We have a Samsung HDTV 55″ inch LCD TV which is showing lines (vertically) and getting extremely hot. At times it powers on at only half of the brightness for a 20 seconds or so and then goes completely black like it is turned off. I do not know what I should be looking for or how to diagnose these TV problems. Do you think that replacing the power boards would be a good place to start? Maybe I need to open up the TV and start to check to see if the capacitors are okay? Where do I even get these TV repair replacement parts? Please help.
The issue could be related to a bad capacitor or capacitors. Maybe 10 years ago there was a Chinese capacitor supplier company selling faulty and low quality caps. Your TV may have these.
THINGS TO TRY TO FIX YOUR TV FAST:
- Try to connect all connectors including HDMI, coax, etc, to be sure all inputs are producing same issue.
- Push the HDMI connector firmly into the back of the set.
- Be sure your actual cable is not bad and causing the issue.
First: Open up the TV case (unplugged of course) and look for a bulging or leaking capacitor. If you see any that are leaking or fat and bulging, replace them. If you find no bad caps, you could replace the complete circuit board but that may be more than the TV is worth. Some of these issues are common on Samsung, Sony, Vizio, and Toshiba. Here are some places to buy caps and circuit boards for replacement HDTV parts.
2 Types of lines on a broken LCD TV screen
Possible Components That Could Be Bad:
Bad T-Con Main Control Board can cause vertical lines or half of the screen is black. Horizontal lines usually indicates a defective screen not a bad t-con board.
Bad Power Supply (Bad Capacitors, Blown Fuse, Bad rectifier) This means that the TV won’t turn on or shuts off randomly.
TV repair – Vertical lines on flat panel TV
- You have to find out, are the lines vertical or horizontal?
- Are the lines a certain color or black and white?
- What section of the TV, do the lines show up in?
- The top half?
- The lower half?
- The right side?
- Or the left side
- Is your screen discolored?
- Do the lines always appear on the screen when using different inputs?
- If you switch from HDMI-1 input to HDMI-2 input, are the lines still there?
- Do the lines on the screen show up over the menu or behind the menu?
- Do the lines always appear on the screen or are they intermittent?
HOW TO FIX LED TV VERTICAL LINES ON SCREEN
Do you have experience in fixing these types of TV issues? Please leave a comment 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 →
Wes,
Was the Vizio screen hit or has the TV fallen over? If the screen is not damaged, then you may have an internal board that is causing your issue. You can look for bulging capacitors or loose ribbon cables on the boards inside the TV. Unplug the TV before you attempt to open it to complete further troubleshooting.
-RR
My Vizio TV’s bottom two-thirds of the screen has a frosted look with multi-colored vertical lines within the frosted area. This is the same are the channel guide comes up.
I was out of town for 3 days and came home with horizontal lines on my 50″ Samsung. The picture looks like it has shifted. The bottom inch of the picture should actually be at the top if that makes sense. Odd that this happened because it was fine when we left and not anymore. Please advise if there is a DIY idea or like the Geek Squad has said “just buy a new TV.”
Yeah it’s all the time even after it’s been on a while, it appeared on it a few months back then seem to disappear again but last week I turned it on and it came back maybe worse. Thank you for your reply
Brett O’Connell,
Horizontal lines usually indicates a defective screen. You can try opening up the TV safely and checking to be sure all ribbon cables are connected secure and that all the boards are visually okay by checking the caps and looking for burnt marks. If all looks okay, then most likely you have a faulty screen.
-RR
Andy,
Horizontal lines usually indicates a defective screen. The screen on your Samsung TV most likely needs to be replaced. Does this issue happen all the time? What happens if you leave the TV on for a long period of time?
-RR
My Samsung model LE40D550K1W TV is showing horizontal lines at the top of my TV screen, the lines are there all the time no matter which input you use. It’s roughly about the the top 1/8 of the screen, the lines flicker and seem to mirror what’s happening in the bottom half of the screen.