[KyPainter]

Have you tried zooming in to the point where the TV's grill occupies most of the frame?

Yep, that's exactly what I was doing. The photo I included just showed more than that so it'd be clear what the grill was on.

I was very cautious to keep the camera away from the edges as I rotated it. If I'd stray any at all toward the edges when I'd get a lock I'd repeat it just to be sure. There was something causing me to get focus locks more often when the camera was rotated. Motion maybe? Sounds weird, but sometimes it'd seem that just slightly moving/wiggling the front of the camera would cause it to catch and improve or lock focus.