HELP: My TV picture went black

[harekrishna43]

I've had a Vizio 32" flat screen HDTV for about 2 years and the screen suddenly turned black today while I was watching something I DVR'd. I never lost audio and it has been working fine with not one problem before this. I unplugged it and plugged it back in - same problem. I took the smaller TV from my bedroom and hooked it up to my cable box & it's working fine, including DVR playback so it's not that -

Not sure what to do - I think I bought it from Sears but I'm sure the warranty was only one year.

Any ideas on what else I can check before I chuck it and buy a new one?

[Buzz]

Could be the DVR not the tv.

[Vash01]

What a strange coincidence! I was about to open a thread with almost the same title, except my TV is just 2 weeks old, not 2 years.

You may want to call your cable company to see if they can help. If they cannot, see if Sears can help. They will probably charge if someone has to come to your home.

My brand new HDTV was hooked to a BluRay player, a DVR and a DVD/VHS. I had not started any of these; I was planning to, one by one. Tonight I just happened to turn on the BluRay player. On the screen it gave me some strange instructions involving the internet. I don't have a wireless yet, so I tried to skip it. It was giving me a 'no cable signal' on HDMI2. Even after I turned off the BluRay, my TV could not be turned on. I tried to call the cable company's tech support, but no answer for about 15 minutes (that's typical of them). I will try calling them tomorrow morning to see if they can help. Otherwise I have to call Frys and see if they can help me out by phone. Otherwise I am willing to pay whatever it takes to get my TV working again. This is like a nightmare, so I fully understand what you must be going through.

I still have my old TV, which is not a HDTV, so at least I am not completely cut off from the world. I am glad that I did not take my brother's advice to send my old TV to recycling when I bought the new one.

BTW this BluRay player is supposed to be state of the art (3D, internet compatible, and it's a Sony, but it came without ANY instructions whatsoever. I checked all the documents, and there is nothing about the Sony BluRay).

[Susan1]

What a strange coincidence! I was about to open a thread with almost the same title, except my TV is just 2 weeks old, not 2 years.

You may want to call your cable company to see if they can help. If they cannot, see if Sears can help. They will probably charge if someone has to come to your home.

My brand new HDTV was hooked to a BluRay player, a DVR and a DVD/VHS. I had not started any of these; I was planning to, one by one. Tonight I just happened to turn on the BluRay player. On the screen it gave me some strange instructions involving the internet. I don't have a wireless yet, so I tried to skip it. It was giving me a 'no cable signal' on HDMI2. Even after I turned off the BluRay, my TV could not be turned on. I tried to call the cable company's tech support, but no answer for about 15 minutes (that's typical of them). I will try calling them tomorrow morning to see if they can help. Otherwise I have to call Frys and see if they can help me out by phone. Otherwise I am willing to pay whatever it takes to get my TV working again. This is like a nightmare, so I fully understand what you must be going through.

I still have my old TV, which is not a HDTV, so at least I am not completely cut off from the world. I am glad that I did not take my brother's advice to send my old TV to recycling when I bought the new one.

BTW this BluRay player is supposed to be state of the art (3D, internet compatible, and it's a Sony, but it came without ANY instructions whatsoever. I checked all the documents, and there is nothing about the Sony BluRay).

Do you have AT&T Uverse? It happens at least once a day since I got it (phone and internet too) !!!!!!!!!!!

[Vash01]

Do you have AT&T Uverse? It happens at least once a day since I got it (phone and internet too) !!!!!!!!!!!

No. I have Cox Communications. The TV is still 'dead'. When I turned on the BluRay, the HD connection moved to '2' from '1' but I can't figure out how to move it back to '1'. I will call the cable company.

[Badams]

Does your remote have an "input" button? I know nothing about tv hookups, but my hubby has ours all rigged up to the internet, pc, xbox, wii...and if I have trouble, I push the input button until tv comes back. So far it has always worked.

[Vash01]

My remote has an input button, but that did not help. I called the cable company's tech support and their tech walked me through all the steps plus a reset on his side to bring my TV back to life. I appreciated his patience. In this case, I had to go to the TV remote to change the source back to HDMI1 to get the TV/cable back.All is well now I am so glad that today is a holiday! It gave me all the time needed to get the problem fixed.

I am interested in seeing what the OP is doing. I hope he/she got the problem fixed.

[madm]

My remote has an input button, but that did not help. I called the cable company's tech support and their tech walked me through all the steps plus a reset on his side to bring my TV back to life. I appreciated his patience. In this case, I had to go to the TV remote to change the source back to HDMI1 to get the TV/cable back.All is well now I am so glad that today is a holiday! It gave me all the time needed to get the problem fixed.

I am interested in seeing what the OP is doing. I hope he/she got the problem fixed.

My advice once you get help from the phone support people is to document what you did to fix the problem. Write down all the steps because you may need to do this again in the future. And take pictures of how the cabling is hooked up. This will be a wonderful reference the next time something isn't working right.

[harekrishna43]

My remote has an input button, but that did not help. I called the cable company's tech support and their tech walked me through all the steps plus a reset on his side to bring my TV back to life. I appreciated his patience. In this case, I had to go to the TV remote to change the source back to HDMI1 to get the TV/cable back.All is well now I am so glad that today is a holiday! It gave me all the time needed to get the problem fixed.

I am interested in seeing what the OP is doing. I hope he/she got the problem fixed.

So glad to hear your problem is solved!!! Lucky that you have such nice customer service - glad my issue is not cable related because Time Warner and Customer Service are mutually exclusive.

Haven't done anything yet since I was able to hook up my bedroom TV and it's working fine but I am just clueless about my "good" TV suddenly going dark with no warning. Usually you get some kind of shaky service before a set is going bad but going from perfect to dark is very strange. I'm going to ask a few people after work today - maybe someone can come over and take a look.

[Vash01]

My advice once you get help from the phone support people is to document what you did to fix the problem. Write down all the steps because you may need to do this again in the future. And take pictures of how the cabling is hooked up. This will be a wonderful reference the next time something isn't working right.

I always do that, and I did this time as well.

[Badams]

My remote has an input button, but that did not help. I called the cable company's tech support and their tech walked me through all the steps plus a reset on his side to bring my TV back to life. I appreciated his patience. In this case, I had to go to the TV remote to change the source back to HDMI1 to get the TV/cable back.All is well now I am so glad that today is a holiday! It gave me all the time needed to get the problem fixed.

I am interested in seeing what the OP is doing. I hope he/she got the problem fixed.

That's what my input button does. LOL! I have to either use the TV remote or make sure the remote I am using is in TV mode.