If you have a Samsung TV, you may have noticed an issue with your screen where a dark shadow appears on either one side or across the middle of the screen.
A dark shadow on your Samsung TV is usually because the LED strip in your TV needs replacing, or because there are too many external devices affecting your screen quality. To fix this, you’ll need to have the LED strip replaced. Alternatively, disconnect all devices such as games consoles, tv boxes, etc. to see if any device, in particular, is causing the dark shadow on your screen.
Continue reading to find out all our ways to fix the dark shadow on your Samsung TV.
What Are the Best Ways to Get Rid of Dark Shadow On My Samsung TV?
Replace LED Strip
The most common fix for removing a dark shadow on a Samsung TV is to replace the LED strip on the edge of the backlight. These LED strips can fail after a certain amount of time. When issues occur this can cause dark shadows to appear on the screen.
LED strips can be purchased for around $25, however, you will need to be competent in taking your TV apart to replace the LED strip. If you’re at all unsure of doing this, we recommend seeking help from a professional. You could also contact Samsung directly to have this work carried out.
Carry Out a Picture Test
All Samsung TVs have self-diagnosing tools within Settings. These can enable your TV to report any issues that may have taken place. This tool is called a Picture Test, and we recommend carrying out a test to determine if there’s anything immediately obvious with your Samsung TV.
To carry out a Picture Test, follow the below instructions. Picture Tests can report on many different faults involving the screen of your TV, including white spots appearing on your Samsung TV screen too.
- Find the Home Screen on your Samsung TV
- Select Settings
- Click Support
- Navigate to Self-Diagnosis
- Choose Picture Test
- Follow the on-screen instructions
This test should determine if there’s an issue with the screen that can be easily fixed. If nothing comes up, you’ll need to continue reading for a more custom solution.
The Backlight Needs to Be Changed
It could be that your backlight needs to be changed on your TV. There may be a fault with it that’s causing a dark shadow on your TV screen.
We recommend seeking a professional to change the backlight on your TV. This requires specialist tools and can be easy to ruin your TV in the process. You can also contact Samsung’s support team via their website to arrange this kind of repair. They’ll be able to offer their advice if they believe the issue to be coming from elsewhere too.
Check if Anything’s Caught Between Backlight and Screen
A dark shadow can also be caused by something caught in between the backlight and your TV screen. This could be some dust/dirt, or a bug may have become stuck. This would certainly cause a dark shadow to appear on your Samsung TV.
You’ll need to remove the screen of your TV to see if anything is blocking the backlight. You can usually do this with a screwdriver and an extra pair of hands to help hold the TV. If you’re not competent in doing this, we recommend seeking help from a trained technician.
Adjust Backlight Settings
You may find that your backlight settings aren’t quite right. This could explain why you’re seeing some strange shadows on your Samsung TV.
To learn how to adjust your backlight levels, follow the below instructions:
- Navigate to Settings on your TV
- Select Picture Settings
- Choose Expert Settings
- Use the sliders to adjust different settings such as Brightness, Colour, and White Balance
Experiment with these settings to see if this is why you’re seeing a dark shadow on the screen of your Samsung TV.
Disconnect & Reconnect All Devices
Sometimes when lots of devices are trying to connect at once to a TV it can affect the picture quality and create shadows on different parts of the television.
To figure out if this is why you’re experiencing issues, try unplugging different devices from your TV and plugging them back in again. This could range from your TV box to different game consoles. The more devices you have trying to connect at once the more this can affect your picture quality.
If the screen returns to normal when unplugging one of these devices it could signify an issue with one of the HDMI ports on your TV, or an issue with a particular device you’re trying to use.
Check Cables Aren’t Faulty
It’s worth double-checking if any of your cables could be faulty, as this could be causing a dark shadow to appear on your TV screen.
If any of your cables are visibly damaged, we recommend changing them immediately. Providing your cables look okay, you’ll need to remove each one to see if the dark shadows disappear or use spare cables if you have them to check if this improves things at all.
Improve Room Lighting
Dark shadows on your TV can even be caused by poor lighting in the room. The amount and type of light in a room can affect how the TV picture looks. If the room is too dark or has uneven lighting, it can create shadows on the screen that make it difficult to see certain areas or details. On the other hand, if the room is too bright or has a lot of glare, it can wash out the colors and make the picture appear dull.
Try to improve the lighting in the room by adding more lamps or adjusting the curtains or blinds to let in more natural light.
Conclusion
Hopefully, after reading through all our top tips, you’ve found a fix for removing the dark shadow on your Samsung TV. If this isn’t the case and you’re still experiencing the same problem, we recommend reaching out to Samsung’s support team to get this issue sorted. It may be that they can replace your TV if it’s still under warranty or arrange for a technician to come out and fix it for you.