Lines on your TV screen? Signal glitch or dead panel
Lines across a TV screen are alarming, but they are not all bad news. A line can be a signal or cable problem, which is cheap and easy to fix, or a fault in the panel itself, which usually is not. The good part is that a two-minute test tells you which one you are dealing with before you spend anything.
The test that tells them apart
Put a full-screen solid color on the screen and watch the line. Our Dead Pixel Test fills the screen with pure red, green, blue, white and black in turn, which is exactly what you need. If the line stays in the same place and the same color across every field and every input, it is the panel. If it changes, flickers, moves, or vanishes on some colors or some sources, it is the signal reaching the panel, not the panel itself. That single difference decides everything below.
If it is the signal, often fixable
A line that comes and goes, changes with the picture, or appears on only one input is a connection problem, and those are cheap to chase. Reseat the HDMI cable at both ends, then try a different cable, since a damaged or loose one is the most common cause of all. Move it to another HDMI port. Swap the source device, a box or console, for another to see if the line follows it. If the line disappears with a different cable or input, you have found it, and a new cable is the whole repair.
If it is the panel, usually not fixable
A thin colored vertical line, a fixed band, or a whole section that is wrong, unchanged across every color and every input, points to the panel or its internal connections. This can follow a knock, pressure on the screen, or simply age, and it is a hardware fault rather than a setting. Honesty helps here: A panel repair is expensive, and on most TVs it costs more than the set is worth, so out of warranty it is rarely worth doing. It is well worth a warranty claim if the TV is still covered.
If the whole picture flickers or rolls
Lines that scroll, a picture that rolls, or flickering that comes and goes are more often a signal or refresh issue than a dead panel. Our guide on why a TV flickers works through the cable, eco-setting and refresh-rate causes of that separate symptom.
Questions people ask
How do I know if the lines are the panel or the cable?
Show a full-screen solid color, such as with our Dead Pixel Test, and watch the line across red, green, blue, white and black and across different inputs. If it stays identical everywhere, it is the panel. If it changes, flickers or disappears on some colors or sources, it is the signal or cable, which is the fixable kind.
Can lines on a TV screen be fixed?
It depends which kind. A line caused by a loose or damaged HDMI cable, a bad port, or a failing source is cheap to fix, often just a new cable. A line in the panel itself is a hardware fault, and a panel repair usually costs more than the TV is worth.
Why does my TV have a vertical colored line?
A single thin vertical line in one color, fixed in place across every input and test color, is almost always the panel or its internal connection, sometimes after a knock or pressure on the screen. If instead the line changes or flickers, suspect the HDMI cable or the source first.
Start with the full-color fields in the Dead Pixel Test to sort a panel fault from a signal fault. If the screen flickers rather than showing a fixed line, see why a TV flickers.