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This lines up with my experience.
Almost every day I tell at least one customer that the days where we could expect something like the old Zenith or RCA console sitting in the corner running for 20+ years is over. These days, I expect the really well made sets to last for about 7 years, and the cheapies to run for a couple years (if you're lucky). I'm about to have a dump truck full of electrolytics back up to my door and let 'er go. It's not unusual at all to replace a dozen of them in one set. Some of the bad caps have decent ratings on the factory data sheets, but just don't live up to it in the real world. I've been trying to order the best quality I can, with ratings for temperature, ripple current, lifespan, and ESR at least equal to the OEM, and usually better. It just doesn't make sense to go cheap to save a few cents per capacitor. Unfortunately, the TV makers often don't see it that way.
Another wonderful device being used in todays sets is the MLCC (Multi Layer Ceramic Capacitor). 10uf at 16 or 25 volts in a ceramic surface mount device barely 1/8 inch on a side. Google it and read all about how they crack, go leaky, and destroy the rest of the electronics on a board if they get too hot, too cold, have too much solder holding them onto the board, or are picked up wrong at the factory, or if the board they live on gets bent, or if you look at one wrong and pi$$ it off!
These new sets look amazing, but there is just so much that can go wrong in them.
Back to the subject at hand, the inverter. Yep, sounds like a bad one to me.
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