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Do you have a problem with the brightness of your TV? You’re not alone.
TVs are designed to be bright, so they can compete with sunlight and other ambient light in the room.
The problem is that most people spend their time watching TV in dimmer conditions than those in which they use their phones or tablets.
And if you’re like most people, you probably find yourself frustrated by how dark your TV is when it comes to watching at night.
This article has a lot of solutions for this common problem!
Why is my Samsung TV so dark and how to fix it?
There are literally several dozens of reasons why your TV might be so dark. Many reasons can range from software to hardware. Some reasons might even be whatever your TV is connected to.
1. Increase your Samsung TV brightness
The brightness setting controls the intensity of the backlight on your Samsung TV. It’s something you can adjust to make the picture look darker or brighter.
If your TV seems too dark, try adjusting the brightness setting. You’ll find it in the menu of your TV’s settings (usually under Picture). The brightness setting works by changing the amount of light that comes out of your TV’s backlight.
For the details:
- Tap on the Home button on your remote.
- Use the arrow buttons to navigate to Settings.
- Tap OK to open up the settings.
- Click on Picture Mode.
- Select “Expert Settings.”
- Find and highlight brightness.
- Adjust the level up until you’re satisfied with the brightness level.
- Tap on the back button on your remote once you’re satisfied.
2. Increase your Samsung TV backlight
It’s the bright strip of plastic or glass that most modern TVs have behind their LCD screens. It’s becoming more important since it helps the screen shine and provides even dense shadows with a sense of depth.
With the Backlight setting, you may adjust how bright your TV’s internal light is. Turning the backlight on and off might help you find the optimal setting for your space. The brightness of the backlight should be decreased in dim settings and increased in bright settings.
You may have trouble seeing your screen if your backlight is set too low.
To adjust the backlight on your Samsung TV, follow these steps:
- On your Samsung remote, click on the Home button.
- Navigate all the way to the left and open up your menu screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on “All Settings.”
- Click on the picture.
- Click on Expert Settings.
- Highlight the backlight and hit Ok on your remote.
- Adjust your backlight up higher until you’re satisfied with the brightness.
Now I know what you’re thinking, what’s the difference between brightness settings and backlight settings?
Adjusting the brightness of an LCD panel modifies the hues of its individual pixels. If you increase the Brightness setting, for instance, dark gray pixels will appear.
By increasing the brightness of the fluorescent bulb behind the screen, known as the “backlight,” the image on the screen is given a more dramatic appearance. To get natural blacks, this slider should be set to a low value.
But in our case, since our screen seems so dim, you’re going to want to crank your backlight settings up.
3. Turn off Ambient Light Detection
The Ambient Light Detection Function (aka Adaptive Brightness)on your Samsung TV allows you to save energy by automatically adjusting the screen brightness depending on the amount of light in the room.
When enabled, this function will automatically adjust screen brightness based on the lighting conditions in your room.
If the ambient light is low, it will decrease screen brightness so that you can see clearly what’s happening on the screen without having to strain your eyes.
If it’s bright outside and there’s a lot of natural light in your home, it will increase screen brightness so that you can enjoy bright images with vivid colors.
Sometimes, it doesn’t work the way we want it to, here’s how to turn it off.
- On your remote, press the Home button.
- Navigate to General and tap Ok.
- Select Eco Solution.
- Make sure you highlight Ambient Light Detection.
- Click Enter on your remote to uncheck the radio button and turn it off.
4. Perform a power cycle
If your Samsung TV is dark, it could be because you need to perform a power cycle. A power cycle on Samsung TVs is a simple process that resets the TV and clears out any problems that may be affecting the picture quality.
To perform a power cycle on your Samsung TV:
- Unplug the power cord from the back of your TV.
- Press and hold the “Power” button that’s located on the side of your Samsung TV
- While still holding down the power button, plug your TV back in after 30 seconds.
- Once your TV turns on, it should now be properly power cycled.
5. Change picture modes
The picture modes on your Samsung TV are designed to give you the best possible picture for the type of content you’re watching.
In this setting, you’ll find pre-settings built into your TV, and depending on the mode you choose, it can help you get the best brightness and contrast.
To adjust the picture mode on your Samsung TV, follow these steps:
- On your remote, tap on the Home button.
- Use the arrow keys and navigate to Settings.
- Then select All Settings.
- Click on Picture.
- Select Picture Mode.
- Now you can manually pick whatever picture mode you want that will best fit your needs.
Most Samsung TVs will provide you with five standard modes.
- Standard: For the vast majority of situations, the Default setting will do just fine.
- Dynamic: Viewing conditions with more ambient light result in sharper, more detailed images.
- Natural: Facilitates relaxed viewing by lowering the risk of eye strain.
- Movie: Good for settling down with a movie or TV show. This mode might be why your TV is so dim.
- Filmmaker mode: Take no action to alter the visual quality while viewing the material (movie or TV program). This mode can also contribute to low brightness.
6. Reset Picture settings
The picture settings on your Samsung TV are tailored to the room in which you are using it.
Samsung TVs come with a variety of picture settings that help you customize your viewing experience. You might even argue that there are too many options.
If you change rooms, or if you want to make the screen brighter or darker but you’ve already gone so far into changing and modifying all the settings, we recommend resetting the picture settings.
Resetting your Samsung picture settings will remove any changes you’ve ever made adjusting your TV’s display.
To reset your Samsung picture settings:
- On your remote, tap on the Home button.
- Navigate to Settings.
- Then select All Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Go to Expert Settings.
- At the bottom of the list, you’ll see Reset Picture.
- Select that and hit Yes to confirm.
7. Increase your Minimum Backlight setting
With the Backlight setting, you may adjust how bright your TV’s internal light is.
Turning the backlight on and off might help you find the optimal setting for your space.
The brightness of the backlight should be decreased in dim settings and increased in bright settings.
However, if you’re seeing that your screen is a little dark, this may be the solution.
- From your remote, click on the Home button.
- Then navigate to the very left-hand side of your screen until you see Menu.
- Click on the menu and then scroll down to Settings.
- From there, click on All Settings.
- Click on General.
- Click on Eco Solution.
- Highlight Minimum Backlight and turn it up.
There’s also one thing to keep in mind. Cranking the backlight up to the max actually damages your display in the long run, resulting in something called backlight bleeding.
Not only that, it can increase eye fatigue and strain.
8. Turn off Energy Saving Mode (Eco Solution)
Most modern-day Samsung TVs offer customizable power-saving options to help you reduce power consumption. Thus, helping you with your electric bill.
However, this can also dim your screen brightness a bit because the brighter your screen is the more power it consumes.
If your screen is too dim to enjoy your TV then what’s the point of keeping Energy Saving Mode on?
Let’s turn it off:
- On your remote, click on the Home button.
- Navigate to the left side of your screen to access the menu.
- Scroll over to Settings.
- Then select All Settings.
- Go down and select General and Privacy.
- At the bottom, you’ll find Power and Energy Saving (also known as Eco Solution).
- You cannot directly turn off Power and Energy Savings, but you can modify the settings to disable most of their settings.
- Start by unchecking the Brightness Optimization radio button. It will stop your TV from readjusting on its own.
- Then uncheck Brightness Reduction, which is a feature that functions only to dial down the brightness.
- Finally, uncheck Motion Lighting. Motion Lighting dims specific pixels on your display in accordance with the picture on the screen.
9. Adjust the Pulse Width Modulation (PWM)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is a method of dimming lights by rapidly cycling through a series of pulse widths.
Below a particular frequency, this flickering may be noticeable to sensitive users, who may experience fatigue or headaches as a result.
Over the past decade, many people have voiced their displeasure with Samsung’s use of PWM in displays. This technology, which controls the brightness by flickering at less than 60 hertz, can be irritating to the eyes of those who are especially sensitive to such things.
This hidden setting can be found in Samsung TVs built between 2016 and 2019.
To make modifications to PWM, you’ll need to access the service mode:
- On your remote, press the mute button.
- Click to tap 1, 8, and 2.
- Then click the power button.
- This will then take you to a blue screen menu.
- Click on “SVC.”
- Go to other settings.
- Click on CAL Data Restore and click Ok.
- You’ll get a pop-up prompt. Just press OK.
- Now go back to the beginning of the blue screen menu.
- Highlight Advanced
- Press 0000 on your remote, which will unlock additional options.
- Select Picture_2D.
- Click on SubSetting.
- Find PWM Max, PWM_INI, PWM_MOVIE, PWM Mid, and PWM Min and change them to 100.
Once you restart your TV, your TV’s pictures of backlit brightness won’t readjust anymore according to the picture that’s on the screen.
One thing to keep in mind is that allowing the screen to stay constant all the time may cause some backlight burning. Modern TVs today are more or less pretty durable and can withstand high brightness without screen burning.
10. Adjust the picture size.
You can adjust the picture size and ratio to make the image fit the screen better. The availability of this function depends on the Picture Size Settings.
To change the picture position on analog channels, enlarge the picture first, and then change the position.
11. Adjust the Color Tone
If you find that your Samsung TV’s picture is too dark, you can adjust the color tone to make it brighter.
The Color Tone setting on a Samsung TV allows you to adjust the level of white light in the image, giving it a bluish or reddish tint.
Depending on the image set you pick (for example, standard, dynamic, or movie), various color tones will be grayed out and various others will be highlighted.
To make adjustments to improve your dim screen, follow these steps:
- On your remote, tap on the Home button.
- Navigate to the far left until you reach the menu screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on Picture.
- Click on Expert Settings.
- Scroll down until you find Color Tone.
- Select the type of tone you’re looking for.
You get about 5 different options.
- Cool 1: Cool 1 adds a blue hue to the display and picture.
- Cool 2: Cool 2 is simply a more intense blue hue than Cool 1.
- Standard: This setting removes all additional hues from the colors.
- Warm 1: Warm 1 adds a warm pink hue to the screen.
- Warm 2: Warm 2 adds a more intense pink hue compared to Warm 1.
If your screen is dim, chances are either a Cool 1 or Cool 2 will help you brighten up the screen. Try both and see which one you like more.
12. Game Mode
Samsung TV’s Game Mode provides a heightened gaming experience.
To put it briefly, Game Mode disables non-essential visual effects to shorten the delay between when you push a button and when an effect appears on the screen.
The result is a picture that, since the TV isn’t doing anything fancy to it, may appear a bit less polished or sophisticated, but will almost surely feel substantially more responsive.
When you connect a compatible gaming console to your Samsung TV, the TV will enter “Game Mode” immediately. When a Samsung TV detects a gaming console, such as Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo Switch, it immediately enters Game Mode with no user input required.
To turn off Game Mode manually, follow these steps.
TVs from 2022 and up
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until you open up your Menu options.
- Select Settings.
- Select All Settings.
- Go to Connection.
- Click on Game Mode Settings.
- Turn it off.
TVs between 2020 and 2021
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Click on Settings.
- Go to General.
- Click on External Device Manager.
- Click on Game Mode Settings.
- Turn it off.
TVs between 2017 and 2019
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Click on Settings.
- Go to General.
- Click on External Device Manager.
- Click on Game Mode Settings.
- Turn it off.
13. TV calibration
One of the cool things about the newest Samsung TVs is that they have Smart Calibrations built into them.
Smart Calibrations only work during Movie Mode.
- Download the SmartThings app and open it up.
- Choose your TV.
- Click on the Smart Calibration button.
- Select Basic Mode.
- Darken the room by turning off the lights.
- Hold your phone in portrait mode with the back camera pointing at the screen and about 1 to 3 cm from the white rectangle on your Samsung TV.
- Hold your phone still while the calibration is in progress. This will take about 15 to 30 seconds.
If you had chosen professional mode, you might need a tripod because you’ll have to keep the phone completely still in front of the TV for 5 to 8 minutes.
14. Reset the picture settings
Using the TV’s Reset Picture button will erase any adjustments you’ve made to the picture’s aspect ratio, color scheme, and brightness.
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until it opens up the Menu options.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on All Settings.
- Click on Picture.
- Click on Expert Settings.
- Select Reset Picture.
- Confirm by tapping on Yes.
15. Adjusting dynamic and adaptive settings
Let me explain the differences between Dynamic and adaptive contrasts.
When you notice your screen starts to dim on its own, that’s considered adaptive. Your TV is trying its best to adjust to the exact brightness level needed for the best viewing experience without hurting your eyes.
In areas of the color that are dark and become even darker, this is considered a dynamic contrast. It’s a way for your TV to save more energy and provide deeper blacks in color.
It’s important to adjust both your Dynamic and adaptive contrast which can help solve your dimming issue.
If you increase Dynamic contrast, it will make dark areas even darker and bright areas brighter. The picture will pop more.
Both of these features are regulated by one setting: The Contrast setting.
In order to change your contrast, go ahead and follow these steps:
- On your remote, tap on the Home button.
- Use the arrow keys to navigate to the left until you reach the Menu options.
- Click on Settings.
- Then click on All Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Then select Expert Settings.
- Go down to Contrast.
- Turn it up.
You don’t want to turn the contrast up too high. It’s going to really distort and cause artifacts all over your screen. Turn it up to a point where you’re satisfied with how the picture looks on screen.
16. Repair and replace Samsung TV backlight LEDs
Sometimes, your LED backlights have blown out on your TV and are no longer working. When LED black lights work in series, if one of them breaks, then almost everything breaks.
Your screen will be dark and it will be hard to see anything through it.
If you’re almost certain that your LED backlights have failed then you’ll need to replace them.
Keep in mind that it is highly recommended that a trained professional perform this task. You’ll completely void the warranty, and there are risks of getting hurt or damaging your TV even further.
To replace your TV’s LED backlights, follow these instructions:
- Unplug the TV from the wall and discharge any electricity left in the TV. You can also wait about a day before you begin.
- Turn your TV face down on a table.
- Remove every screw you can find all over the back panel of your TV.
- Remove any visible connections or caps so that you can get access to any wire connections on your TV. Disconnect whatever you can find but keep in mind where you found it.
- The back panel of your TV should pop off with a little bit of force. Some Samsung TVs have their back panels held on with final plastic clips. If you see any of these you may need to locate them around the corner of your TV to pry them out.
- Once you’re inside, disconnect the speakers from the main board.
- Disconnect the ribbon cables from the scan drive boards.
- Remove the covers from the scan drive boards.
- These covers will likely hold the bezels in place on the front of your TV.
- Once these are removed, flip your TV over on its back and you’ll be able to remove the corner bezels. They should pop out with a little bit of force.
- Remember to release and remove the scan drive boards from the clips.
- The panel is now completely loose from the TV. You need to get behind the Whiteboard after you’ve removed the LCD.
- Remove the bezels around the white filter board.
- You now have to remove the reflector sheet carefully from the chassis.
- Remove all the LED strips from the chassis and replace them with new ones.
- Test to see if the LED strips work now. If they do, then you’re good.
- Reassemble your TV and it should work.
17. Power Surge
If your TV is looking a little bit dim, it could be due to a power surge that likely caused some damage to the many components inside your TV.
A power surge is when the usual flow of electricity is brutally interrupted and then started again. It can also happen when a lightning bolt hits your home and electricity is sent flowing back into a system that overloads it.
If your TV’s darkness is due to a power surge, then it’s probably best to reach out to a specialist to see what the problem is.
Power surges are known well to damage household electronics.
In the future, it may be a good idea to invest in a surge protector for your most expensive electronics.
18. Overuse
We all know people who are stuck to the TVs day and night. It’s been tested that a normal TV should last about 40,000 to 100,000 hours if it is used and maintained properly.
Taking breaks and allowing your TV to rest after six to eight hours of runtime is a good recommendation to follow.
19. Age
The average lifespan of a TV usually depends on how well you keep and maintain it. It also is very closely related to the usage of your TV.
On average, it’s been found that a TV would normally last between 4 and 10 years. Some TVs can last even longer.
However, with the way technology is improving and the cost of getting one continues to lower these days, it’s unlikely that you’ll find TVs older than that.
20. Turn off the Black Tone setting.
Black Tone is a Samsung TV feature that tries to make black areas look darker. It replaces gray areas on your display with black. This may hurt the details in your picture as well.
Even though this may create a more punchy image, you may want to turn this off if you’re noticing that it’s causing your TV to get too dark.
In order to turn off Black Tone, follow these steps:
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until you reach the Menu screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on All Settings.
- Select Picture.
- Select Expert Settings.
- Choose Black Tone.
- Turn it off.
21. Watch in SDR Mode
HDR technology became first known back in 2014. It had the ability to enhance the visual effects of videos and was available in pictures as well. It was an end-to-end process of increasing the dynamic range of images and videos creating a more vibrant and clear output.
In some cases, with HDR on things can look a bit darker than usual.
If you don’t mind losing the high dynamic range effects and benefits, you can try disabling HDR to see if your screen will get brighter.
In order to disable HDR, follow these steps:
- Tap on the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left-hand corner until you see the Menu screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Then click on All Settings.
- Select a picture.
- Select “Expert Settings.”
- Untick HDR mode.
Some models of Samsung TVs may or may not have this option inside. It’s important to note that these options are mostly found in TVs made from 2018 and up.
22. Changing Gamma
Samsung TVs come with a gamma setting by default of 2.2.
This is the brightness number and it represents the image brightness on your image screen. A 2.2 value makes everything look bright, while a 4.0 value makes it dark.
Unfortunately, the majority of Samsung TVs do not have this option available as a setting. However, the good thing is that, by default, the gamma setting is 2.2, which is already good.
The only other issue that may come to mind is that if you have a computer device connected, it shows its camera settings at a higher number.
Depending on the device you’re connecting to your TV, you will have to look into the picture settings and adjust the gamma contrast to a lower number.
23. Adjusting the TV’s Home Mode
In many cases, newer model Samsung TVs will give you the option to place your TV into three different categories of settings. The first one is the home mode, which dims down your screen so that it doesn’t get too unnaturally bright.
The other option is the retail mode which is optimized for large well-lit areas of the room.
And then finally, you have the demo mode, which runs ads and talks about the TV model. You don’t want this one on.
My recommendation is to try both modes to see whether or not you like one over the other. However, I do suggest that you stick to home mode since it is more appropriate for your home settings.
But if you want to change the modes and decide, follow these steps:
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until you see the Menu screen.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on General.
- Click on System Manager.
- Click on Usage Mode.
- The default PIN is 0000.
- Pick between Home Mode and Retail Mode.
24. Check Sports Mode
There are a few more specialized modes I wanted to mention that may help you solve your dark screen issue.
Sports Mode may increase the visual effects but sometimes it may dim the screen.
To check whether this setting is on or off, follow these steps:
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until you reach Menu.
- Click on System.
- Click on Sports Mode.
- Turn it on or off.
25. Claim the warranty for repair or replacement
Samsung offers a one-year guarantee on its products. If there is a problem with your TV that can be traced back to Samsung, the company will repair it at no cost to you.
If your TV screen breaks or becomes too dim during the first year, contact Samsung support and you’ll be able to receive a brand new one or get this one replaced for free.
There’s always live chat, 24/7 calling, and email available for you.
26. Move the TV
Your TV might be in direct sunlight, and that’s why you can’t see the screen so clearly.
Or it’s that your TV is in a room that’s too brightly lit. Maybe there are too many windows.
In this case, it might be a good idea to move your TV to an area that has better natural lighting.
27. Check the cables
A poor video cable connection can be a good reason why your TV is looking darker than usual.
Go to the back of your TV and take a look at all the cables and all the devices that are connected to your TV. You need to readjust them if necessary. Unplug them and then plug them right back in.
Keep an eye out for any type of flickering you may find on your screen. This can indicate a poor cable connection especially when it comes to HDMI cables.
Make sure to notice if any of your cables are dusty or the ports have debris in them. Clean them out with a blower or an air can.
28. Update your TVs firmware
Another issue with your screen being too dim may be due to your TV not being properly updated.
There are several reasons for the update. One of them is to add new features and new superpowers to your TV’s features and functionality. However, the more important reason that updates exist is to fix any bugs that can arise from the software and hardware on your TV.
Updating your Samsung TV merely requires an internet connection.
After that, just:
- Press the Home button on your remote.
- Navigate to the left until you reach the Menu section.
- Click on Settings.
- Click on Support.
- Click on Software Update.
- Click on Update Now.
You can also make your Samsung TV update on its own by selecting the other option called Auto Update.
If you don’t have an internet connection, you can use a USB thumb drive and download the exact firmware from the Samsung support downloads website. You can find your exact model in your TV settings from your About This TV screen.
Once you’ve downloaded the update file and uploaded it into your thumb drive, you can plug that thumb drive into the back of your TV and go through the same prompts as updating with an internet connection including pressing the Update Now button.
If there is no internet connection, your Samsung TV will intelligently look for any updated files that are connected to its support, i.e., the thumb drive.
29. Contact Samsung’s customer support
If none of these tips have helped you out so far, then it can’t hurt to give Samsung customer support a call.
We all hate being on the phone for several minutes trying to troubleshoot a device but this is a very valuable item in your home and it’s important to make sure you’ve tried all your options.
Samsung’s customer support will run through the normal routine of trying to get it back and running.
They may have updates or new troubleshooting tactics that they may have found to help solve your issue if it is infamously popular.
If nothing else works, they could at least give you options on how to repair it, where to repair it, and how much it might cost to repair your dark TV.
Change the settings on your media streaming device.
Another point I wanted to reiterate was how many of our TVs nowadays are connected to a media streaming device.
If you find that your TV is dark and you also are using a media streaming device, you might want to look into the settings of the device itself.
The color tone, the gamma, and the brightness are all settings and options that are available on most streaming devices, as well as the main ones on your TV.
Try to adjust those settings and see if that solves the problem.
31. Update your Samsung TV firmware
There are times when it’s true that no matter what type of settings you try altering, your screen is just going to stay dim.
In some cases, this may be due to a bug in the software. It isn’t going to fix itself, so Samsung has to bring its engineers together and solve the problem through a mass update.
Samson has a team of developers working on the TV software. If there was ever an issue, they’ll send out a fix to smash those software bugs.
However, you have to update the TV yourself or at least accept the update.
To update your Samsung TV’s firmware:
- Starting from your TV remote, tap on the Home button.
- Then click on Settings.
- Click on Support.
- Click on Software Update.
- Then click Update Now.
Samsung TVs typically just need a few minutes to finish the installation process and restart thereafter since the files involved are not very huge. Don’t switch off the TV while we’re doing this! There’s a chance it may damage your data.
Samsung TVs get software upgrades many times a year to improve their reliability and performance.
Features and abilities unique to your TV may also be added sometimes.
32. Factory reset Samsung TV
If your TV is malfunctioning, you may often fix it by resetting it to factory settings.
The bright side is that although this is conceivable, it may not be required. and that’s why this is probably one of the last things on the list to do.
Several built-in self-diagnosis tools are available on your TV to assist you in resolving signal, network, image, and sound issues.
However, if you’ve gone through all your options and you’re fed up with trying to figure anything else out, you can try and do a factory reset to start over.
Here’s how to do it:
- On your remote, tap on the Home button.
- Scroll to the left until you find Settings.
- Select All Settings.
- Click on General and Privacy.
- Click Ok on General and Privacy.
- Select Reset.
- Enter your pin which is by default 0000.
- Click confirm to reset.
Again, a factory reset is often not the first solution. Once you do this, your TV will start from the beginning as if you opened it out of the box. None of your settings or configurations will be in it. Your account will be completely wiped out.
If you do have your account saved in the Samsung Cloud, you’ll be able to download your information right back onto your TV with the settings back in place.
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