2 inch grey vertical stripes across entire screen

My Sony Bravia KDL-52WL140 has a gorgeous picture when I can see it. My question is one that I have not yet seen posted by anyone and I have read a LOT of questions posted by Bravia owners. This gives me pause to be sure.

I have grey stripes roughly 2 inches wide going across my entire screen vertically. They come and go every second… (Blinking in and out in a seriously annoying manner) yet once in a blue moon I’ve been able to watch an entire program and they won't come back throughout the program, leaving me with the false belief that it had self cured the issue. But it didn't. No matter what I watch, time of day, or how long the set has been on it still happens. I don't have any cable or dish services, I chose to watch all internet tv i.e. Netflix, Hulu etc… Unplugging doesn't change it and I purchased a new HDMI cord and the issue is always still there. What could have happened to the tv do you think and how can I make this issue go away?