as the "field/frame collapse" issue you've mentioned, but our 92 Sony Trinitron KV-27TS31 picture periodically shrinks to a few inches and flips to mirror image and backward. We have been mostly successful with returning it to normal with a few pushes of the on/off button, but sometimes it takes more than ten cycles or turning the channel repeatedly.

We've already had work done on it 8 years ago and don't know if it's worth fixing or just upgrading now. Any suggestion would be appreciated!

Sarah W-Moore, July 2006

It is a frame fault but Sony TV's of that age suffer from lots of dry soldered joints and leaky electrolytic capacitors and they're usually not limited to just the frame circuit. At that age I'd be checking all over each circuit. Pushing the on/off button repeatedly could cause bigger problems.

You could still ask for an estimate.
As an educated guess; it'll probably cost you £40 - £70 if it's just soldering, depending on how thorough the engineer is (ie. time) and approaching £100 if it requires capacitors and frame IC as well as the soldering. Unfortunately, your TV will still be old at the end of it.

Be prepared to buy new but take it to a reputable dealer and as long as you don't waste their time they may be prepared to take a quick look at it free before you commit to buying a new set off them. All we dislike are customers who ask us to take a quick look at their set and if advised it's not woth repairing, they go and buy elsewhere. You might be lucky and they'll fix it for much less than a new TV.

Cobweb, July 2006