[lcaillo]

If Sony would make the parts available to repair the optical block, the repair could easily be cost effectve. The problem is that they do not supply discrete parts that are common failure points in a three chip system such as polarizing filters, UV filters, and the panels. If they did, they would likely not have had the kinds of complaints that people have made about these sets. The failure rate is likely much lower than the common failures in CRT based sets, but you can't fix them for a few hundred bucks.

The only people that I know of that have been able to get parts to rebuild the optical blocks are the big rebuilders like PTS, who does so for $375, but you have to send the OB to them, if they have the right parts. They are big enough to deal with the OEM for the parts that Sony uses.