How To Fix Vizio TV Flickering Horizontal Lines?

If your Vizio TV flickering horizontal lines then you’re most probably dealing with a faulty cable throughout your configuration.

Besides your wiring, there are other possibilities that we’re about to reveal so keep reading to find out their solution.

To fix the flickering on your Vizio TV, you can try to reconnect all cable connections in your configurations. Check all of your inputs and try streaming media that is not related to any 3rd party device.

Moreover, inspect your TV screen for damage and possibly resolve issues with the TV software.

If you’re not aware of how to execute the above-mentioned techniques, next we’ll discuss more possibilities to help you with the troubleshooting later.

What Causes Horizontal Lines On TV Screen Vizio?

Here we’ve prepared a list with the possible causes, so you can familiarize yourself with the causes and understand why to apply the methods later.

Power Malfunction

Sometimes, there could be something wrong happening with the power supply of your Vizio TV.

Many users reported that horizontal lines could come as a result of a power outage, so checking your configuration after such occurrences is important.

Bad Video Cables

Another thing that could make your Vizio TV screen show a horizontal line is a problem with the video cables.

It is usually recommended to check your whole wiring, but HDMI cables are the main suspect here.

Third-party Devices

If you are using a third-party device to watch your favorite show on your Vizio TV and it has similar video interruptions, the horizontal lines might be coming from there.

Memory Leak

Horizontal lines could come as a result of memory failure. Whenever you use all of the available RAM storage on your Vizio TV, it is possible that such lines could occur.

Hardware Problem/broken Display

After checking what might have gone wrong with your TV internally, a broken display is always a possibility.

Horizontal lines are well-known to show up around a broken area within your Vizio screen, so if you’ve damaged your TV in any way, casual troubleshooting won’t be able to help you.

Don’t get discouraged as having a hardware issue is the less likely problem you could have. Next, we’ll start excluding each possibility until you’re left with the true cause!

How Do I Fix Horizontal Lines On My Vizio TV?

Before starting to apply any of our methods we recommend rebooting your TV.

Sometimes the horizontal lines could be based on a startup problem and after a restart, the problem could be gone.

Method #1 Power Cycle Vizio TV

After you’ve restarted your Vizio TV, the next thing you should do is a power cycle.

Unlike the normal reboot, the power cycle will drain all electricity from within your Vizio TV and provide it with a fresh boot upon its next startup.

Horizontal lines could appear after a power outage, so the power cycle is the correct way to approach if you haven’t done it already.

Here are the steps to power cycle your Vizio TV:

1. Turn off your Vizio TV using the remote.
2. Unplug the TV’s power cable from the power source.
3. Wait for several minutes.
4. Plug the power cable back into the power source.
5. Check if the issue persists.

After power cycling, make sure to plug the power cable of your TV directly into a wall outlet.

Power transmitting devices such as strips and dividers could develop nasty power malfunctions over time. This way you will understand whether the issue is related to the power supply or not.

Method #2 Check Wiring

If the issue persists, after the power cycle, there could be something wrong with the wiring in your configuration.

Sometimes a faulty HDMI cable or power cable could cause horizontal lines on your TV, so this is why you should inspect their functionality.

Usually, there could be two things going on with your wiring. They are either loose, or there are faulty cables within your configuration.

To find out which one of your cables is the faulty one, you must try them on a different device. After checking them, simply make sure to plug them all the way into the cable slots.

Method #3 Check Third-Party Device

Sometimes if your Vizio TV flickering horizontal lines, it could be because of another device connected to your Vizio TV.

If you’re using, for instance, gaming consoles or 3rd party streaming devices make sure to disconnect ALL of them until the end of this post.

Try streaming media with the standalone functionalities of your TV. Simply go to Watch TV and if not available try opening any inbuilt platform such as YouTube, Netflix, etc…

If the horizontal lines are not there whenever there are no 3rd party devices connected, start testing them one by one to figure out which one is the faulty one.

If, however, the issue is there regardless of how you use your Vizio TV, it’s time to take our troubleshooting one step further.

Method #4 Factory Reset Vizio TV

A great way to refresh the memory and storage of your Vizio TV is to factory reset it!

In some cases where users see horizontal lines on their Vizio TV, they are able to interact with the TV itself, so if your case isn’t like one of those, move on to the next method!

To factory, your Vizio TV, follow the steps below.

1. Press the Menu button on the remote.
2. Using the arrows on your remote, highlight System and press OK.
3. Highlight Reset & Admin.
4. Highlight, Reset the TV to factory settings, and Confirm.

Give your TV several minutes to complete the process and complete the initial setup.

Once ready, observe the system performance to find out if the horizontal lines are still there.

Method #5 Damage Inspection

The last thing that could have gone wrong with your Vizio TV is physical or hardware damage.

Since a large portion of the users cannot tell whether they have damaged their TV or not, in most cases where horizontal lines occur, the screen has been damaged.

There is not much that you can do at home but you can leave the TV to cool down and check again in a few hours.

Moreover, you can try to contact Vizio customer service for another round of troubleshooting and with a little luck the problem could turn out to be something simple.

The horizontal lines could mainly be a result of power issues and wiring so that should be the very first thing to inspect. Moreover, you can tackle the issue by performing a factory reset if you believe that something went wrong with the software.

At the end of the line, the issue could turn out to be a hardware problem. If you haven’t physically damaged the TV and your warranty is still intact, you’re one of the lucky ones!

Read Next: How to Fix Vizio Missing Channels?

Bottom Line

Now that you know why is Vizio TV flickering horizontal lines and how to fix it, you shouldn’t have difficulties performing our guide.

If you’re interested in more topics related to troubleshooting Vizio TV issues, make sure to follow our blog.