I have a 27 inch Panasonic TV (pana-black tube) that is about 8-10
years old. The picture has always been good until lately. The top
portion of the screen (about 4-5 inches) begins to display a bit
brighter than the rest. The rest of the lower portion is only slightly
shaded (as compared to the top), although the shading difference is
hardly even noticeable. However, in the line that seperates the two
shadings, displayed images get scrunched. So you see a normal forehead
of a person and from the neck down everything is normal, but their
entire face is scrunched down into the line. They look funny but it is
annoying. If you give the front bottom of the casing a modest tap, the
line goes away and the top shading is the same as the rest of the tube.
However, it returns indiscriminately and its frequency is increasing.

Are these the symptoms of a major repair or tube replacement? or
something more minor that is worth fixing? With a TV this age,
replacing the tube doesn't seem wise as the cost would be better spent
on a new one. It also doesn't seem wise to take it to a shop and spend
$30 to have someone tell me it isn't worth fixing. Thus I am looking
for someone who may have already experienced this problem and knows the
scoop on my TV.

C. Frank