DMD Heat Sink Pad vs. Paste: Failure

Hello,

My father and I just replaced the DMD in his Samsung HL67A750 television. As I'm sure many are aware, a large number of televisions from this generation (of all brands) suffer from stuck mirrors after a couple thousand hours. This seems particular to the DMD system itself, as TVs from Samsung, Mitsubishi, and Toshiba all suffer from this.

It has been postulated by some that the thermal pad between the heat sink and DMD itself is inadequate. I did some research and found a few people removing this pad and replacing with a thermal paste, such as AS-5. One gentleman used a static screen to cause the most heat output and recorded a heat sink temperature of 72 degrees F after 2 minutes with the original thermal pad. After performing the AS5 modification, the heat sink was around 122 degrees. This indicates very strongly to me that the thermal pad is likely inadequate. 

Recognizing that we're out of warranty here and just trying to make the new chip last as long as possible, does anyone believe I am jumping to conclusions here? If it were your TV, would you perform the modification?

If so, do you prefer the credit card application across the back of the heat sink surface, or three small dots on the surface? I'm a MechE/NukeE, so I'm not well versed in proper application technique, but I very much recognize the importance of heat management.

Any help provided is much appreciated. And no, I certainly don't hold anyone liable for their advice. I'm well aware that any modification to original design is subject to failure.


Best Regards,

Cory