My tv has been having severe problems since last winter. The picture will suddenly compress itself into a widescreen format . . . and it's not designed to do that. Or, it'll start doing that, then burst into static. Usually, turning it off and then on again, or sometimes actually hitting the tv, will fix that. . . for a while, at least.
I turned the tv on several days ago, and I heard a buzz and a pop . . the classic "something electrical just fucked up" sound. When the picture came up, it was green and purple. I think there was a static discharge that magnetized the metal screen inside. I don't think mine has an inbuilt degauss, but I'll check on that. I haven't tried unplugging it.