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.
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I have a 32 inch LG flat screen TV. When I turn it on the top 2/3 of the TV is perfectly fine. The remaining 1/3 on the bottom starts off pitch black. After a minute or so, the black horizontal line starts changing into colored vertical lines only on the part that was previously black. When watching, the lines change colors depending on what I’m watching. I have tried switching inputs and it is still the same. When I click on menu the black/colored lines appear over the menu. The screen is not cracked or damaged in any way. Has never been dropped or handled roughly.
I have Sansui 32 inch TV which works perfectly for a few minutes but after a few there are vertical lines all over the screen.
I have a Sony Bravia 70 inch TV and my son was playing and a hair brush went flying and hit the TV. Now there are vertical lines about 6 inches wide on the TV screen.
I have a Vizio 50″ 3D smart TV. The first problem started with a black line occasionally flashing horizontally through the picture. Then it started making the bottom half of the screen go darker when it would flash on. Eventually about 3-4 lines, from middle up, started showing up and bottom still getting dark but happening more frequently. Now it’s to the point of almost constantly flashing every few seconds but now the whole bottom of the screen freezes when it does.
Chris A,
It could be a number of issues. It sounds as if you have more than one issue. Have you checked all ribbon connectors, boards for bad caps, burnt board? Let us know what you find.
-RR
Kelli,
If you have both horizontal and vertical lines on your Samsung TV, the problem is most likely the screen. Is the screen cracked or indented? If not you may have a circuit board or multiple circuit boards that are bad. You can open the TV up and check for a capacitor that does not look right. You can replace the caps or the complete board. Look for loose or damaged ribbon connectors. However if you have both vert and horizontal lines, you most likely have multiple issues and it MAY NOT be worth fixing.
-RR
I have a Samsung 55″ LCD that’s about 6 years old. It has a black vertical line right down the center that goes away after it’s been on a while. We’ve lived with it for a year or so, but now we have another issue with horizontal lines that appear after it’s been on a while. Before we buy a new TV, I thought I’d see if there is any hope in fixing it. My husband is an engineer and is very handy, but he doesn’t have a lot of time, and hasn’t tried to diagnose it yet. If it’s as simple as replacing something, he can probably do it, but only if it will buy us a few more years. ;-)