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TV Repair · Troubleshooting

Flat Screen HDTV Has Sound But No Picture – Screen Is Not Cracked

My TV is a 55″ Smart LED/LCD HDTV. Made by Vizio. The TV picture has gone out but sound still works. Screen is NOT cracked. The screen is black. TV powers on. The LED light comes on briefly. Screen sometimes flickers. The screen flickers in a dark room for a split moment. Turning the TV from ON to OFF causes it to flicker white and gray. This is before the sound will come on. I removed the back panel cover and checked the boards. I am not sure what to look for to see if a board or a part on a board is damaged. The sound works. Is there a way to check and see if one of the boards is causing this issue? If I do find the problem, is there somewhere to buy a new board for my TV at a decent price?

Flat Screen TV Has Sound But No PictureFlat Screen TV Has Sound But No Picture

Try a few simple things first to try and fix your TV before replacing parts…
1 – Unplug TV overnight. Plug back in and SOMETIMES it may work and fix your issue.
2 – Unplugging the TV and everything hooked to it, then plugging it back in may clear the problem.
3 – Be sure the TV is set to the correct input. If it is set to DVI or Component input when it should be in the HDMI input this will cause issues.

back of HDTV inputsBack of HDTV inputs – Try another input if no picture

If the 3 quick fix checks above do not resolve your issue, try this:
Press the TV menu button. If no menu appears the problem could be a bad tcon display board or backlight inverter board. Turn off the room light and check TV for backlight glow. If it has a glow then the problem can be a loose tcon connection or bad tcon board. Check connections.

Other possible causes for HDTV with sound but no video…

Possible TV Back-Light Inverter Board Issue:
To see if the back-light has gone out, turn the TV on. Turn the lights off and make the room dark. Shine a flashlight onto the screen at different angles. If you can see some of the picture then the back-light has gone out. (It should glow a slight grey if it’s working) To fix this you need a TV backlight inverter board. You can buy one online for a relatively low price. Usually the board will have a few bad capacitors on it. You could attempt to repair it yourself if you can identify which capacitor has gone bad. A capacitor kit for a TV board is ultra cheap. You are best off buying the backlight inverter board and installing it yourself. A back-light inverter board should be from $10 to $25 dollars depending on your TV model.

backlight inverter boards for TVBack-light Inverter boards for all HDTV’s

Possible Power Supply Board Unit Issue:
If you cannot see the screen at all using the flashlight method, then you may have a bad power supply board or loose wire/connection. If you can still hear the TV sound then it may be the power supply board. If you find the power supply board is bad and you decide to order a new one, make sure the power board part number matches with the one in your TV, there are many different types out there for all TV’s. The power supply board will cost around $20 to $30 dollars. (Replacing the power supply is the last resort as if the sound is working but there is no picture, this is most likely not the issue but on SOME TVs this fixes the problem)

power supply boards for TVsPower Supply Boards for HDTVs

NOTE: On some model TVs the Inverter board and the Power unit board are on one board, so check your TV model number to be sure you are ordering the correct parts.

MORE THINGS TO CONSIDER:
If you have your TV on an HDMI input, the HDMI board may have a bad capacitor. (With this issue there will be no sound as HDMI carries sound as well as picture) If you find the HDMI input is bad, hook your TV another input and order the correct HDMI board in the meantime.

hdmi board for TVHDMI Input Board for TV

Main Board Bad?
You may have a bad main board. There are videos below to help you to determine if you have a bad main board and how to test certain components on any type of circuit board in your TV.

main boards for tvMain Boards for TVs

If you have a Vizio TV, Vizio has a year replacement warranty. If your TV is under a year old contact Vizio or the maker of the TV to see if it is covered by warranty. 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.


LCD TV Easy Fix (sound but no picture)


TV Has Sound But No Picture Troubleshooting Guide


No Picture LCD TV Repair


How to test Capacitors, Diodes, Rectifiers on TV Power supply using a Multimeter

Test diodes, capacitors, bridge rectifiers in TV power-supply boards, “how to use multimeter”
to test or read TV parts on power circuit boards commonly in LCD, LED, Plasma.

Do you have other methods or tips for a flat screen LED or LCD TV that has sound but NO PICTURE? Please leave a comment below to assist others in solving what may be wrong with their TV as well.

Keith Schneerer

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 →

35 thoughts on “Flat Screen HDTV Has Sound But No Picture – Screen Is Not Cracked”

  1. Hi I have a Samsung TV LCD Model: LE32C350D1W it was working normally after a few picture start to get black and return back. Than after switching it off no picture and no sound and no menu appeared on screen just the on and off power bulb works.

    Any clues please?

    Thanks & Regards
    Jason Calleja

  2. I have a lg flat screen maybe less than 5 years old , watching tv when the tv looked like it went off but the sound was on. The tv isn’t lighting up but I can still hear the sound. We can from time to time if really close see some light but then it goes, we had it working for a minute and went off again. Tv screen looks like the tv isn’t even on. How would you go about trying to fix that?

  3. My tv the power light is on & sounds but , the screen is not showing no pictures,the screen is is not crack

  4. Hi, Strange issue. My 50″ LED screen shuts off after 60-90 seconds of TV being switched on; sound remains on. Examined the three boards inside for damage, lose wires etc.; none found. After experimenting, I discovered if I quickly go to “menu” after TV’s switched on, and select “restore defaults” the screen stays on for the entire evening and TV performs perfectly.
    What is this about? Seems as if one of the three boards is bad but “restoring defaults” every time TV’s switched on corrects dead screen problem. Has anyone heard of such a thing?
    50″ Seiki, SE5OUY04, 4.5 years old. Thanks, Mr. Perplexed.

  5. I have a toshiba 49L621U model. it has no picture. ive tried the rest several times and it has been unplugged for months.

  6. There is a known problem with some 2014 E series Vizio sets that causes the LED back-lighting to stop functioning. This is what often causes the “No Picture with Sound” problem with 2014 model Vizio sets. You can tell if it is your problem by giving the TV signal and then hold a bright flashlight at an angle to the screen. You should be able to see a faint picture. There is a connector between the power supply board and LED control board where the holes are too big for the pins and therefore do not solder correctly. As the set ages the heat/cold cycle causes them to lose connection to the board. Its a simple fix to re-flow the solder that any decent shop or hobbyist can make. I agree though that it points to seriously poor quality control.

  7. I have a 48 in Samsung flat screen TV that is about 10 yrs. old. While watching it, everything was fine when suddening the picture went completely out. The sound remained the same. I’m able to change channels but no picture. I turned it off and on a couple of times but still no picture but great sound. The other TVs in the house work fine.

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