Fix A TV That’s Displaying Distorted Flashing Colors

My 55″ TV displays flashing and distorted colors on all channels. This happens even when the channel or volume overlays are on the screen. This issue did not slowly happen, it just happened overnight basically. I want to know what caused my TV to have this issue. I tried changing many of the internal TV settings with the original remote control in the color management settings.

I changed and tried resetting the hue, contrast, brightness, and everything else. This did not work. I turned the TV off overnight to see if maybe it was a one time problem but this did not help. I even left it on for 24 hours and this did not help fix my TV. At times the TV screen is flashing red, green, and white over & over again. At times it flickers when nothing is going on is much brighter than it should be. Do you think there is a reset or do I need to replace a certain part?

TV flashing different colorsTV flashing different colors

TV Has Weird Colors

Possible reasons why your TV may be displaying weird or strange colors
1. The TV is in a “self test mode”.
2. Loose video input wires.
3. You have speakers near the TV that have magnets in them that are causing the screen to display incorrect colors.
4. Video input dirty or damaged.
5. The t-con board has gone out.

Run A Self Test Mode

The easiest way to try a quick fix is to see if the TV is in a self test mode. To turn off self test mode, first stand near your TV’s power cord going into the wall. On your TV remote control, first press the arrow up button then the arrow down button. After pressing the remote buttons, unplug your TV from power within 5 seconds.

Wait 15 seconds and plug the TV pack into the power outlet. Wait 10 more seconds and test the TV to see if the issue has been solved. If your TV is not working correctly still, repeat the complete procedure but press the left arrow button and the the right arrow button instead of the up and down buttons. This works on most TV’s, but you may need to go into the settings of your TV with the original remote control and turn SELF TEST MODE to off.

Loose video input wires?

Check all wires in the back of the TV to be sure all is tight. You may be using composite (component) cables that have a red, blue, and green wire for the video input. It also needs a red wire and a white wire for your left and right speakers for sound. It is possible these wires have come loose. Go to the back of your TV and push the wires in until they feel tight. Check the TV screen. Also check the back of the cable box or receiver and do the same thing. This may bring your colors back to normal. If you are using an other type of connection, do the same thing.

Your surround sound TV speakers are the cause

If you have surround sound speakers near the TV screen, move the speakers away from the screen. The magnets in speakers will have a strange effect on your TV screen if the magnets are too close. Magnets will cause issues with the picture on your TV. Always keep magnets away from ALL TV screens.

TV video inputs ports dirty or damaged

Check to see if the HDMI, coax cable, RGB, USB, Component or other video inputs ports are dirty or damaged. If there is excessive dirt or dust on a an HDMI cord and it is inserted into the TV, the picture and or colors of the TV may be affected. Unplug all video inputs and be sure there is not dirt, dust, or damage (split video cord, cracked coax cable wire, broken or loose input on TV) coming in between the input video line and the TV input. Unplug all the A/V wires in the back and plug them into different ports if needed to test certain inputs. Plug all inputs back in and test TV to see if the issue was simply a connection with dirt or dust causing your issue.

tv replacement partsTV replacement parts

The t-con board is bad

You may have a t-con board that is going bad. You will need to disassemble the TV to fix this issue. It may or may not be worth it depending on the type and age of your TV. You can Google your TV make and model to find out if this is your exact problem. If you find that the t-con board is bad, replacing or fixing it is the only way to fix it.

NOTE: Eliminate all possibilities before assuming it is the TV. Always check the connections, try a different cable and different input on your TV.


Fix for Samsung LCD TV color display problem


Easy LCD TV fix: Bad picture screen rainbow colors


LCD TV Repair Tutorial – TV Screen Solarized
Common T-Con & Main Board Symptoms & Solutions

Do you have suggestions or experience with a TV displaying strange or weird flashing distorted colors and what you did to fix it? Please leave a comment below.

10 thoughts on “Fix A TV That’s Displaying Distorted Flashing Colors”

  1. I was factory settings then accidentally selected the aging mode so my 32 digital led Hisense started blinking red blue yellow green gray pink then picture shortly then back to colors and the power led also keeps on blinking red. The remote is also no longer active and the power button has also stopped working please help me

  2. My Samsung 37 inch TV is about 8 years old.
    About a month now about once a week weird colors would come into my television screen briefly.
    Is it malfunctioning or should I get a new television?

  3. My 32 inch sharp tv i bought 2 days ago started giving these colours when i did factory reset i have tried many things but screen is still showing various colours

  4. I have a new rca 4K ultra 43 inch tv and it works fine for 15-20min then it goes super tinted red , pink and green but doesn’t affect the tv menus at all and if I turn the tv off few minutes it’s fin for another 10 mins or so then right back in tint hell, why does it keep doing this? I’ve replaced my HDMI cables and still

  5. This post saved my life. Thought my tv was a goner. Realized after turning it on, it must of been in the self test mode as it took about 30 seconds to load from the home screen. Screen works fine now! Thank you so much for this information

  6. My ceiling fan caused the screen to blink red, white, blue, green, and different shades of each color in the rainbow. The sound was fine but the picture was gone except the different colors blinking. I turned the set and cable box off and the fan was turned off too. I turned everything back on except the ceiling fan and the tv now works normally as it should. I think the magnetic field pulsating out from the fan influenced the functionality of the tv. The motor of the ceiling fan is less than 5 feet away from the tv. This started a while back, about a month or so, I’d turn the tv on with the ceiling fan and it would work fine for a while and then go into the blinking mode. It now works fine as long as the fan is not running.

  7. hi my JVC tv screen is making blue green and red i dont have a remote fr it what can i do its a 32″

  8. After a lot of time swapping out various components (cable box, HDMI integrator) and the HDMI cables themselves, I discovered that simply disconnecting and reconnecting the original HDMI cable that connects to the TV solved the problem.

  9. hi, I have 40 inch Samsung 3D smart TV, it is only 8 months old. in the beginning it started giving solorised images, but after one day now its giving all redish colour in the pic and the sound and tv programmes are ok, but all in red tone.

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