Hey, did you hear that the new Justice League is already out?
Let’s watch it on my TV. Let me just press ‘Play’ and…what?
Is that a purple bird? Or is that a purple plane?
No… it’s just a purple smudge across your screen.
Superman doesn’t approve of this!
Keep reading to discover:
- Why your color correction is off.
- 5 reasons why your TV screen is purple.
- What Samsung is hiding from you that might cause a purple screen.
- How to tell if your backlight is dying and why it’s purple when it does.
- And many more…
Why is my TV screen purple?
Your TV screen is purple because of an issue with its backlight. Some TVs also have a problem with color format compatibility. If not those two, the reason could be a broken HDMI port or cable. Otherwise, it might be an issue with the manufacturer itself.
Purple TV screen: 5 causes & fixes
#1: Your backlight is dying
Behind your TV screen are a couple of bulbs or diodes that help brighten your display.
This is what you call the backlight array. They make your screen crisp and visible from all angles.
If you use your TV often, the backlight array will start to give up.
And it only takes one dead diode for the entire panel to break.
When one of these diodes dies, the result won’t always be that your TV will get darker. It could also result in discoloration.
This is because light will start leaking from other panels. The dead bulb or diode can still light. But now it’s often with a purplish hue.
What you can do:
The best fix for your backlight is prevention.
Make sure not to overwork your screen. Don’t use the backlights at 100%.
Constant outages and voltage drops while using the TV will also damage the backlight.
However, if you suspect that the backlight is already broken, follow these steps:
- Open the back of your TV.
- Check the color of the light that’s emitting from the sides. Proceed to step 3 if it’s purple.
- Order a new backlight array online that is compatible with your device.
- Strip off the old LED strips. Be careful because there’s a sticker underneath these strips.
- Place the new backlight array by following the sticker. Use double-sided tape if necessary.
#2: You have a magnetic field interference
Yes, magnets.
Bet you didn’t expect that, did you?
Having strong magnets around your device can cause discoloration.
Magnetic fields can cause the electrons and magnetic fields near your TV to bounce off of each other. The electrons that hit your screen can then cause harm to your display.
This is why demagnetization is now starting to become standard in new TV sets.
However, not everyone’s doing it. Samsung, for example, doesn’t have a degaussing function even in their newer models.
If this is the case, you need to manually remove the magnetization stuck in your display.
What you can do:
Immediately remove all electronic and magnetic devices near your screen.
Power cycle your device. This will remove some magnetization from your TV.
If a power cycle doesn’t work, invest in a degaussing coil. Here’s how to properly use one:
- Power cycle your TV.
- Turn it back on.
- Hold the coil in front of your screen. You’ll know it works if you see a rainbow patch appear on your screen.
- Move the coil around the screen in circles. Notice that the rainbow patch moves along with your coil.
- Once you finish sweeping the whole screen, take a step back.
- Repeat Steps 3 and 4 until the rainbow patch is now gone from your screen.
If you want to see someone degauss a TV using a demagnetization magnet, watch this:
You might also want to check out: 5 Steps To Reset A Toshiba TV In Seconds (How-To)
#3: You have a broken HDMI connection
When a TV is purple, the most common culprit is the HDMI.
It’s easy to miss if a pin in your HDMI port is bent. Or that your HDMI cable needs to be replaced.
Usually, it’s just a problem with how you plugged your device in.
This manifests in having a glitchy output or a discoloration on your screen.
Sometimes it’s green or it’s red.
But most of the time, it’s purple or blue.
What you can do:
The first thing you need to do is to figure out if the problem is from your cable or your port.
Dirty port
- Wet a thin microfiber cloth using 99% isopropyl alcohol.
- Wrap the wet cloth to a toothpick or any thin object.
- Gently clean through the crevices of your HDMI port.
- Wait for the port to dry before using it again.
Bent pins
If the problem is the pins in your port, use tweezers to safely straighten skewed pins. Make sure to check every pin.
Broken cable
If the problem is the HDMI cable, you can easily buy a replacement online.
#4: A mismatched color format
Is your screen red only on your gaming console or your streaming device menu?
If you experience a red screen this way, don’t panic. Your PS5 or your Apple TV isn’t broken.
It just means that the color format settings of your TV are not compatible with the external device.
The color format settings determine how you can see the interface of a device.
Most of the time, your TV can’t read the color format settings of an external device because it’s outdated or it’s low-end.
This issue is not limited to gaming consoles, but this is where it’s most common.
What you can do:
You can easily resolve this issue by going to your sources display setting.
From there, try every color-space option until one fixes the discoloration.
If the issue still persists, you can buy an EDID emulator.
An EDID emulator can automatically interpret signals coming from a new source. That way it can adjust your TV’s video settings to stop compatibility issues.
#5: An issue with the manufacturer
No one knows.
Or rather, they don’t want to tell you why your TV is purple.
Samsung has recently come under fire after many users complained of a purple patch issue.
However, they refused to give any solutions as they didn’t consider it an inherent issue.
This is just one from a long line of customer complaints that Samsung TVs have recently been exposed to.
Some users report that their TV has been turning on and off by itself. While others have been experiencing white dots across their screen.
What you can do:
Save your warranty.
Samsung’s customer service can’t always fix the purple patch. However, they can issue you a new one if you still have a warranty.
Besides that, there’s also the band-aid solution of power cycling your TV. Some users have reported that this has worked for them before, but only for a short period of time.
If you’re way past your warranty period or you lost your warranty, the best thing to do is buy a new one.
As of today, the purple patch issue is still a hot topic in forums but no one can conclusively say why this happens.