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Backlight strip replacement
The single most common cause of a ‘black screen with sound’.
Home/TV repair services/Picture repairs
Picture repairs
Lines, shadows, dark patches and no picture at all
A picture fault does not automatically mean a dead panel. Backlights, T-CON boards and ribbon connections cause the majority of what people assume is a screen failure — and all three are repairable.
Often not the panel
Backlight repairs
Cracked screens excluded
The torch test: the most useful thing you can do before phoning anyone
Here is a test you can run yourself in ten seconds, and it will tell you a great deal. Turn the television on. Play something with sound so you know it is running. Now take a bright torch — your phone will do — and shine it at a sharp angle across the screen, close up.
If you can faintly make out a picture in the torchlight, your panel is alive and working. What has failed is the backlight: the array of LEDs behind the panel whose only job is to illuminate it. That is a repair, and usually not an expensive one.
If there is genuinely nothing there, the fault sits further back — the T-CON board, the panel drive, or the mainboard. Still frequently repairable. What is not repairable is a cracked, shattered or physically damaged panel, and we will always be straight with you about that.
The detail
What each picture fault usually means
The pattern on the screen is the clue.
Sound, but a completely black screen
The classic backlight failure. The television is running perfectly — it is simply not lighting the panel. LED backlight strips and their driver circuit are replaceable, and this is one of the most satisfying repairs we do.
Vertical lines down the screen
Usually the T-CON board or the ribbon cable connecting it to the panel. Sometimes it is a failed connection that can be reseated or re-bonded. Occasionally it is the panel driver itself, which is where the honest conversations begin.
Horizontal lines or bands
Frequently a T-CON fault, or a failing connection along the top or bottom edge of the panel. We check the connections before condemning anything.
Dark patches, clouding or uneven brightness
Individual backlight LEDs or whole strips failing. The picture is fine; the illumination behind it is patchy. Replacing the backlight strips restores it.
Half the screen is dark or distorted
Modern panels are often driven from both sides. When one side fails, you lose half the screen. Depending on where the failure sits, this may be a T-CON repair or a panel-level fault.
Ghosting, shadows or image retention
On OLED sets this can be genuine burn-in, which is a panel characteristic and not repairable. On LCD and LED sets it is more often a processing or T-CON issue. We will tell you which you are dealing with.
What you get
What we can put right
And what, honestly, we cannot.
02
Backlight driver repair
When the LEDs are fine but nothing is driving them.
03
T-CON board repair or replacement
The usual cause of lines, bands and half-screens.
04
Ribbon and connector faults
Reseating and re-bonding failed panel connections.
05
Mainboard video output faults
When the picture never leaves the board in the first place.
06
Cracked or broken panels
We do not repair these. A replacement panel costs more than a new TV.
Included
Every picture repair includes
Testing first, so you are not paying for guesses.
The torch test, done properlyTo separate a backlight fault from a panel fault immediately
Backlight strips tested under loadIndividual LED strings measured, not assumed
T-CON and ribbon inspectionConnections checked and reseated where needed
Mainboard video output verifiedTo confirm the signal is actually reaching the panel
An honest verdict on the panelIncluding telling you when the set is not worth repairing
Full picture test before we leaveAcross multiple inputs and content types
Our process
How a picture fault gets solved
01
Describe what you are seeing
Black screen with sound? Lines? Patches? A photo or video helps enormously.
02
We run the diagnostic
Torch test, backlight measurement, T-CON check, mainboard output check.
03
You get a fixed quote and an honest verdict
Including, where it applies, ‘this one is not worth fixing’.
04
We repair and test the picture properly
Multiple sources, multiple content types, with you watching.
FAQ
Picture repairs — your questions answered
The things people actually ask us on the phone, answered straight.
Not sure what is wrong?
WhatsApp us the make, the screen size and a short video of what the TV is doing. We can usually narrow the fault down before a technician is even dispatched.
WhatsApp 063 866 0971I have sound but no picture. Is the TV finished?
Very probably not. This is the classic symptom of a failed backlight, and the backlight is repairable. The panel itself — the expensive part — is usually completely fine. Do the torch test: if you can faintly see a picture, the panel is alive.
Can you fix lines on the screen?
Frequently, yes. Lines usually trace back to the T-CON board or the ribbon connections between it and the panel, and both are repairable. Where the fault is inside the panel driver itself, the answer is sometimes no — and we will tell you that honestly rather than taking your money.
Do you repair cracked or broken screens?
No. We do not repair cracked, shattered or physically damaged screens, and we do not buy broken televisions. On a modern flat-screen the panel is most of the television, and a replacement panel almost always costs more than a new set of the same size. We would rather tell you that for free than charge you to find out.
What causes backlight failure?
Heat and time, mostly. LEDs degrade, and the ones that run hottest degrade first. Poor ventilation — a television built into a closed cabinet, for example — accelerates it considerably. Power surges can also take out the backlight driver circuit.
Is screen burn-in repairable?
On an OLED, no. Burn-in is permanent damage to the organic pixels themselves and there is no repair for it. On LCD and LED televisions, what looks like burn-in is usually temporary image retention or a processing fault, and that is a different and more hopeful conversation.
My picture is dark in patches. What is that?
Individual backlight LEDs or entire strips that have failed. The panel is producing the image correctly; the light behind it is uneven. Replacing the backlight strips restores an even picture.
Book a TV technician
Get the picture back
Send us a photo of what the screen is doing. We can usually tell you what has failed before a technician leaves the workshop.
Backlight, T-CON and picture repairs on every major brand
Contact
Speak to a TV technician, not a call centre
- Call us
- 0861 995 085Open 24 hours · 7 days a week
- 063 866 0971Send a short video of the fault — it speeds everything up.
- Where we work
- Johannesburg, Pretoria, Sandton, Centurion, Midrand, the East Rand and the West RandSee every area we cover →