What else happens to an LCD flat screen TV besides a burn?

I’ve seen two things happening with my 32 inch LCD Sanyo TV.

The first was a black line on the right side from watching TV in regular letterbox. The line was exactly where the black bar on the right began. Oddly enough, it never happened on the left side, and the brighter the picture was, the less you could see the line. At one point, it was about ½ an inch wide on the top and tapered down to a pinstripe at the bottom. After a little research by a friend, I stopped watching TV in that size and the line actually went away completely.

The second thing was I noticed a faint discolored bar near the bottom of the screen. After a while, I realized it was from the FF/Rewind bar on my DVR cable box. After I realized what it was from, I was very careful about not leaving something paused with the TV still on; I turn it off if I’m going to pause the cable. I also hit the exit button as soon as I can to make the bar go away again, and now the discoloration seems to be gone. I’ve noticed it start to come back if I forget and leave that bar up on the screen.

I don’t think either of these things are image burns, since they can’t be fixed, right? This TV is several years old. I don’t remember how many years ago I bought it but it’s 32 inches and when I bought it from Walmart I paid $950 for it, and they now go for under $400 if that’s any indication. Also, the TV is on a LOT. I sleep with the TV on… if I don’t leave the house on weekends it pretty much never goes off until Monday.