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Ah, the joys of settling into your favorite chair, grabbing that bowl of popcorn, and turning on your LG TV for a binge-watching session. We’ve all been there.
But then the unexpected happens – the screen glitches, goes black, or exhibits some other peculiar behavior that makes you want to pull your hair out.
Over the years, I’ve faced, fumbled, and finally fixed a myriad of LG TV screen problems in my home and in this guide, I’m pulling back the curtain on the 7 most common LG TV problems I’ve encountered and, more importantly, the handy fixes I’ve learned along the way.
How to Fix the Most Common LG TV Screen Problems
| Common LG TV Picture Problems | How to Fix |
|---|---|
| LG TV Turns On But No Picture or Sound |
|
| My LG TV Screen is Black But I Have Sound |
|
| LG TV Screen Goes Black Randomly |
|
| LG TV Screen Jumping |
|
| LG TV Color Problem |
|
| LG TV Lines on Screen |
|
| LG TV Backlight Problems |
|
You can troubleshoot your LG TV using the more detailed steps below, and get a proper fix in place so you don’t need to get an expensive new TV.
LG TV Turns On But No Picture Or Sound
With modern electronics, it’s possible that the lack of picture on your LG TV is caused by something stuck in your TV’s flash memory.
Power cycling your TV will clear out any issues with non-permanent memory and reset your main board without losing your personal settings.
This is quick and painless and won’t cause you to lose any of your saved settings.
- Switch off and unplug your TV.
- Hold down the physical power button on the TV for at least 15 seconds.
- Wait for at least 2 minutes for any residual power to drain from the TV’s capacitors (which are capable of storing charge for several minutes).
- Plug your TV back in and try switching it on. You should see a red light if you have been successful.
Make sure you do wait for the full 2 minutes before plugging your TV back in – you would be surpised how long the components within your TV can hold charge, and you want to make sure it has fully reset.
Although this seems a very basic step, don’t overlook it because in the vast majority of cases a simple soft reset fixes most issues.
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My LG TV Screen is Black But I Have Sound
The backlight inverter powers the backlight of your TV by uprating the standard voltage and current of your home supply to the higher levels required by the backlight.
It’s a very small board in most TV models (although in some is integrated onto the power board). Check this board with your voltmeter, and don’t forget to also look at the cable. These boards are only around $10-15 on eBay, so are very cheap to replace if they have failed.
An error message relating to a burned out LED in the backlight, which is sent from the voltage inverter to your main board will often cause your TV to turn on and off repeatedly.
To check for backlight failure:
- Follow your normal process for switching on your TV.
- Get right up close to the screen and point the light on your phone or a flashlight directly at the screen.
- Try changing channels with your remote, or going into the menu.
- If the backlight is the only part not working, you will see very faint images on your TV screen.
You can see this process in the video below.
If you see faint images, you can be sure that either the backlight inverter or the backlights themselves are the failure point in your TV.
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LG TV Screen Goes Black Randomly
f your LG TV turns on then shuts off, there could be an HDMI issue.
You can try removing all external devices, including those connected by Bluetooth and any coaxial or signal cables, so that the TV only has a power cable going into it.
This is because a flaw with the HDMI-CEC settings can stop your TV coming on properly if you have other devices, particularly games consoles, plugged into your TV via HDMI.
HDMI-CEC allows two-way communication between your TV and console and set-top box, allowing your console or box to switch your TV on and off automatically.
The problem is that if you do not switch inputs on your TV away from your console’s input before switching off your TV, then your TV will not “listen” to your remote, and it can switch itself on and off without your input.
Unplugging all cables will temporarily solve this, so if your TV is working as normal with no HDMI cables attached, then try switching off HDMI-CEC before re-instating the cables.
To switch off HDMI-CEC on an LG TV, look in the Settings -> General -> SimpLink (HDMI-CEC) menu for SimpLink, which is LG’s name for HDMI-CEC, and turn this Off.
It may also help to turn Quickstart+ off, available in the General menu, as this can interfere with memory caching, and is often a cause of your TV turning off when using specific high bandwidth apps like Netflix or YouTube.
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LG TV Screen Jumping
Modern LG TVs have a self-test option for diagnosing and troubleshooting picture issues, including flickering.
If your issue is caused by some kind of software conflict, then this self-test should be able to clear the error for you.
To run a picture self-test, go to Settings -> All Settings -> Support -> Screen Self-diagnosis and follow the steps that your TV then indicates.
LG OLED TVs run a scheduled pixel refresh at regular intervals to prevent image retention and stuck pixels.
This works by scrolling a horizontal bar down the screen and this process can help to fix any flickering you might see.
To initiate a Manual Pixel Refresh on your OLED LG, go to Settings -> Picture -> OLED Panel Setting -> Pixel Refresher.
It’s important to remember though, that running the manual pixel refresh more than once in quick succession can negatively affect the peak brightness and color reproduction of your TV, so make sure you only try the manual pixel refresh once.
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LG TV Color Problem
Most LG TVs have an option to change the color temperature or other aspects of the picture.
Using your remote control, press the Settings button, then All Settings and go to the Picture menu.
You can try the various picture modes to see if they fix the purple tint, and you should switch off Energy Saving mode.
If not, then go to Advanced Settings or Expert Settings depending on model.
This allows you to change the color space of your TV and hopefully will let you change it enough to totally remove the purple tint.
You can use the Color and Tint options, and you can also try changing the Gamma and White Balance, and hopefully you will be able to get a decent picture without any color tint.
You can also access a secret menu to override the colorimetry of any HDMI connections, which can make a big difference to any color tints in your picture. This is covered in detail in the video below.
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LG TV Lines on Screen
The Timing Control (T-Con) board is a small PCB board that drives your TV’s panel, translating the signal into a picture on your screen.
It’s hidden away under the back panel, behind the screen, and is a regular source of vertical lines in TV images because it connects to the LCD / OLED panel with ribbon connectors which can come loose.
To access the T-Con board, you need to remove the back panel. If you’re not confident doing this, then now is the time to get an expert in. Otherwise:
- Unplug your TV, hold down the power button and wait for at least 30 minutes. There are large capacitors in the power board for the backlight and these can hold charge for an extended period of time.
- Place your TV face down on a large table or workbench. Make sure there is nothing that can scratch the screen on your work surface.
- Ground yourself.
- Open your TV by unscrewing the screws in the backpanel. It should come apart in two pieces: front and back.
- Put the back panel somewhere out of the way and take a look at the circuit boards that have been revealed.
- You will see a T-Con panel for translating the signal into a TV picture, a power board and a motherboard board.
You can take a look at the video below to see how to open your LG TV’s back panel.
The position of the boards and their precise shapes and sizes will vary by model, but the T-Con board can be identified by the ribbon cables connecting it to the TV’s panel. Identify the main three boards you will see in the images below.
Start by giving everything a good clean, preferably with compressed air. It’s possible that dust in the connector can block the signal.
Then, you should be able to remove the cables by pushing the locking cover down and they will then easily come away from the board. Don’t try to force them out without unlocking them first.
After removing the ribbon cable, take a look at the individual connectors on the ends of the cables, and the connectors in the socket. You are looking for any signs of corrosion, damage or dust.
The contacts should be a shiny gold or silver color. If they are dull and appear to have a rough, copper-like layer over them, this would indicate oxidation and therefore a new cable is recommended.
Give the cable and socket a good clean with compressed air, then put the cable back in, put the back panel back on your TV and fire it up.
If there are still lines on screen, there could be a fault somewhere on the T-Con board itself. These can be replaced for around $30 from eBay.
To get the correct board, note the T-Con model number written on the label on the board, and put this into eBay.
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LG TV Backlight Problems
Backlights on modern LG TVs come in LED strips of varying lengths. Older models used lengths that spanned the entire frame of the TV, but due to cost savings, more recent TVs use a set 16″ LED strip which is connected in series for each row to span your TV.
These cold soldered connectors are a notorious failure point on LG TVs, but can be easily fixed if you are willing to re-solder a joint yourself.
Equally commonly, the LED backlights themselves can fail. This is due to repeated current over powering, which over time causes thermal degradation of the LEDs leading to burnout.
You can replace any failed LEDs by just removing the entire strip and replacing it.
The problem with fixing the LEDs is that they are located in the most difficult to access part of your TV. So if you are not comfortable with a larger repair job, then now is a good time to seek help from a professional.
You need to remove the back panel, remove all of the circuit boards and connectors, then another layer of screws for the front panel, and only when you have fully removed the LCD panel can you get to the backlights.
You will also need a multimeter or TV backlight tester to test the backlight strips to find out where the problem lies.
Assuming you have followed the steps to check the T-Con, Power and Main Boards, you now need to:
- Any wires or ribbons that are near the edge of the TV should be disconnected.
- Then remove the screws around the edge that hold the bezel of the TV.
- With some care, you should be able to remove the bezel, panel and reveal the TV backlight underneath, which will be in strips of LED lights.
- Use a voltmeter or TV backlight tester to check whether they are working, and replace any failures.
It’s also possible that one of the connectors linking the LED strips as they span the width of your TV has failed. This can be fixed by checking the connectors with a multimeter and re-soldering
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LG TV Support and Warranty
You can check your warranty information direct with LG.
Unfortunately, warranties typically only last a year unless you have already paid to extend it.
Because TV issues can occur at any time, if your TV is under one year old, return your TV under warranty and get it fixed.
You can use the LG support site to help diagnose your problem, but if you are at this stage, then you are better off calling them direct on:
- 850-999-4934 or 843-243-0000 (Mon. – Sun., 8am – 9pm EST)
You can also email them directly, or even email the president of LG customer care!
Even if LG won’t fix your TV, they might still offer you a discount off a future model if you pester them hard enough! This is always worth a try in my experience.
How to Fix Common LG TV Problems: Conclusion
- For any LG TV problem, you should always first start with simple fixes – power cycle your TV by unplugging it and holding down the power button for 15 seconds, and check any external connections such as HDMI cables are firmly inserted.
- Many problems can be fixed from within the settings menu of your LG TV, if you are willing to dig deep enough.
- For the more complex issues, you can troubleshoot them with a multimeter, checking the connections between the T-Con, power board and main board, and checking that the cables are firmly connected.
- Backlight issues on LG TVs can be easily fixed by replacing LED strips or the power board.
If you are still having trouble, then I would suggest contacting LG support or leave a comment and I’ll see what I can do to help.
If you’re struggling to fix your TV, then you might find it easier to upgrade instead and get one of my most highly rated new TVs.
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