First the screen picture started to flash between the picture and a blacked out screen, then it just completely turned black along with thin lines across the screen horizonally. I checked all the connections to see that they were plugged in correctly and they were. I unplugged the tv for a while and then came back hours later and the tv worked perfectly fine for about 5 minutes and then it would no longer work and would power itself off. I was out of town and there was some mad storms so I don't know if that might have caused something to go wrong with the lightning or electricity to the tv.

Hi - a couple of steps to try:

1) Try plugging the TV into a completely different outlet, if possible on a different circuit in your home.
Also: if it is plugged into a power strip or surge protector, try a different power strip/surge protector.

A power surge or interruption during a storm can sometimes cause an outlet or power strip to fail just enough that you aren't getting sufficient voltage and/or amperage going to your TV.

Also, it's a power strip's job to fail first....to take the "hit" from an electrical spike, so your TV doesn't :-)

2) Try a different power cord...again, a spike or surge might have caused a short in the cord itself, a ground, one of the pins (depending on the kind of connector), etc.

3) What you're describing sounds like a power problem, specifically one that is re-occurring as the TV or the power supply heats up. Many electrical devices that are experiencing a problem will work for a while cold, then fail when components heat up. Possible causes of the failure are overheating, as can happen when a component is failing, or even expansion that causes one part to move too close to another, or come loose, etc.

4) I don't know what kind of power cord goes from your TV to the outlet. It may be just a plain cord (2 or 3 prongs on the outlet end, 2 or 3 "holes" on the TV end).

However, some TVs have an actual power supply on the cord - either a large box-like part that plugs into the outlet, or a box-like part in the middle of the cord. Either one will have some printing on it, possibly saying DC or AC power supply/adapter, probably showing the voltage and amperage of the power supply.

These often go bad, especially after a power surge or power failure - replacing just that part is cheaper than replacing the TV. An electronics store may have one with the same specifications and connector (it's VERY VERY important it be EXACTLY the same kind, same voltage, same amperage, connector, etc) - or maybe even one you can test with.

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Those steps may at least help you figure out if the problem is in the TV itself, or just somewhere along the way to it from the power source.

Good luck!

I'd Guess it'd be something with the lightning or you have to wait for a while for the entire screen to pop up while its turned on thats what happens to my grandma.