If you’ve seen Avengers: Infinity War…
You’ll remember a scene where Thanos snapped his fingers.
And half of all life in the universe disappeared.
Just like what’s happened with your LED TV…
Where half of its screen just went dark.
Fortunately, that doesn’t require superheroes to fix it.
Continue reading to find out:
- 7 effective fixes for your LED TV’s half-dark screen problem.
- Common reasons why half of an LED TV’s screen may turn darker.
- The specific Picture Mode that can help fix your LED TV’s dark screen issue.
- And a lot more…
Why is half of my Led TV screen dark?
Half of your LED TV is dark due to a bad T-CON board or failing backlights. The T-CON board is responsible for your TV’s display quality. While the LED backlights are what illuminate your TV’s LCD screen. And when either of them is defective, portions of your screen will turn darker.
Led TV half screen darker: 7 fixes
LED TVs are just LCD TVs with strips of LED backlights behind the screen.
And when some of those backlights start to fail…
Some parts of your TV screen will turn darker.
However, defective LED backlights aren’t the only cause of a dark screen.
A damaged T-CON board is another likely reason for that.
To explain simply, a T-CON board controls the color and contrast of pixels on your TV screen.
So when it’s damaged, you may see some color imbalance on your screen. Examples of this include a TV screen turning green or purple.
You may also see some horizontal lines on the TV. And in some cases, half of the screen will turn darker or completely black.
In short, a defective backlight or T-CON board is the most probable cause of your screen issue.
But you also couldn’t rule out software issues. You see, it’s also possible that an OS glitch may have caused half of your screen to turn dark.
And that’s why the fixes below involve both software and hardware troubleshooting.
With that, let’s get started.
#1: Verify if it’s just a channel or app problem
Before you troubleshoot your TV…
It’s important to know if the half-dark screen is just an app or a channel problem.
In fact, it might not even be an issue at all. It may very well be just some cinematic effects from the video you’re streaming.
So what can you do to check?
Just grab your remote. Then, press the Home or Menu button.
This should automatically close the app or channel that you’re watching. And you should see your LED TV’s main screen.
Now, if your screen’s no longer dark, then it’s just an issue with the app. And that’s great news because it means your LED TV’s fine.
So what you need to do instead is to fix that particular app.
You may try to relaunch it and play a different video.
And if portions of the video are still dark, then consider deleting the streaming app. Then reinstall it afterward.
#2: Power cycle your LED TV
LED TVs, whether smart or not, can also malfunction at times.
Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean there are some serious issues with them. But it’s just something that happens to practically all electronic devices.
So it’s quite possible that the dark screen issue might be due to that temporary glitch.
And the fastest way to fix it is by performing a power cycle. In other words, just restart your TV.
So here’s how to power cycle any brand of LED TV:
Step #1: Disconnect the TV from the outlet.
Step #2: Search for its built-in power button. It should be at the side or the bottom of your TV. And then press it for 10 to 15 seconds. This is to discharge any residual power completely.
Step #3: Wait for at least 30 seconds.
Step #4: Plug your TV back into the outlet or power strip.
Wait for your TV to turn back on. Then check if half of the screen’s still dark. And if it is, don’t worry. There are plenty of other fixes ahead.
#3: Check the connections of your TV
If your LED TV isn’t smart, there’s a good chance you’ve plugged in an external device.
Gadgets like Roku and Chromecast can help turn a TV smart, after all. And they also work well even in smart LED TVs.
Now, usually, these devices connect via an HDMI cable.
And if you didn’t plug the cable correctly, you’d also have video and audio issues.
So you should also check the TV’s connections. For one, ensure that you plug your HDMI cable firmly and securely.
In addition, you also couldn’t rule out a defective port as the cause of the screen issue.
So if your LED TV has multiple HDMI ports, try to connect the cable to another one.
And if you’ve been using the HDMI cable for a while now, find a replacement.
For many users, simply swapping the HDMI cable with a new one was what resolved their screen problem.
#4: Check if it’s an issue with your TV’s external devices
This is in connection with the previous fix.
So may have just replaced your external device’s HDMI cable. But parts of your TV screen are still dark.
Well, the problem might be with the external device itself.
So you should power cycle it first.
Similar to what you did with your TV, unplug the external device from its power source. And then plug it back in after half a minute.
If the screen issue’s still there…
The next thing to do is to disconnect the external device from your TV. And then restart your TV.
Did that fix the dark screen problem?
If so, then you’d know that it’s the external device that’s defective. And you may focus on troubleshooting that instead.
#5: Switch to a bright Picture Mode
Now, it’s also possible that you tried to tweak your LED TV’s picture settings. And what you got instead is a half-dark screen.
What I would suggest for now is to select the brightest Picture Mode. And see if that resolves the screen problem.
Now, if you’re unsure how to switch to the brightest mode on your LED TV, don’t worry.
I’ll provide the steps for some of the most popular TV brands.
How to switch to a bright picture mode on a Samsung TV
- Press the Home button on the remote.
- Click Settings.
- Navigate to Picture.
- Select Picture Mode.
- Select either Standard or Dynamic.
How to switch to a bright picture mode on an LG TV
- Press the SMART button on your LG remote.
- Go to Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Scroll down and select Picture Mode.
- Find the Vivid option, then click.
How to switch to a bright picture mode on a Vizio TV
- Press the Menu button on your Vizio remote.
- Navigate to Picture and then click.
- Highlight Picture Mode.
- Use your remote’s arrow button to change it to Vivid.
How to switch to a bright picture mode on a Roku TV
- Start playing a video from a streaming channel.
- Press the Star button on the remote.
- When the menu opens, select Picture Mode.
- Select Vivid.
How to switch to a bright picture mode on an Android TV
- Press the Quick Settings button on the remote.
- Navigate and select Picture Mode.
- Click the Vivid option.
As you can see from the guides, the brightest Picture Mode is usually called Vivid or Dynamic.
So if I wasn’t able to include your LED TV brand…
Just try to find a similarly-termed mode on your TV’s settings.
And if you’d like to learn more about Picture Modes, watch this video below:
You might also want to know: 11 Ways To Fix Your TV Brightness Problem
#6: Reset your LED TV’s picture settings
If switching to a bright picture mode didn’t resolve your LED TV’s screen issue…
Then the next fix is to reset the entire picture settings.
This is similar to a factory reset. Except, this only affects display-related features and options.
Now, most TV brands these days have a picture reset option. And again, I’ll list down the steps for a few.
How to reset picture settings on a Samsung TV
- Click the Home button on your Samsung remote.
- Go to Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Select Expert Settings.
- Select Reset Picture and click Yes to confirm.
How to reset picture settings on an LG TV
- Press the SMART button on your LG remote.
- Scroll down and choose Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Navigate to Picture Reset and click that.
- Click Yes to proceed.
How to reset picture settings on a Vizio TV
- Press your remote’s Menu button.
- Search for Picture and click.
- Click More and select Reset Picture Mode.
- Click Reset to confirm your selection.
How to reset picture settings on a Roku TV
- Press the Home button on the remote.
- Go to Settings.
- Select System.
- Select Advanced system settings.
- Click Factory reset.
- Click Reset TV audio/picture settings.
How to reset picture settings on an Android TV
- Press the Home button on the TV’s remote.
- Open the Settings menu.
- Navigate to System Preferences.
- Select Retail mode settings.
- Turn on the Picture Reset Mode.
#7: Perform a factory reset on your LED TV
As a last resort, you may also consider performing a factory reset.
This is if the other fixes didn’t resolve your half-dark screen problem.
Warning: Factory resetting will delete all of the apps you installed. This will also unlink the TV from your account. And all settings will revert to their default value.
If that won’t stop you, here’s…
How to perform a factory reset on a Samsung TV
- Press the Home button of your remote.
- Select the Settings option.
- Select General.
- Click Reset.
- Enter your 4-digit PIN. If none, enter 0000.
- Select Reset again and click OK to confirm.
How to perform a factory reset on an LG TV
- Press the SMART button on the remote.
- Click the gear icon to open the Settings menu.
- Select General.
- Select Reset to Initial Settings.
How to perform a factory reset on a Vizio TV
- Press your remote’s Menu button.
- Select System.
- Select Reset & Admin.
- Select Reset TV to Factory Default.
- Enter your parental code or 0000 if you didn’t set one.
- Select Reset again and click OK to confirm.
How to perform a factory reset on a Roku TV
- Click Home on your Roku remote.
- Click Settings.
- Select System.
- Click Advanced system settings.
- Navigate to Factory Reset and click that.
- Select Factory reset everything.
How to perform a factory reset on an Android TV
- Click Home on your Android remote.
- Navigate to Settings, then click it.
- Select Device Preferences.
- Select Factory data reset.
- Select Erase everything and click Yes to confirm.
Bonus: Contact your LED TV’s manufacturer
If the software fixes didn’t resolve your LED TV’s screen issue…
Then this confirms that it’s a hardware problem. And as I mentioned, it could be an issue with the T-CON board or the LED backlight strips.
Either way, it would require an expert to fix it.
So I would advise you to contact your TV’s manufacturer.
You may visit their official website. And search for the Contact Us page to find their hotline number or chat support page.
Here are the links to some of the most popular TV brands’ contact pages:
You can then ask an agent how to get in touch with an authorized technician.