Television and Home Theater

When in the middle of a movie, my tv suddenly distorted and the picture bowed from the bottom and top as well as cast rainbow like colors along the edge.  The picture is still visable, but kind of blury with a 3D affect to it, which also has a little green, blue and red outlines.   

I'm about to purchase my first LCD TV, and I'm extremely confused about what type of connection cables I need. I've decided on the Sharp Aquos LC-32d50U. I've seen HDMI cables, HDMI - DVI cables, component video, component audio.....I would like to watch HDTV through my cable co. and hook up a basic DVD player.  Do I need the $100+ monster cables and which ones??? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I have a 36in sony tv and it blinks on and off constantly. Is it something I can fix or is it time to replace it.