Technology has no doubt come a long way over the years and continues to advance rapidly. Of course, it is far from perfect and there are a number of things that can go wrong with any given household appliance or gadget. There are some very impressive televisions on the market these days. Vizio, for example, offers an array of LCD, LED, and plasma models in all sizes. Any of these common Vizio TV problems may arise at any time throughout the life of the set.
Watch Related Repair Videos:
- Faulty Power Supply on a Vizio SV420XVT1a LCD Flat Screen
- $1 Fix for a Vizio E601i-A3 E-Series 60” Razor LED Smart TV
- Vizio E550i-B2 or M550i-B2 Issue: Has sound but no pictures
- How to Fix the Notorious Vizio Black Screen of Death
- Vizio Main Board Symptoms
Perhaps the most common complaint regarding Vizio TVs is the appearance of a blank black screen even when the set is switched on and the indicator light is glowing. The screen may still light up in some instances, but in either case the screen remains blank. This issue is usually corrected by replacing the power board, but there are several other things that could be the culprit, like the backlight converter, the T-con board, or even just a faulty screen itself. If a repair shop does not have all of the LCD TV parts that could possibly be causing the problem readily available, they may need to order them all in order to single out the guilty part, which can get rather pricey.
Faulty remotes are another common issue. This is one of the much easier and inexpensive Vizio TV problems to fix. Usually this is due to a bad IR sensor or a loose wire and the parts can generally be found online for less than 20 bucks. If the cause is unknown, just replacing the remote altogether is also fairly easy and of course less expensive than dealing with a problem with the TV itself.
Commonly reported Vizio TV problems also include sound-related issues. This may be a matter of faulty speakers or disconnected wires, which are both easily remedied. If it is an issue with the main unit, then it will be a little more difficult and expensive to fix.
There are many shops offering LCD TV repair services. Purchasing an extended warranty is usually advised to cover the cost of potential expensive repairs and replacements but you will need to rely on your judgment on whether the price of the extended warranty will truly be worth it (most of them are quite pricey).
Sources:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/home_electronics/vizio.html
http://www.amazon.com/forum/vizio/Tx1D1GJG19EOP3Q
LCD 46″ VIZIO works with Verizon FIOS. It stopped reacting on remote” turn on, turn off, volume, Neflix, Internet.” It changes only channels with FIOS remote but doesn’t turn on, off and doesn’t change volume. As to VIZIO remote, it doesn’t even turn off TV.
Who has ideas? Maybe it was partially reprogrammed so that the IR sensor doesn’t recognize some remote signals?
It’s tedious to do all manually.
When I turn my new TV on, many times the picture size will change from when previously turned on. Sometimes, it is too large, we can’t read the bottom of the screen because if cuts off. Other times, the picture is so small it is difficult to see the picture. Today, as I was watching it, it stopped working, and when turning back on, the picture covers only 1/4 of the TV. When trying to change it, it won’t get any larger. Previously, when this has happened, when I turn it on the next day, it is back to normal. I wish I would have done my research, if I can’t get it to where it is working properly, I wouldn’t want to purchase another of the same brand.
Try this; it worked on my M471i-A2:
Turn off Tv and disconnect the power cord; wait 30 sec.; hold down TV Power switch (back of TV, lower left corner) for 30 sec.; re-connect power and turn TV on.
I tried that and it didn’t work
Well, it seemed to work for me until I viewed a different channel; then I noticed that it hadn’t fixed the missing picture problem (top and bottom). So I call Vizio and got the following information which did fix it. On the remote control unit, there is a button next to the mute button with small rectangle on it. I pressed that and returned the picture aspect ratio to “Normal”. Voila, the picture is okay again.
Vizio is to be commended for actually providing polite and knowledgable specialists to talk to us on the phone!
Greetings, Susan. It depends on the program that’s on at the time. Programs recorded in High-Definition (HD) will fill the screen, whereas older programs recorded in Standard-Definition (even many commercials being shown when you’re watching an HD program) may have a space at the top or the sides of the picture. Look at your remote; at the bottom of the buttons should be a button labeled ‘WIDE’. By pressing this button as many times as needed, you should be able to achieve a screen size suitable for viewing; however, many older programs still may not fill the screen without distorting the picture, such as stretching or overfilling the screen.
Hope this helps! I have a 65″ Vizio that has never given me any problems.
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I have a 42″ Vizio for less then a year n the right corner just went up in flames for no reason n the best part is the TV was off.
Literally??? Caught on fire???
i think I need a new remote for my tv, I have a Visio 32″ when I try to change the input screen it goes back to component . I can nt watch it..
7 mo old vizio, will not come on, corner power light flashes then goes out. Repairman came, replaced 2 circuit boards. TV does comes on but will not respond to remote. Repairman leaves and is not coming back. Vizo going to send a new remote. There was, is nothing wrong with my old remote. I can turn the TV on, get it out of demo mode and to my satellite connection. Cannot control volume. TV stays on for 2 hours and shuts off, or if you change the station it cuts off. Been 2 weeks waiting on new remote. Vizio will do nothing until I get remote.
I have only had my 46 inch Vizio for four months and have the same issue with the unit powering off and blank screen. This is not only a Vizio problem but a problem with most manufacturers today. They are making their products more and more cheaply so that they do not last AND selling warranties that are pretty worthless. I am going to do my research and only buy products that have long term warranties. I usually research before I buy anything and this time I didn’t. Buyer beware. As consumers we need to EXPECT better products and not let these corporations dumb us down. If we don’t buy their products, they lose money, and that gets their attention.
I bought a 46 inch Vizio in August 2013 and it went out 3 months before the warranty expired. Vizio sent a repairmen out who only had 1 part on his truck, he said Vizio did this and sure enough it was the wrong part. About two weeks or so later he returned with the second part but he told me before he got started that because he didnt replace the two boards at the same time he damaged the fist part and sure enough when he hooked up the second part it still did not work. Good news was because Vizio didnt want to lose more money with repairs I got a new TV a month later just as the original warranty was to expire. The dilivery man hooked it up and said the new TV only had a 3 month warranty. Well its been 12 months and this TV went out just like the first one. We had a Zenith TV that lasted 20 years but these foreign TV companies cant make a TV last a damn year and they are not cheap. Would someone please open a TV company here in America again. I would be glad to give more for a good TV that will last for at least 10 years. This is our 3rd brand of TV in 5 years and none has lasted a year.
I had just got this tv and I farted really loud and it smelt so bad and I came back in and it stared smoking and it blacked out I called the company and they said it was probably from my gas.
I bought a Vizio 70″ LED TV in February 2013. The TV stopped working; every time I turned it on; it made a loud noise and turned off automatically. I called Vizio and they referred me to their contracting repairman services ITI and HD Repair. HD told me that they can’t work on my TV because they are 80 miles away from where I live. ITI told me that the problem I encountered with my TV is prevalent with Vizio. I re-contacted Vizio; I was on the phone with customer service for 45 minutes only to be told that my warranty is over. I explained to the lady that I am aware of my warranty is over and the problem is within Vizio manufacturing. They couldn’t care less; I am advising you customers out there to stayaway from Vizio. Vizio doesn’t backup their product and customers shouldn’t buy them.
Wow!!! Oh how I wish I had done my research. I was not familiar with the brand, vizio, when my husband “lucked up” on an awesome deal. Ha, from day 1, the picture would dim automatically & 6months later…blank black screen, it will not power on. The white light flashes on and off again when the power button is pushed. I will NEVER purchase Vizio again.
We’ve bought Vizio since they’ve came out we still have our first Vizio from 12 or so years ago but our larger Vizio 55″ we’ve had for only 4 years has got lines in it you can see them when your watching the TV it’s very annoying personally but I do support Vizio this has been the only issue is with the 55″ and we’ve bought a lot of Vizio TV’s for our kids ect our home and family members they all love them as well if anyone could tell me what is wrong with this one is love to know how to have it fixed other than that it’s fine
My vizio screen is white i can still see the vizio symbol that bounces on the screen when you turn it on but its white. Does anyone know how i can fix this problem
Have a E241i-A1 that will get sound on CBS channel 9 (not high def) but will not get audio on CBS channel 9-1 which is high def. All other channels work fine. Set is connected to wall coax without a Time Warner (Provider) box. Rebooting has been tried along with channel reprogramming.
Bought our tv Vizio 18 months ago 70 in went black today have sound but no pic looks like I will have to buy new tv but not a vizio you think they could build one better today then people wouldn’t have to buy tv every year or so so upset
My 10 mont old 60″ vizio will not turn on. Vizio blames home network and Uverse!
So they know some kind of magic that makes the on off button stop working. Dead TV, will not repair unless I take down from wall (their policy) . I am 60 years old with a bad back and bad knees. What would the Americans with disabilities act have to say about a company that does not accomodate handicapped individuals?
Will never buy junk (vizio) again. Thanks for nothing COSTO extended warranty.
picture is fine but no sound, unit is several years old, probably not worth fixing, probably won’t buy another Vizio though, hadn’t planned to buy a new TV this soon, want a TV with more life in it.
I also have a pepoint wide green line that runs vertically. It just started doing this about 2 days ago. It used to disappear but now it just stays there. I really can’t complain too much because I got the TV from a pawn shop. It is a 24 inch and it cost me a hundred and eighteen dollars. If it goes out I’ll just go back to the pawn shop and get another television lol. I would like to know what causes that line though.
My E241i-B1 is 10 days out of the box. From day 1 it showed a good wireless connection but would not connect to apps consistantly. Another device in the same room had no trouble with Netflix. Tech assistance went through all the steps to set up, connect, etc. with same results (apps not connecting). After all attempts to make it work Vizio offered to refund the purchase price if the TV. Have started the process.
My new vizio 32″ model M322i-B1 out of the box connected to home wireless system no problem. Then in a few seconds went online downloading “updates” and has not held wireless connection consistently since. Latest episode, finally visio tech support speculated wireless board was defective and had no parts available, no replacement tv in stock and offered refund which I am taking advantage of. Can’t find any comments about this issue, but can confirm screen goes black for no apparent reason, tv is unresponsive to remote, and occasionally the only way I can turn it off is to unplug it altogether, as even switch on back doesn’t turn it off.
My tv is unresponsive to the remote! Did you ever figure out why?
my tv is fine until now, i turn it on and it is now upside down. nothing is fixing it, 32 inch
This is awful. I wish I’d done a bit more research before purchasing a Vizio. After reading this board I’m just kicking myself. My 50″ was purchased in May 2013, now turns on just fine, sound is great, but I get a black screen that flickers. Vizio’s telephone support was true to their promise at offering phone support. Offered to give me the number of a company, who can let me know of the nearest repair shop. (As if I could not do that on my own, lol.) The YouTube community has been great at posting videos/fixes, and I’ve ruled out capacitor problems, but I am not really sure if I want to waste time purchasing parts that may or may not help. I didn’t purchase an extended warranty because I’ve had other brands and have had absolutely no problems… Silly me.
This set will be joining the VCRs, walkmans, and rotary dial phones in the electronics recycle bin somewhere. So disappointed.
Vizio 32 inch hdtv purchased approximately 1 1/2 yrs ago. While watching a program last night the screen went black…However I have sound.. Have contacted vizio will see if they respond. Appears that a lot of people are having similar issues. Quite pissed off, have 2 other hdtv by different manufactures that have never had a single problem.
I’m having the exact same problem. You ever figure out the problem with yours.
They sent an email reply to unplug tv hold power button 30 seconds then plug back in and turn on, of course that didn’t work. Then when I called all they would offer was help finding a repair shop. I told the guy their product sucked and I would tell people that. He replied that they make thousands of tv’s and only a small percentage have problems.
Vizio m470s0. Less than 2 years old and have been having this problem for a year. TV will not turn on until you try 15-20 times. Sometimes it is faded black and white. Sometimes it just turns off. I will never buy another Vizio product. Junking it and buying another brand.
I have a 42″ Vizio LCD HD flat screen its been a good TV for 5 years now I’m having trouble with the HDMI inputs and component I have HD thru cable company sometimes I have a picture then it will go black still have sound it will try to come on then static and blk screen on the component hook ups I’ll get a good pic for a few days then then the screen gets a lot of lines in it losses some color or goes black the components work off and on any ideas?
ihave a 42 inch vizio it’s about 4/5yrs. oldhad repairs done on it once while still under extended warranty. the picture went red and green.It was repaired. bBut now it’s has perfect picture and sound, but does this fluttering/flickering light thing. It stop sometimes for 3/6 hrs. and go back to fluttering/flickering all over again.The first time i had in home repars. I watched everything he did. He reomoved two flat boards because he did’nt know which was the problem. He gave me the serial# to both. I went on line and looked them up on vizio repair parts. . If i knew what the problem is i would just order the part from them or amozon ana replace it myself. If anyone can shed some light on this it would be great
We have a 24″ Vizio that takes several minutes from the time you power on until the picture comes on. Also, the picture has always been 21″… this is supposed to be a setting, but we cannot change it. Instead of buying this 24″ piece of crap, we could have paid much less for a 19″ and still had the same picture. Will never buy anything else with the name Vizio on it.
I meant to type ‘we could have paid much less for a 21″and still had the same picture.”
VISIO light blinking white red white red when plugged in. Will not power up. Tried holding down power button on tv while plugging it in, and it powered up and worked for about an hour. Unplugged tv to move it, and now it is doing this blinking again, and this fix is not working this time. Any ideas?
Bottom Line: Do Not Buy A Vizio. I never did like that tv; Had to put black tape over the too bright, VIZIO emblem from day 1. Then it would do this automatic screen dimming thing,randomly. Infuriating, although someone said that was a setting.
Now after two years it is dying (blank screen). My girlfriend still uses her tv from the 70’s.
VIZIO is a Costco FAIL.
I have a Vizio TV and for some reason when I put it on the sound bar it constantly skips so we purchased a new sound bar thinking that it was sound bar and it’s not the sound bar so then we have the cable company come out and look at it and still have issues with it any suggestions any for solutions to this problem please help
I’m having the same problem with my sound skipping. Did you figure your problem out?
When i turn on my vizio tv all i get is the vizio title screen i tried pushing the buttons on the side i get nothing even with the remote buttons nothing ……..
My vizio…42 inch…recently started to lose its color picture and go black and white…..not all the time but sometime.
It sometimes returns to its full color and sometimes not….additionally…if I turn it off with full color…and turn it back on…it will likely be black and white….the TV is 4 years old….can someone please help me.
I have 2 Vizio e420i-ao 42in tvs and both of them have a large darker area then the rest of the tv in the middle. it is like six inches wide and goes all the way across them. i can still watch them but its annoying and cant find anything about it anywhere.
Mine just started doing this today, also only a few days out of warranty! Would be happy to hear a solution as well!
Did you find out what was wrong with your vizio.
I have one that is doing the same thing.
My 42″ VIZIO is doing the exact same thing! Vizio WON’T do anything since it is 3 months OUT of WARRANTY!! Never, EVER another VIZIO!!!!
as is mentioned above, my E291-A1 Vizio started giving me a blank screen 2 weeks after the one year warranty expired. If I unplug it for a while, it may come on when I power it up again 50% of the time. I will not buy Vizio again either, they are putting themselves out of business with cheap components.
A lot of tv’s have those Sanwa brand capacitors, there’s been a lot of problems with them. I don’t know why they keep using them.
I wish i had read these reviews before buying my 42″ Vizio. I’m getting the blank screen, a week out of warranty. I will never buy a Vizio product ever again.
Update….received a response via e-mail telling me to turn tv off ,unplug then plug back in then hold power button for 30 seconds.Of course that didn’t’t work . I then called the company and because I didn’ t buy the extended warranty they will do nothing except refer me to a repair shop.I told the guy that their product was a piece of scrap and I would let people know that.
Same problem see Visio’s response to me at Jill says
A thin red or green line runs from top to bottom when I first turn the TV on in the morning. It disappears after about 10 seconds. Is it just warming up?