Philips said last week it needs to fix 12,000 46in and 50in plasma TVs in the US to prevent them from potentially overheating, though it claimed the faulty screens do not pose a fire risk to owners and their homes.

The consumer electronics giant would not say how much it will cost to carry out repairs to all those PDPs, each of which contains defective capacitors, Reuters reports. However, it did say the problem was limited to the US.

"As a precaution we'll go to the consumers and replace the component," a company spokesman said. ®