Vizio 42" Plasma HDTV TV P42HD has 2 black bars an inch wide, foot long ....?

One of 2 things occurred....the RIBBON connectors came loose and need reseated, OR the display's driver IC quit working for that section...

The FIRST can be fixed.....

The second, I doubt it can be...

Look up Television --Service or Repair in the YELLOW PAGES. You'll find someone there that has been in business 15 + years or so....

Are you talking about the bars being on the side of the picture? That's normal if you set your widescreen TV to display 4:3 picture. Widescreen is 16:9 while normal TV is 4:3, so if you want to see 4:3 in normal proportion, there will be 2 black bars on the side of the TV.

To fix it, most widescreen TV should have an option called smart stretch or something like that. What the TV does is stretch out the 4:3 to fit into your 16:9 screen without too much distortion. A good TV should do a really job where you will hardly see the difference between the stretch 16:9 and the normal 4:3.

To make the plasma for your TV, you will need sea salt, baby oil and vinager. For the screen of your TV, you will need a sheet of transparent sheet of plexyglass no more than 1/9 of an inch think. You will need to remove the back portion of your television, then remove the old glass from your TV and replace it with the plexyglass. Place the TV face down so the inside of your TV is open. Mix the items above and pour on the plexy glass. Add a tube of super glue to the mixture. (this will allow the top portion of the mixture to harden while the portion not exposed to air stays gelled) This creates your plasma. Wait about five minutes. Place your TV up right and then put it against the wall. Now take a picture of the front of your TV. Next go to an auction website and sell this piece of junk as a used HDTV. Reapeat these steps 3 or 4 times and you may have enough money to get you a real HDTV that actually works. Don't try this at home kids, or anyone esle for that matter.

Vizio 42 Plasma

This isn't really an answer. However I suggest you never buy a Plasma TV. Always go with an LCD TV.

Service Labor

During the one (1) year warranty period, VIZIO will provide, when needed, service labor to repair a manufacturing defect. For displays which are thirty inches (30") or larger, and are confirmed by VIZIO technical support to qualify for repair, please see below for ON-SITE REPAIR service information. For displays which are under thirty inches (30"), and are confirmed by VIZIO technical support to qualify for repair, please see below for MAIL-IN REPAIR information. To obtain warranty service in the United States, you must first contact VIZIO Technical Support via email at techsupport@VIZIO.com or via phone at (949) 428-2525. The determination of service will be made by VIZIO. PLEASE DO NOT RETURN YOUR UNIT TO VIZIO WITHOUT PRIOR AUTHORIZATION.