Vizio TV Sound But No Picture? Black Screen Quick Fix!!

Are you facing a black screen with sound when your Vizio TV is turned on? Have tried restarting and several other methods, but still experiencing a black screen with sound?

Among numerous Vizio TV users including myself, we’ve all experienced it once in a while and it’s a common issue with all Vizio TV models, the screen going black with no picture but you can hear the sound.

As reported by numerous forums and Vizio users, sound without the picture on your Vizio TV is caused by a variety of reasons, ranging from minor system glitches to faulty cables and backlit issues. In rare instances, an internal hardware fault can also cause it.

Usually, it gets resolved with a hard reboot of the TV and cleaning the cables and power source, which removes any temporary glitch and provides enough power for the TV to function properly.

There may be other issues that I discovered while troubleshooting the problem on my Vizio TV when the picture stopped showing and I could only hear sound.

Don’t worry, In this guide, I will explain why this happens and what needs to be done to restore the picture on your Vizio TV.

Why is there a sound but no picture on my Vizio TV?

Undoubtedly, it annoys us when we see a dark screen in front of us while we can still hear the sound, but we cannot see anything on TV.

Why illustration

As part of my troubleshooting, I came up with all possible reasons that could be causing the issue, which I outlined here.

  • Temporary Glitch on TV.
  • Faulty HDMI cables or power source.
  • Bad or half TV update.
  • Incorrect Channel Settings.
  • Faulty Mainboard or T-con.

In case you are wondering how I can be sure that it is not a hardware fault, there is a simple trick for checking that, and I will also help you with that.

Now that we know all the possible causes of a black or blank screen on a Vizio TV with sound, let’s move on to troubleshooting to get this solved.

How To Fix Vizio TV No Picture With Sound?

Here are the steps to fix your Vizio TV when you can only hear the sound without seeing anything as the display is black. Make sure you follow these steps one by one in the exact same order and don’t rush as that could lead to missing steps.

  • Hard Reboot
  • Switch Cables
  • Hard Reset TV
  • Do Flashlight Test
  • Clean TV Board Circuitry

Hard Reboot TV

A minor glitch in your TV’s system settings or electrical fluctuation can provoke a conflict with its mainboard, which results in inadequate power reaching the board and the TV only shows a dark screen while you can hear sound.

Reboot Vizio TV by unplugging cable
Vizio TV Power Cable

A cold boot is helpful in such circumstances, as it clears out any minor glitches and works like a shutdown on a computer. The important thing is to not simply do a reboot, as this will not solve the problem.

  1. Turn Off Vizio TV with Remote.
  2. Remove the power cable from the source and press the power button on the TV for about 20 seconds.
  3. Wait for 2-3 minutes before re-plugging the cables and turning on the TV.
  4. Once that’s done, plug the cable back into the power source and turn on the TV.

You will be able to get the proper picture on your Vizio TV once this is done, but if the problem still persists, we need to troubleshoot further.

Switch Cables

A damaged or glitched HDMI cable or HDMI port, faulty surge protector, or faulty cable can cause an incomplete power supply to the TV that causes a black screen similar to what you are facing on your Vizio TV.

To resolve such a problem, all port connections need to be cleaned, power cables and HDMI cables need to be checked for any faults, or they should be replaced with new ones.

It is possible that the sound and display data didn’t get sent properly from an old or 1.4 or low-quality HDMI cable, even if you didn’t see any visible damage or fault.

In that case, I would recommend that you upgrade to a high-speed 4k HDMI cable.

Note: I can suggest to you some latest 2.1 high-speed HDMI cables with 18 Gb/s bandwidth and 32 audio channels.

Hard Reset TV

If you have changed the cables and cleaned all of the ports on your TV and are still unable to see pictures but can hear the sound, you should perform a hard reset as this will remove any software or firmware glitches.

Vizio TV Panel Buttons (Power, Reset, etc)
Vizio TV Panel Buttons (Power, Reset, Etc)

Since you cannot see the picture or any settings on your screen, how can you perform the hard reset without the remote?

Fortunately, you can still reset the Vizio TV without a remote control even though you can’t use the remote.

Here’s how to hard reset your Vizio TV with no picture:

  1. If the TV is off, turn it on and locate the buttons on the side panel.
  2. Now, For 15 seconds, hold the input and volume down buttons.
  3. Because it cannot be seen on the screen, press the input button.
  4. You need to wait a few seconds.
  5. Now that the TV is back to default settings, it has been reset.

Most likely, the screen will appear, and the sound will be audible. Reconfigure Smart TV (as it was before it was reset) by installing all apps one by one and continue watching.

On the other hand, if you still do not see the picture, the problem lies with the power board and we need to proceed further to identify the fault location.

Do Flashlight Test

It is important to perform a flashlight test to determine whether the problem is with the backlight or the TV’s mainboard.

Flashlight Test on Dark TV Screen
Flashlight Test on Dark TV Screen

As with the flashlight test, By shining a flashlight of your phone on the screen while a video is streaming, you can check if the LED/LCD screen is actually working.

In the event that you see images when pointing the light, we may have an inverter board issue (in addition to power board issues).

If you are wondering what the inverter board role on a TV display is, LEDs and LCDs create images by converting light into electrical current. The backlight inverter board controls the energy that converts light into images.

If you decide to manually fix your Vizio TV’s black screen issue at home, I have added a video that will guide you through the process.

Clean TV Board Circuitry

Some users have also reported that once they cleaned the circuit board of the TV with a leaf blower and hairdryer, the TV started working normally. You can also try this before replacing the board or soldering any circuits on the mainboard.

Clean TV

Here’s how to do it:

  • Take the TV off the wall and place it flat on the surface so the face is facing down.
  • Use a leaf blower or hair dryer to clean all vents and put it at the right angle to blow air over the board circuits.

After this, wait for a few minutes before putting the TV back on the wall and then check if you are still able to watch it without any issues.

Wrapping It Up

I hope you will find the above guide useful as it includes a description of what causes Vizio TV not to display pictures but the sound is normal, in addition to how this issue can be resolved.

To sum up, here are the steps you should take if your Vizio TV has a black or blank screen with sound:

  • Reboot TV.
  • Check All Cable and Ports.
  • Restore TV To Factory Settings.
  • Perform Flashlight Test.
  • Clean Mainboard and T-con board.