Vizio TV Blinking On And Off: 11 Ways To Fix It ASAP (2023)

There’s a thunderstorm outside my room.

The night sky itself is blinking and flickering.

But that’s nothing compared to my Vizio TV.

Unlike the rain, it seems like the blinking on my TV is forever…

Until I figured out how to weather the storm.

Let me tell you how.

Keep reading to discover:

2 ways to update Vizio firmware to stop the blinking.
13 swift fixes to a Vizio TV that keeps blinking on and off.
3 telltale signs of bad capacitors and how to tell if they’re causing the blinking.
Why enabling Eco Mode and QuickStart can get rid of the blinking on your TV.
And so much more…

Why does my Vizio TV keep blinking on and off?

Your Vizio TV keeps blinking on and off because of outdated firmware, CEC, or the Sleep Timer. There could also be devices trying to connect to your TV. Bad capacitors, loose cables, and dead backlight can also cause blinking. Lastly, the Power button on your remote may also be stuck.

Vizio TV blinking on and off: 13 fixes

#1: Power cycle

Let’s start with the easiest solution, shall we?

Try restarting your Vizio TV.

Go on. I’ll give you a few seconds.

What? It didn’t work?

Well, I kind of expected that. It doesn’t work all the time. But it was worth a try.

Regardless, this only means one thing…

A simple restart won’t do.

So, you have to power cycle your TV.

What’s that?

You see…

Simply turning your TV off and on won’t truly close all of its applications and processes.

Power cycling, however, ensures that your TV fully turns off. And this is how you can do so:

Turn your TV off.
Unplug your TV from the socket.
Standby for at least 30 seconds.
Plug your TV back in.
Turn your TV on.

Note: Alternatively, some Vizio TVs can also do power cycling using only their remote. How?

You just have to hold the Power button until it restarts.

#2: Turn off HDMI-CEC

Between the remote for my TV, my streaming devices, and the controller for my console…

Man, sometimes I wish there was a way to have 1 remote to control them all.

Oh, that’s right. There is.

Introducing HDMI-CEC:

Your one-stop shop for all remote control needs.

Now, if you haven’t heard of HDMI-CEC, it’s okay.

Why?

Because it goes by a different name for each TV manufacturer.

Don’t believe me? Let me list them all. (Or, at least, most of them.)

Manufacturer	CEC Name
Vizio	CEC (This one’s easy, but…)
Samsung	Anynet+
Sony	BRAVIA Link or BRAVIA Sync
LG	SimpLink
Sharp	Aquos Link
Toshiba	CE-Link or Regza Link
Panasonic	VIERA Link
Philips	EasyLink
Mitsubishi	Realink for HDMI
Onkyo	RIHD (Remote Interactive over HDMI)
Runco International	RuncoLink
Pioneer	Kuro Link

Confusing, right?

So what does this have to do with your blinking TV?

You see, your neighbors have remotes too…

Turning on CEC means that their Infrared (IR) signals can reach your TV, control them…

And accidentally turn your TV off and on in quick successions.

Thus, making it seem like it’s blinking.

To be safe, turn CEC off using these instructions:

Press the Settings menu on your remote.
Go to the System page.
Select CEC.
Toggle off CEC.

#3: Disable Sleep Timer

“Huh, that’s weird. My TV keeps turning off.”

…is what I told myself when it first happened.

And it kept happening. But, you know what I did?

Nothing.

Until, one day, I was going through my settings and…

Turns out, I’ve had the Sleep Timer on all this time.

And you might have it too.

So, here’s how you can turn it off:

Press Menu on your remote.
Head to the Timers page.
Turn off Sleep Timer.
Turn off Auto Power off.

#4: Enable Eco Mode

Do you know that smart TVs nowadays can mirror smartphones and laptops?

I do. And you know what?

This may also be the cause of your blinking TV.

How so?

You see, people can get confused.

Even the people in your house or your neighbors.

So, they could be accidentally casting or mirroring their displays to your Vizio.

Only, since they’re far, the connection won’t be secure…

What happens then is, instead of their screen, all you’ll see is your screen blinking.

How can you prevent this?

Simple. Turning on Eco Mode stops other devices from connecting to your TV wirelessly. To start:

Open your Settings menu.
Go to System.
Head to Power Mode.
Toggle on Eco Mode.

Note: Turning on QuickStart and restarting your TV will also do the trick. Simply do these:

Open your Settings menu.
Go to System.
Head to Power Mode.
Toggle on QuickStart Mode.

#5: Update firmware

You know what else you can do to fix the errors on your TV?

Ensure that it’s up to date.

You can do that by updating its firmware.

“What’s firmware, Peter?”

Glad you asked.

Firmware is the reason the hardware of your TV knows how to do its job.

It’s a piece of software written for each part of your TV.

Once in a while, your TV has to update its firmware. Why?

To make improvements and to get rid of glitches and errors.

Don’t know how to update your firmware?

Let me teach you.

Update via the Settings menu

Press the Menu button on your remote.
Go to System.
Select Check for Updates.

This method should trigger your system to update if a new one is available.

If that doesn’t work, then…

Update using a flash drive

First, get a flash drive with at least 2 Gb of free storage. And after that, you should:

Download the latest Vizio firmware.
Extract the downloaded file into your flash drive.
Switch your TV to a blank input.
Insert the flash drive into the TV’s USB port.
Select Yes on the prompt.
After the update is complete, restart your TV.

#6: Factory reset

Oh, to start over again…

What a dream, right?

To be free of the mistakes and errors you made along the way.

While you can’t do that yourself…

Your Vizio TV surely can.

How?

Through a factory reset. To do that, here are 6 easy steps:

Press Menu on your remote.
Head to System.
Go to Reset and Admin.
Choose Reset TV to Factory Defaults.
Enter your Parental Code. If you didn’t set one, it should be 0000.
Tap Reset to confirm.

But what if you set a passcode and you forgot about it?

It happens to the best of us.

Thankfully, there’s an easy way to solve this.

You just need to stand up, sit closer to your Vizio TV, and:

Locate the physical buttons of your TV.
Turn your TV on.
Press and hold Volume Down and Input.
Once the prompt appears on your screen, long-press the Input button for 10 seconds.
Wait until your TV restarts.

And you’re good to go.

However, if you’re still having trouble…

You can watch this video for a clearer explanation of how to do this reset method:

#7: Clean your remote

Consider this:

What if you’re making the problem harder than it should be?

Other words…

Maybe you’re thinking too hard.

And the problem is as simple as your remote.

That’s right. Your remote can cause the blinking on your TV.

How so?

There could be dirt and gunk underneath the Power button of your remote.

If so, this is how you can properly clean it:

Remove the buttons and set them aside.
Put a drop of pure alcohol where the buttons were.
Use a cotton swab to clean around the crevices.
Repeat until no more dirt is left.

#8: Reattach ribbon cables

It’s time to explore uncharted waters…

And by that, I mean the back of your TV.

Why?

Because they hold most of your TV’s hardware.

And, with your TV blinking, it’s not wrong to assume that there may be something wrong with it.

The first thing you should check?

Ribbon cables.

These cables connect the parts of your TV.

Thus, allowing them to communicate and do their roles as needed.

When these connections become loose, your TV could end up blinking.

To fix this, you must:

Remove the screws at the back of your TV.
Loosen the bind of the cover using a prying blade.
Lift off the back of your TV.
Detach all ribbon cables.
Lightly blow on them to remove any dust.
Reattach them.

Now, check if your TV now works.

If it does, great. If not, don’t close the back of your TV just yet…

You may also be interested in: Vizio TV Screen Flickering: 7 Ways To Fix It ASAP

#9: Replace your capacitors

You also need to check the power board.

Specifically its capacitors.

What are capacitors, you ask?

Think of them as tiny batteries.

But, the power that they store can be used more than once. How?

It’s where the electricity from the socket goes before distributing it to the other parts of your TV.

I know that sounds good, but…

The trouble here is capacitors can corrode.

And, when it does, your TV will start to blink…

Until it can’t turn on at all.

While you have the back of your TV open, look at your power board.

Do you see the capacitors? They should look like tiny black cylinders with 2 metallic legs.

If so, are any of them:

Swollen?
Leaking white liquid?
Lifting itself off the chassis?

If the answer’s yes, you’ll need to replace those.

Just grab a pair of electricity-dissipating gloves and change your capacitors:

Detach the power board from the chassis.
Remove the old capacitors using a desoldering kit.
Insert the new capacitors where the old ones used to be.
Bend and cut the excess lead.
Solder the new capacitors.
Reattach the power board.

Again, try to see if your TV works properly.

Still no? Darn it.

Well, there’s 1 more thing you can try…

#10: Replace the backlight array

Do you know how you can control your TV’s brightness?

For LCD TVs, it’s because of the backlights.

Backlights are rows of diodes shining a light toward your screen.

And here’s the thing:

They, just like any other light, can die.

And, when they do, what happens is your screen can be:

Dim.
Flickering.
Discolored.
Fully black.

Oh, and another thing:

You can’t fix them…

But you can replace them.

So, do you still have the back of your TV open from fixing the ribbon cables and capacitors?

Good. We can skip that step and proceed to replace your TV’s ribbons:

Detach all ribbon cables.
Flip your TV so that you’re facing its screen.
Unscrew the bezels.
Remove the screen using suction cups.
Safely put aside all of the white sheets.
Detach the backlights from the cable.
Untab and remove the old backlights.
Place the replacement backlights and attach the cables.
Put a tap over the new backlights to secure them.

And then put everything back together again.

#11: Contact Vizio

Feeling like you’re backed into a corner?

Come, let me help you up.