Yeah I saw those conversion kits, look like a good option if indeed it is the CRT/LCD shutter that has gone faulty.
When I say it solid Red I mean the display is totally solid Red, there is no text or anything displayed. The rest of the equipment seems to be working, just not displaying anything (apart from a (dark) Red screen) This only happens sometimes though, other times it does display normally for a while and then odd lines start appearing and when you switch to a different menu the old menu is still left displayed underneath the old one and the display becomes unreadable.
So it could also be a processor/display driver/memory issue I guess rather than an actually fault with the shuttered display. I'm not sure what a failed shuttered display would look like though, I've never come accross one before.