I have a 18 month old Samsung HLS6767W. Starting about 7 months ago it started cycling through the startup process several times before actually firing up, but it always did fire up and worked normally, occasionally it would make a high pitched noise that sounded rotational during this process.
Last night I fired it up and was watching it for about 5 minutes when the screen went black, the audio stayed on for about 30 seconds then it shut down and I got the dreaded 3 blinking lights (Timer, Lamp, Standby/Temp). I unplugged it from the wall and tried a few more times. I was able to get it to fire up and noticed that the colors/brightness were changing a bit, then when it seemed to stabilize (after about 30 seconds) the video went out followed 30 seconds later by the audio until I got the three lights again.
I pulled the lamp and it looks ok, I pushed it back in to reseat it, tapped the area around it and have powered it up several times and it does not come on, the lamp doesn't light and usually (but not always) I get the rotational noise from the lamp area.
From the many posts I have read, I assume I need a color wheel but understand that the lamp and ballast can cause the same concern. If it's one part, I can stomach that but the three parts, my labor, and the down time aren't worth it (I bought it at Costco and they accept returns past the warranty- at least they used to) so if I'm going to have to sink $450+ in this thing I'm just going to return it (if they still do that) and get something newer, though I've loved the TV and would rather not have to take it back.