Forum Discussion

Meredith183's avatar
2 years ago
Solved

My screen is black with sound help

I went to switch my tcl Roku tv from Hulu to HBO it went black with sounds of the remote.. just a black screen I tried to reset it with remote power off and on.. please help tv might be 4 years old 

  • Meredith183, sorry, but you'll find many, many reports of the same thing. Try unplugging the power for an extended period like overnight and see if the picture comes back.  If it does, turn down the brightness.  That may keep it from happening in the future.

    If it doesn't come back and if you can shine a bright light on your TV and see a picture, something within the TV has failed.  Replacing the failed component probably isn't something the average user can do, but you can search the Internet for instructions and what you'd need to buy.

    It would be TCL's responsibility, but given that it's long out of warranty they won't help you.

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  • renojim's avatar
    renojim
    Community Streaming Expert

    Meredith183, sorry, but you'll find many, many reports of the same thing. Try unplugging the power for an extended period like overnight and see if the picture comes back.  If it does, turn down the brightness.  That may keep it from happening in the future.

    If it doesn't come back and if you can shine a bright light on your TV and see a picture, something within the TV has failed.  Replacing the failed component probably isn't something the average user can do, but you can search the Internet for instructions and what you'd need to buy.

    It would be TCL's responsibility, but given that it's long out of warranty they won't help you.

    • Dale9696's avatar
      Dale9696
      Newbie

      My tv is doing the same thing but when I shine a light at it. It doesn't show anything at all.

      • RokuERey's avatar
        RokuERey
        Retired Moderator

        Hi Dale9696,

        A warm welcome here in the Roku Community!

        We see that you're having the same issue and we appreciate your report about this.

        To confirm, are you still hearing sound on the Roku TV? In addition, let us know the brand and model of your Roku TV.

        Keep us posted!

        Thanks,
        Rey

    • Slfoster73's avatar
      Slfoster73
      Newbie

      My tcl Roku tv has also out of nowhere went to a black screen with sound. Can someone explain to me why this is happening to so many tv’s all of a sudden? What can I do to fix it? I can’t afford to buy a new one and I shouldn’t have to 😡. There has to be a solution other than turning it off and on 

      • renojim's avatar
        renojim
        Community Streaming Expert

        Slfoster73, I wouldn't say it's all of a sudden.  You'll see "black screen" threads going back the last several years.  These cheap TVs seem to have a problem with their backlight hardware.  As I've noted previously, if you can shine a bright light on your TV and see a picture, your backlight has most likely failed.  It has nothing to do with it being a "Roku TV".  They can be repaired if you can find the parts (check ebay) and are handy and not afraid of electronics.  Research "TCL backlight" and you'll find plenty of people with the same problem.  I don't think it helps that every TV I've seen lately comes with the brightness set to the highest level.  Sometimes setting the brightness to a lower level will get the picture to return, but I have a feeling that's a temporary solution at best.  I'll note that every time I help someone set up a TV the first thing I do after setup is completed is to turn down the brightness.  I can't say if it has helped, but it certainly can't hurt.

    • JodiPen's avatar
      JodiPen
      Channel Surfer

      My tv went out and they said I’m on my own. 

  • Make sure your Roku device/stick shows a blinking light before plugging it back into the TV.