panasonic projection pt-61lcx70-k

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I have a panasonic pt-61lcx70-k which has been a great tv, approx 7 years old and on original lamp, over the years I have learnt how to remove the body for lens and screen cleaning as well as accessing the fans and heatsinks for cleaning
a couple of weeks ago it was doing the red shut down on its own thing which usually means it needs the fans cleaned, which I did and all was well
but as of yesterday it would do the green flashing start up sequence like normal and get a pic, then it would start the green flashing start up all over again, sorta like an endless loop
so I unplugged it for a few minutes and when I tried again it started the green flashing start up sequence but the lamp did not turn on, tried it a few times with no success, so I unplugged it and went looking on the internet and came across post suggesting the bulb is on it way out and went and plugged it in and tried it again, and it started up and ran all night without problem

turned it on this morning and it started up like normal

does this sound like a lamp issue to you??