Philips 50" rear projection- Washed out picture.

I bought this set exactly 2 years ago. The picture started getting washed out about 2 weeks ago and has been getting worse almost daily. Dark scenes look normal or close to normal while anything lighter looks washed out or completely white. It is almost as if everything (except the darkest scenes) looks like a movie dream sequence. I opened up the back and cleaned the bulbs and mirror and it did not help. I changed cable boxes thinking that might be the problem- no change. I also have a possibly unrelated problem- the picture changing from color to black and white for a few seconds every couple of minutes- this only happens on channel 2. I am close to taking it outside and throwing it off the 15 foot deck. Please help before I put I big dent in my driveway.