Vizio sp42a The sound is good the picture is not. The screen displays the picture fine but on top of the picture the bottom half repeats the top half of the picture, on top of the other half ghost like. And after about an hour the tv shuts down.

Replace the T-Con.

If you've ruled out that the source you're displaying from is good, I would contact vizio for a warranty repair

You have either the circuit board that drives that half of the screen(one for top and another for the bottom) or you have a bad display panel.

there a Plasma screen defect, needs to be checked by a tech. send to repair.

You will need to replace the control board and your TV will be better that a new one.

The panel is almost certainly bad. The only fix for this is to replace the whole panel which would cost more than the whole TV.

POWER SUPPLY OR LCD PANEL INVERTER BOARDS . AVAILABLE THROUGH VIZIO , PARTSTORE.COM OR EBAY

Is the sound ok. Yust the Picture. If both dissapear replace power supply board. That is the main big board with the most heatsinks on it. Main power gos from a switch board to main power supply.

Send it back this appears to be a major failure

It sounds as you desribe, the vertical output IC and or the b+ feed capacitor off the Hi voltage transformer feeding the vert. IC its required voltage. Not a really hard job to replace, but not for a handi person to do. This should be left to the professional, as there are no user serviceable parts inside this set and with the HI voltage and the safety issues its best to call somesone to assist you with this repair. Good Luck