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Annie22's avatar
Annie22
Newbie
6 years ago
Solved

Roku TCL TV insanely dim/dark screen

Waking up this morning I noticed my Roku tcl tv was dim to the point of a black screen. Shining a light on the screen would show the big white lettering slightly better, but any grey/small text is lost to the dark. I honestly havent even touched visual or developer settings before today, so this happened for seemingly no reason, as far as I know. Roku TCL TV Model 40s305.

When turning the tv on it'll flash normal/bright, showing the red "loading" screen clearly, for nearly 1 second, before dimming again. I've reset my settings, replaced my surge protector/tried a normal outlet, I've reset my roku (both with a 1 hour power cycle, and a hard reset from in the settings). I've turned my brightness up & down, and even factory reset my roku tv. When I tried plugging a roku stick into my roku tv, and selecting hdmi 1, it'll show up named "roku #2" but the tv was still dark. I know this tv should work, considering it's bright/normal for a second when it's turning on. It was last updated December 13th and it checked for new updates 2 hours ago, to no avail. I feel like I've tried everything, hoping I can get some suggestions on any other possible solutions.

black screen
dimming
  • GeneralMayhem's avatar
    GeneralMayhem
    5 years ago

    Changing the mode with the * button on remote from "vivid" to "movie" mode worked for me.

  • Pgoel6uc's avatar
    Pgoel6uc
    5 years ago

    Go to settings, and restart the TV from there. Worked for me twice!

63 Replies

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  • GeneralMayhem's avatar
    GeneralMayhem
    Channel Surfer
    5 years ago

    Changing the mode with the * button on remote from "vivid" to "movie" mode worked for me.

    • edwinaviar's avatar
      edwinaviar
      Reel Rookie
      5 years ago

      I hope this worked I've had so much trouble with the pitcher dimming for months now I thought there was something wrong with my television but so far this worked great job.

    • magas's avatar
      magas
      Newbie
      4 years ago

      Go to Roku settings display type and set the resolution  to 1080. That’s all man

    • Kank's avatar
      Kank
      Newbie
      3 years ago

      OMG! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply. Changing to movie fixed it. I’m such a Luddite. Saved my planned binge watching for this cold weekend 

  • Pgoel6uc's avatar
    Pgoel6uc
    Reel Rookie
    5 years ago

    Go to settings, and restart the TV from there. Worked for me twice!

      • GeneralMayhem's avatar
        GeneralMayhem
        Channel Surfer
        5 years ago

        Hello,

        This is a reply to a post I made on a different thread, this user has a different solution... maybe give this a try.

         

         

         

         

        Hi GeneralMayhem,

         

        Steve8991 (Newbie) posted a new reply in Discussions on 05-17-2021 10:17 PM:

         

         

        Re: My Screen is very dark

         

         

        A Youtube video by WorldofTech helped solve my issue. I reset my Roku TV with it's remote by pressing the home button 5 times, the up arrow 1 time, the re-wind button 2 times, and the fast forward button 2 times in that order. Your home menu should scroll a few times then the TV will shut off. It will come on again, shut off one more time then come back on and the picture should be fixed. The whole process takes about a minute. I hope this helps!

  • LOVELY38's avatar
    LOVELY38
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    Follow these steps to place it on movie mode.

    Press * on your remote

    Scroll down to PICTURE SETTINGS, then press ok to open

    Press right arrow to place tv on Movie mode.

    Your color should restored to normal. There are also finer adjustments you can make a that time if u so choose.

    picture directions below.

    IMG_1026.PNG

    IMG_1027.PNG

    Hope this helps!!

    • Maizy's avatar
      Maizy
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      Lovely38 thanks so much. Your tip about setting to movie mode worked!

    • Gary_Canfield's avatar
      Gary_Canfield
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      My TCV is so dark I cannot even see good enough to choose settings.  Could someone give me step by step what to press after the * button?  

      • RokuDanny-R's avatar
        RokuDanny-R
        Retired Moderator
        5 years ago

        Gary_Canfield

        Thanks for the post.

        The issue you are experiencing may be related to a hardware issue. Have you tried contacting TCL support yet to inquire further? I'd suggest starting there to see what options or suggestions they can provide. Each Roku TV manufacturer provides direct support for their products running the Roku OS. 

        You can reach them here: https://support.tclusa.com/televisions or at 1-877-300-8837.


        Thanks,
        Danny

  • Alliescooter's avatar
    Alliescooter
    Newbie
    4 years ago

    I wanted to post a solution because I tried everything I could find online and finally called the tcl support line and they said unplug the TV and hold the power button on TV down for 15 seconds. And then plug it back in and try turning it on. And that was the only solution that worked for my TV. 

    • Dave46's avatar
      Dave46
      Newbie
      4 years ago

      Dark screen happened to me this morning.  After fiddling with various settings, I unplugged the tv and plugged it in.  When I turned on the tv, the screen was perfect.  Did not hold down the power button.

  • Pert_J's avatar
    Pert_J
    Newbie
    5 years ago

    Am I just dumb or has anyone answered this question? I'm only seeing 3 replies, and they are all stating the same problem. Am I looking in the wrong place, or what?

    • Kahshe1's avatar
      Kahshe1
      Newbie
      4 years ago

      All I do is factory reset but then I need to sign onto every app again pain in the ass

    • Woodstock's avatar
      Woodstock
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      Bought a new ROKU ULTRA a week ago- super dark picture. Tried ALL suggestions- unplug, reset, new cable, nothing worked. Called Roku - nothing they suggested worked. It hit me an hour ago- I used MY REMOTE FROM MY TV - not Roku. I pressed Source, Menu and opened up Picture . I lightened brightness, picture, contrast- all of them. Everything is PERFECT.

  • Behemoth2's avatar
    Behemoth2
    Reel Rookie
    5 years ago

    My tv just got dark also for no reason. It works just fine while first turning it on then will just go dark. 

    • RokuDanny-R's avatar
      RokuDanny-R
      Retired Moderator
      5 years ago

      Behemoth2

      Thanks for the post.

      This may be related to a hardware issue. Have you tried contacting TCL support yet to inquire further? I'd suggest starting there to see what options or suggestions they can provide. Each Roku TV manufacturer provides direct support for their products running the Roku OS. 

      You can reach them here: https://support.tclusa.com/televisions or at 1-877-300-8837.


      Thanks,
      Danny

    • lancertcl's avatar
      lancertcl
      Reel Rookie
      5 years ago

      This just happened to me this afternoon.  I used the tv this morning and it was fine.  After lunch turned it on around 130pm and everything was dark.   I thought it was thru my cable box but it wasnt.  I tried my PS4 and Xbox inputs to compare and same thing, it was so dark that some games I could not even see the details.

      It said the tv did some system check around noon today.

      Anyway, I did System Restart and now it's back to normal. 

      No idea why it did that.  Will keep an eye out for it.  Hopefully nothing wrong w/ the tv itself because I love this tv and it's the best tv I've ever owned.  I've only owned this TCL for about a year.

    • Colombo233's avatar
      Colombo233
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      Same! Home screen is fine, but as soon as I turn on Live TV or any streaming apps, dark to almost black. Any answers?

      • Nakul's avatar
        Nakul
        Newbie
        5 years ago

        I'm having the same problem. Change picture setting to movie it works but this is weird 

    • LOVELY38's avatar
      LOVELY38
      Newbie
      5 years ago

      Pert_J 

       

      Press * on your remote

      Scroll down to PICTURE SETTINGS, then press ok to open

      Press right arrow to place tv on Movie mode.

      Your color should restored to normal. There are also finer adjustments you can make a that time if u so choose.

      picture directions below.

      IMG_1026.PNG

      IMG_1027.PNG

      Hope this helps!!

      • LoriK's avatar
        LoriK
        Reel Rookie
        5 years ago

        This has been happening intermittently for me over the past two months.  Sometimes I will be in the middle of watching something on DVD, sometimes I'll be in an application channel, or sometimes I will navigate home and not take immediate action for more than 5 minutes.

        The experience is that the screen dims almost to black (not quite) but is so dark that I cannot see to navigate to system info or to see any help screens.  Often when I try to power down, the system does NOT actually power down completely (based  the red light indicator at the bottom of the set).  I have left it this way for 30 minutes before powering back up, and still see the super dim screen.

        Sometimes if I leave it for several hours and come back, it will power up with full visibility on the screen.  Other times I have had to manually disconnect the power cord, leave it for 30 minutes, and plug it back in.

        Originally I thought this might have been due to the system looking for system updates or applying them, but when this happened LAST NIGHT (while using hdmi cable connected through blueray port to stream a movie from my laptop -- screen when dark 3 times while still playing audio -- SUPER annoying), when I finally got to the system info screen to look at the last system scan, it had been 12 hours earlier.

        System details:  ROKU TV 5121X; TCL MODEL 40FS3750; Software version 9.4.0 build 4200-08; Last Updated Dec 12 10:35 pm

    • Dlb1230's avatar
      Dlb1230
      Reel Rookie
      3 years ago

      I unplugged my Roku TV for five minutes and restarted. Worked for me.

  • Kidistdaniel's avatar
    Kidistdaniel
    Newbie
    5 years ago
    Annie22 wrote:

    Waking up this morning I noticed my Roku tcl tv was dim to the point of a black screen. Shining a light on the screen would show the big white lettering slightly better, but any grey/small text is lost to the dark. I honestly havent even touched visual or developer settings before today, so this happened for seemingly no reason, as far as I know. Roku TCL TV Model 40s305.

    When turning the tv on it'll flash normal/bright, showing the red "loading" screen clearly, for nearly 1 second, before dimming again. I've reset my settings, replaced my surge protector/tried a normal outlet, I've reset my roku (both with a 1 hour power cycle, and a hard reset from in the settings). I've turned my brightness up & down, and even factory reset my roku tv. When I tried plugging a roku stick into my roku tv, and selecting hdmi 1, it'll show up named "roku #2" but the tv was still dark. I know this tv should work, considering it's bright/normal for a second when it's turning on. It was last updated December 13th and it checked for new updates 2 hours ago, to no avail. I feel like I've tried everything, hoping I can get some suggestions on any other possible solutions.

    • GeneralMayhem's avatar
      GeneralMayhem
      Channel Surfer
      5 years ago

      Hello,

       By reading your post it seems like you have tried most of the solutions others have had to this issue.

      The only thing that worked for me, and is still working to this day, is through the menu that comes up when you press the * button on the remote, while watching a channel. The menu comes up fine, even though the rest of the screen is dark. Cycle through the options there and you should be able to change picture mode presets. Mine I changed from "vivid" to "movie" mode.

      If you tried this and are still having problems, I apologize. Your post mentions changing the brightness setting, but changing the brightness through the main settings menu won't do it. 

  • Joannlotito14's avatar
    Joannlotito14
    Channel Surfer
    4 years ago

    Same happened to me I had it set to vivid picture mode seems vivid gives out this is my 2nd hisense roku TV so I changed the picture mode to movie mode and it’s working fine 

  • Booweezy89's avatar
    Booweezy89
    Newbie
    4 years ago

    You guys won’t believe me but it works. Found a video on YouTube and I’m thinking this can’t work but it does. Smack the back of the TV on both sides like how we use to with  the old box tvs. My tv lit up like normal 💯

    • Joannlotito14's avatar
      Joannlotito14
      Channel Surfer
      3 years ago

      I’m glad it worked for you I tried it but did not work called the company and was refunded always make sure you send your warranty that comes in the box I also from now on at the store purchase the 3 yr warranty good thing cause the second TV went out on me.