The Most Common TV Issues (And How To Fix Them)

​Whether it's no power or a wonky picture, televisions are prone to develop some sort of issue or another during their lifetime. The good news is, these problems are almost always a relatively simple fix. In fact, sometimes they're so simple you can do them yourself at home, and today's post will teach you a few tricks for these very situations.

Of course, before you attempt to fix a TV problem, it helps to know exactly what kind of TV you have! If your TV is about three years old or newer, it is almost certainly an LED or LCD set. Plasma TVs are a similar "flat screen" style that were sold alongside LCDs from the late 1990s until late 2014. If you have an older TV that has a large protrusion at the back, it's a CRT (cathode ray tube) model.

• "Ghost" Images

Ghosting occurs when some residue of an image continues to display for longer than it should. This was a common issue with the earlier generation of LCD TVs made in the 2000s. It's more likely to happen when a naturally dark sequence of video is played back with the brightness settings cranked up, especially on LED TVs.

The service menu should have a "picture reset" feature that should be tried first if ghosting won't stop occurring. If that doesn't work, see if the menu has a way to display a very bright white picture for a few minutes, or if you can upload a bright white image from your computer to it.

• Frozen / Broken Pixels

Pixels are the tiny little individual lights that together change colors to form the picture. Sometimes, one (or a cluster) will either go out or get stuck at a particular brightness level.

If you go into the service menu of your TV, you may find that there is a "color cycle" option designed to repair this issue. When you active it, it will rapidly display different colors and patterns around the screen, which in many cases can cause stuck pixels to start functioning properly again. You may need to let this run for up to 30 minutes for pixels to re-activate, and anyone in the household with epilepsy should stay away from the TV during this time.

If a pixel stays permanently black, it may not be stuck, but dead. That doesn't mean it's beyond hope, however. If you have an LCD TV, a very small amount of pressure applied as directly as possible to the dead pixel with a damp cloth or Q-tip may do the trick. Turn the TV off before applying pressure, then turn it back on while continuing to hold the pressure for a few seconds. This may "massage" liquid back into the dead pixel.

• Picture Distortion / Skipping / Jumping

Having the picture become "blocky" or start skipping may be an issue with reception, particularly if you are watching broadcast television on an antenna or have satellite television. It can occur with hardwired cable on LCD/LED and plasma TVs as well, however.

First check your connections for tightness, and if you have an antenna attempt to adjust it to different positions to see if the picture becomes more stable. If you are using a small antenna that attaches directly to the television, it helps greatly to have an antenna booster that can be attached to the roof. If you have satellite TV and it's particularly cloudy or windy out, you may just have to wait for the weather to improve.

If you're certain it's not the reception or picture connections, then the next main culprit is the "motion interpolation" feature. This is actually meant to reduce blur, but can end up inducing visual issues in some circumstances, especially when watching sports where the camera is prone to a lot of quick pans to follow a ball or puck. You should be able to disable it through the TV's settings menu.

• TV Won't Turn On

The most frustrating TV issue is when it just won't power on for some reason! To troubleshoot this one, first try to determine if there's a break in the flow of power to the TV.

You've probably already checked to see if it's plugged in, but if it's plugged into a power strip or similar device that adds extra outlets, make sure the master switch is on or the circuit breaker has not been tripped. Then check that the outlet itself is working, either with another device or an outlet tester. Finally, make sure the TV power cable is attached firmly to the TV itself and nothing seems wrong there. If the remote isn't working, there should be power buttons along the bottom or side of the TV -- sometimes these are recessed and hard to see on LCD/LED and plasma TVs. 

If none of these options work, try disconnecting the TV from the power for one hour. Once you reconnect the TV, it will force a reset which may be able to fix the issue. 

If the chain of power is good but the TV still won't turn on, it's likely time for professional repair. A common issue that crops up with Samsung TVs in particular is that they'll click repeatedly before turning on, sometimes a ridiculous number of times. If you have this issue, it's probably best to just bring it in to the shop as the repair involves cracking the case open and doing some soldering.

If you've tried the above suggestions for your issues and have still experienced no luck, then it's time to bring the TV on in for service. Our Tucson-area shop can repair your LCD, LED or plasma television no matter what model it might be or how old it is. Drop-ins are welcome, and we're always happy to provide you with a free up-front estimate!