My Phillips 32PHH4100/88 has a slightly darker area to lower part of screen

Sounds like an LED strip is failing.

When the line is not there--go to a unused video input and examine the screen in that area--if you see a slightly darker area where the line was--it has permanently burned a mark in the screen itself.

It means your picture tube is going out. It is just a mttter of time and it will go out completely.

sounds to me like the fluorescent backlighting is going bad in the top half of your set.

In 2001 most of the sets that are rear projection do not use a bulb--if just slightly darker--you may just need to clean lens----easy to do.

Let me know model number and I will advise you.

SD TECH

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It sounds like your backlight isn't working properly. LCD screens have backlights that illuminate the colors produced upon their surfaces, so that you can easily see the screen without an external light source. In your case, it sounds like your backlights either aren't cailbrated, are damaged, or were produced unevenly.

There is most likely not a fix for this, though most all LCD screens have some form of light distortion. My own LCD screen is slightly brighter around the edges, where the backlights are located, but this is only noticeable when displaying a completely black screen.

either burn in or magnetic field interference. I suggest moving any speakers away from the tv. if thats not the case, then find a strong magnet, make sweeping motions across the screen with it but dont touch the screen! Keep doing this until the colors change, then "sweep" them with the magnet into a corner and they will mostly dissapea.......r, sounds complicated but worked for me. can be scary so dont try unless sickly despearate or confident.   Hope This helps!

If you wish to get some details; visit the site linked here. Pull up older posts.
http://electronicshelponline.blogspot.com/
faults & possible causes to LCD & Plasma screen are given with illustrations. You can get an idea about the fault to an extent. Faults to all LCD & Plasma screen are similar, irrespective of its brand and screen size.

Sounds like dried out electrolytic caps. How old is the monitor ?