Horizontal Lines on LG Smart TV 55LB7200, Probably Not Image Persistence/Burn-In

[glitterninja]

Good morning all.

I have an LG Smart TV 55LB7200 which is three years old. About two weeks ago I noticed two horizontal lines across the screen toward the top. One aligned perfectly with the bookmark bar on the installed browser, and since we used to use the browser to get to weather webpages, I thought it was image persistence. I wasn't sure though because we never left the browser on for very long, and we honestly haven't used the browser much since about January. Plus, the second line line about 3 inches below the darkest one didn't align with anything on the browser or any other app.

First thing I did was check the picture test that comes with the TV, and the lines were almost impossible to see, but it's a busy picture (lots of flowers) so it was hard to tell. These lines appear on all apps and at all times, whether it's the browser, YouTube, Netflix, just on the main "input" menu of the TV, everywhere. The only time I'm not sure I see it is on the picture test, which is odd.

Thinking it was burn-in, I used a plain white image for about 2 hours and it seemed to help, as did about 30 minutes of a red-green-blue "fix" I found.

Hoping to fade the lines more, I put the white image on again this morning after watching Netflix for about 90 minutes. There were only 2 lines when I put on the white screen, then I left the room for a few minutes, came back, glanced over and 2 new lines had appeared in between the original two.

I immediately turned off the TV and completely unplugged it per some suggestions I've seen online, but I'm concerned, especially since I'm pretty sure I just made things worse. Any thoughts on what this could be? I saw an earlier thread here that suggested a TV this old could have capacitor problems, could that be the cause?

Any help you could give would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[glitterninja]

Just as an update, I had the TV unplugged for about 20 hours and there was no change in these lines.

 

[glitterninja]

I wanted to add that I also tried unhooking all peripherals and resetting to factory original settings and neither helped. I've double and triple checked and these lines do NOT show up on the Picture Test but they are on every other app and screen, from the very first moment the TV is turned on.

More lines are showing up in the same general area as the first lines. Does anyone have any ideas at all? I could really use the help. Thank you.

 

[cherry blossoms]

I will assume you have tried different video inputs and sources and the problem persists. LG has a troubleshooting guide page and I'm assuming you've gone through that.

If you have a warranty obviously take the tv in.

When I think horizontal lines, the first thing I think is bad panel, but it could be other components.

TampaTec on youtube has a lot of videos on home dx and repair of common problems. You may find something helpful in their videos if you don't already know how to check for problems on certain components and connectors.

https/www.youtube.com/channel/UCUfgq9Gn8S041qQFl0C-CEQ

 

[glitterninja]

Yes, we tried inputs like DVD player, Blu-ray player, and a hard drive. The TV is past its warranty - it's 3 years old.

I haven't seen a single video on YouTube that looks anything like the problem we have but thanks for the suggestion.

 

[adcraw87]

I have this same model of TV and I've noticed the lines since I bought it. It's extremely noticeable when watching shows like family Guy. I believe that's just the way LG designed them. Crappy I know.
Also..the dark spots when a bright screen comes on. Led backlighting is terrible.