If you have a broken LCD LED TV Screen that has any type of damage such as lines running vertically, spots or patches, cracks or breaks, this page will give you tips to get it fixed. Many TV’s nowadays (Plasma, LCD, LED) are large and delicate.
If a large flat screen TV is not attached to a wall, it has a higher chance of falling over and cracking the screen. If your flat screen LCD TV has fallen over, most likely the screen has taken a hit. See below for some ways to possibly fix this without having to buy a NEW TV.
If your TV does not have a cracked screen and the problem has just appeared on its own, you may be able to fall back on the TV manufacturers warranty. If your TV screen has developed spots, vertical lines, small dots, unusually bright pixels, fading, distorted shading, or color issues, you may be able to use the warranty.
To make contacting your TV manufacturer easier, we have included links to most TV manufacturers below. Be sure to have your purchase receipt, and take note of the model number and serial number on the back of your TV.
TV brand links for warranty claims listed by popularity: Samsung, Vizio, LG, Sony, Sharp, Panasonic, Insignia, Toshiba, JVC, Philips, Magnavox, Sanyo, and Emerson. These links will help you to contact the manufacturer to file a warranty claim. If the TV has a been cracked or a hit to the screen has caused colorful vertical lines, then this is something that has happened from physical damage and is not covered under warranty.
If your flat screen TV has the dreaded vertical lines, half of the screen has turned darker, the screen is cracked, or the screen is broken, this can be repaired but may cost more than you paid for the complete TV. If your screen is cracked or broken, you can try replacing the Screen, LCD, Plasma, or LED part. On some flat screen TVs there is a glass panel on top of the actual screen. You need to determine which is broken before you attempt to order parts.
Repairing a Broken Flat Screen TV
If you are going to be repairing a flat screen TV there are certain problems you may encounter. The most likely issues on broken TV’s will be a cracked screen, picture lines or black spots, or image distortion problems. If the damage to the screen has NOT gone past the screen, and has NOT gone into the LCD, LED, or Plasma behind the screen, then fixing the flat screen TV is going to be possible if you get the parts you need cheap.
If your TV screen is severely cracked and the damage has penetrated beyond that, then it is deep enough to have damaged the LCD, LED or Plasma. If this is your case, then it may cost more to repair your TV than to replace it.
There may be some LCD LED PLASMA TV repair shops near you that can answer some questions for you. Some flat screen repair shops do not repair broken screens as the cost is not worth it. They will however replace different internal parts in the TV that may have failed. These failed parts in the TV may have caused the TV to not display the screen correctly, ghosting, or a screen that is not turning on.
If the screen is not broken but the screen does not come on but your warranty is no longer valid, here are some things you can do. One single part has probably failed in your flat screen TV. There are many circuit boards and wiring harnesses inside your flat panel TV. Some of the parts in an LCD or LED TV are power supplies, t-con boards, capacitors, inverters, controller boards, IR sensors, signal inputs, and more.
One of the best places to purchase TV replacement screens is on eBay. If you need parts like control circuit boards and wire harnesses, useful parts online has LED, LCD, and Plasma TV replacement parts at good prices.
Cheap TV replacement parts are available to fix your TV.
If you need a main board, T-CON, LED driver, or signal input board.
One of the parts may have failed in your TV therefore causing the screen to not turn on. Determining which part that may be bad inside your TV may be difficult. It can be done but is not recommended if you have no knowledge of using a multimeter or have no electronic repair experience. However if this is your situation, you can take the TV to a repair shop and they can troubleshoot the issue for you.
Have them tell you the part that has gone bad, pay them the $40 or so bucks it cost to troubleshoot, and go home and buy the part online yourself. This will save you money and your TV should work like new.
If your TV is NOT fixable, most people take out the circuit boards and part them out. Selling the audio and video components in your broken TV may be the only way to try and recoup the cost of the value of your TV. This is not recommended as some used TV parts are not worth very much. If you do decide to remove the parts, you could try selling them on eBay.
To see how to take apart and repair a flat screen TV or monitor, there are a few videos below which can guide you in the right direction. Be careful when taking apart a television as power may still be stored in some of the parts which can cause electrocution.
LED TV Repair Tutorial – Common Symptoms & Solutions
LED LCD TV FIX, How To For Double Image, Black Vertical Lines, Screen Problem
LCD TV fix: bad picture screen rainbow colors
Discount 4K Ultra HD TVs ON SALE!
If you have some advice to repair a broken flat screen TV or monitor, please help out our other readers with the same TV problems and leave a comment or a helpful tip below.
Written by Keith Schneerer
Certified Appliance Tech · Founder, RemoveAndReplace.com
Keith has spent 30+ years repairing machines, starting as a military mechanic and later maintaining food processing equipment before moving into appliance repair. He founded RemoveAndReplace.com to share field-tested repair advice.
More about Keith →
Yes, it displays colors with the screen cracked.
Max,
Yes if everything is working properly but the screen is cracked and the picture is distorted, the screen needs replaced. You can find used or new screen replacements on Craigslist, eBay, and searching online.
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Ashley,
If there is a spiderweb cracking pattern on the screen, it is cracked. The screen will need to be replaced. You can find used or new screen replacements on Craigslist, eBay, and searching online.
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I am trying to figure out how to fix my TV. I have geek squad coming but they said if it has a spiderweb look to it its probably not covered due to physical damage. I know it’s not physical damage but it does have the spiderweb look to it. Please tell me what I can do if they won’t fix it.
I have a Phillips 9,000 Series Flat HDTV, 119 cm LCD. Most of the screen is blocked by a white screen, with some rainbow vertical lines within it. To the right of the main crack (which is a little to the right of the center of the screen), the white is darker and there are more rainbow lines there. Only at the very top of the screen in the middle can you see the actual channel. The TV does work overall in terms of turning on, the cable, etc. and you can still hear the sound, its just the crack. I am assuming that I would only need to change the screen in this situation. Do you have any cheap suggestions?
Nick,
If the screen has NO CRACKS, then the t-con board is the most likely internal circuit board that is causing the vertical lines on your TV. When replacing boards in your TV, always use your exact model number to replace parts. You may be able to use a t-con board made by your same TV maker if it is one model number difference, but it may not work. We recommend always buying a new board when fixing your TV yourself unless you have access to a used board for free. You may want to try testing different inputs and cables to be sure the t-con is bad but it sounds like the t-con is the issue.
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I have a question regarding my TV. I have started seeing vertical lines on the TV screen a couple of months ago on a right side of the screen. It didn’t bother me too much because it wasn’t that bad. I was on a vacation for a month and TV was unplugged. When I got back I turned TV on and vertical lines were gone but after a few days they were back but this time they are more lines. When I turned TV on this morning I only got sound with no picture.
My question would be is there a T-Con that needs to be replaced or something else. I asked someone and he said it could be a video cable or power board defective but my opinion is T-Con board needs replace. I found some T-Con boards online but there are for models UN55D8000 and my tv is UN55D7000. Is there any difference between those series and what is your opinion to buy used or new one? What would you suggest?