Currently, many people turn to Vizio TV because of the many perks it comes with. For instance, it has internet connectivity, is easy to control, and comes with fantastic benefits.
Many customers, however, report that their TVs turned on but did not show any pictures. The sad thing about this experience is that it can happen when you want to catch your favorite sport, TV show, or even news updates.
You turn on your TV, and the sound begins to play, but you don’t see any pictures. It’s completely dark, even if you can hear the hosts of your favorite show speaking. What do you do in that case?
If you can gather enough information and use simple tricks, you can fix your Vizio TV’s picture issue and have a great time alone or with your loved ones. This piece shares everything you should know about Vizio TV sound but no picture.
Quick Snippet
If your notice that your TV plays sound but doesn’t show pictures, you want to perform a flashlight test. This test will help you find out whether the backlight has some issues. If nothing seems to be wrong with the backlight, restart your TV and see if the problem is solved.
Keep reading to understand the steps involved in soft-resetting your Vizio TV and other things you can do to see the pictures.
Why Does Your TV Have Sound and No Picture?
It’s easy to think that the TV is all about the screen you see. But inside, there’s a range of circuit boards controlling everything you see when you switch on the television.
Your TV will fail to function correctly if any circuit boards have complications. To repair these boards and fix your TV, you need to invite an expert to your house. However, in many cases, these are problems that you can fix on your own without spending money.
For instance, a bud might cause issues in your Vizio TV’s system, which is an issue you can fix on your own.
The issue might also occur because the boards are damaged and should be replaced or repaired. Mains power fluctuation can lead to a power surge, which can then damage your TV’s circuit boards.
Luckily, such cases are rare, so you should try a few simple steps to see if you can fix your TV so that it starts showing pictures again. Try these things before trying to contact the pros.
1. Try the Flashlight Test
The backlight plays a vital role in ensuring that your Vizio TV shows pictures when powered on. The LEDs light up your TV screen into the pictures you need to see.
The backlight might be off, and when that happens, the display crystals will try to show the images, only that you won’t be able to see them.
Once you power on your TV, the gas will display a signal, so the sound should work. The flashlight test is simple and can help you find out if there’s a problem with your TV’s backlight.
The flashlight test will work on your TV screen, but will only focus on a portion of it. Even if the section is small, it should be enough to help you tell if the backlight needs some fixing.
To perform a flashlight test, you need to follow the steps below;
- Grab a fairly powerful spotlight
- Power on your Vizio TV
- Switch off the lights in the room and make it as dark as possible
- Turn on the flashlight and hold it less than one inch away from the TV screen
- Move the spotlight around and find out if you can see anything
- If you saw anything, it means your backlight is impaired and needs to be replaced
- If you didn’t see anything, then the problem might be with the display matrix
If your findings suggest that the issue is with the backlight, you need to contact the Vizio support team. Since this problem involves handling a high voltage circuit, you need to contact an expert.
2. Check the Cables
Solving such issues can be quite a challenge. You can avoid them by checking your cables once in a while. Your TV is programmed not to turn on properly without enough power.
Therefore, check the power cables and if necessary, replace them. If you have tried a power strip before, consider connecting your TV directly to the wall socket.
Power fluctuations can be bad for your TV. Thus, either plug it into a surge protector or turn it off during thunderstorms.
Also, confirm if your area is prone to power fluctuations. It’s best to turn off your TV during power fluctuations. But you can still use a fused power strip or surge protectors.
3. Change Input Channels
TVs can be hard to understand at times. In some cases, they can self-switch to audio-only mode. The reason this happens depends on the model you own, but there’s a universal technique to solve it.
Using your remote, change the current input to the one you would wish to watch. If it was an input issue, this easy step should fix the problem of no picture. Try to switch to another input and see if you keep getting pictures or whether the bug comes back again.
4. Power Cycle Your TV
Due to the way technology is designed, power cycling is one of the most powerful skills you can ever have. While power cycling can take less than ten minutes, it can fix many problems.
Here is how you can power cycle your Vizio TV and fix the issue with no picture;
- Turn off the TV
- Unplug the power cable from the power source
- Plug the TV back in after around ten seconds
- Power on the TV
- Check if the issue has gone away, and now you can see pictures
- Repeat the same procedure twice to be sure
5. Replace the Main Board
In some cases, even restarting the TV many times won’t work, which means the problem is quite serious. Shift your focus on the main board, which serves as the brain of your device.
To inspect this one, you need high DIY skills since many things could go wrong. Note that you’re going to handle high-voltage circuits. Also, you should avoid doing this yourself as it might void the warranty.
Instead, contact the Vizio support team and inform them about what you found and the steps you have taken. In most cases, they’ll provide you with a technician to find where the issue lies.
Why Warranty is Important?
When you purchase a new Vizio TV, it comes with a warranty. Most of the time, your TV will be covered for one year. If you find any issues with the item before the period elapses, the manufacturer will be responsible for the repair.
However, a warranty comes with strict terms and conditions that must be met. For example, if you tried to fix any part of the item yourself, the chances are that the warranty will be void.
To understand more about how a warranty works, check out the manufacturer’s website or the user manual. With that, you already understand how important a warranty can be.
If you’re going to contact Vizio, make sure you have confirmed that you haven’t gone against the terms. Otherwise, they might not help you fix the issue with pictures.
You stand a chance to be served free of charge if you handle your TV carefully before the warranty expires.
Contact Vizio
As we have seen, your TV might refuse to show pictures for a vast range of reasons. For instance, the backlight might have failed, or there is not enough power. Also, it won’t work if there is an issue with the mainboard.
If you have any questions about the tips we have shared above, then you can only contact Vizio for more information. The technical support team is available on the website or via a phone call.
After sharing your predicament, they’ll guide you through what needs to be done to correct the glitch. Suppose they can’t fix the problem over the phone, they might send a technician to your place.
They encourage their customers if they need any parts of the TV replaced.
Final Verdict
Up to this level, you should be able to solve the problem of your Vizio TV playing sound but with no pictures. But if none of the ideas work, try to reset your TV to factory settings or default settings.
Since you can’t see any pictures, start by performing a soft reset. Just unplug the TV from the power source, wait a few seconds, and plug it back in. You should only seek help from a technician if you have tried the steps above and none of them worked
Denis is an article/blog and content writer with over 7 years of experience in writing on content on different niches, including product reviews, buyer’s guide, health, travel, fitness, technology, tourism. I also have enough experience in SEO writing.
