[HH] advice on diagnosing/fixing flickering monitor requested...

[Bill Bogstad]

So this is a "linux" related hardware question only because the OS
happens to be Linux...

I have an older 4k TV (Seiki SE39UY04 39-Inch 4K purchased in July
2014) that I'm using as a monitor for a Linux computer.
Recently it has started to flicker in an odd sort of way.  It seems
almost like parts of the LED backlighting shut off briefly and then
come back on.  It is a very blocky flicker.   Some parts of the screen
will go from black to normal and then back to black multiple times.
While other parts of the screen are rock solid all the way through.
The regions that do "flicker" are always rectangular in nature
with very precise (looks like down to the pixel) boundaries.   It
seems like it is more likely to happen just after coming out of power
save mode and tends not to happen if the monitor has been used for a
while.  Any ideas on what kind of failure would cause this symptom and
if it might be possible to fix it?

Thanks,
Bill Bogstad

P.S. Amusingly, I purchased a 4 year extended warranty on the TV when
I bought it as I had no idea what the reliability would be for
an off brand like Seiki.  Of course, it only started to develop this
problem well after the warranty expired.  Given that the warranty was
from a third party provider (Square Trade), that is some pretty
impressive planned obsolescence.