7 Proven Solutions for TCL TV Brightness Low: Solving Dark Roku TV Picture Issues

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In this article, I’ll quickly guide you through 7 proven solutions to fix the common issue of low brightness on your TCL Roku TV.

Let’s dive in!

Why Does My TCL Roku TV Keep Dimming?

Are you new to the TCL Roku TV experience? If your screen suddenly grows dim, you’ll wonder why before considering solutions.

This section discusses common reasons why the picture on your TCL Roku TV is growing dim. 

1. The Energy Saving Feature

The backlight is the biggest channel of TV power consumption. If you reduce the brightness or intensity of your TV backlight, the TV will automatically consume less power.

To reduce unnecessary power consumption, the TCL manufacturers introduced an ambient light detection function (or ECO sensor — as seen in some older models) for energy saving.

This feature is programmed to automatically sense and measure a room’s lighting. Like the auto-brightness setting on smartphones, it adjusts the screen brightness to fit the available ambiance. 

The screen becomes brighter in a brightly lit room to ensure image clarity. Alternatively, the energy-saving function reduces screen brightness in darker rooms to conserve power.

2. Local Dimming (Micro Dimming)

Local dimming is a feature embedded in the TCL Roku TV and other TV brands. The purpose of this feature is to enhance display performance.

Local dimming is simply your TV analyzing the content in different areas of the picture to adjust how the screen displays the content. It makes the black parts of the content on-screen appear darker without altering the bright areas. 

This feature may be faulty on your TV, causing the entire picture to darken instead.  Also, bugs could affect how the TV translates and executes this feature.

3. Picture Mode Settings

The TCL Roku TV has a feature known as Picture Mode. Under this feature, there are different settings for different situations. These settings include:

Low Power Mode: This mode optimizes the picture’s display mode to save energy. This setting is often the default setting when you unbox your TCL Roku TV.

Normal: This setting is considered the regular mode for displaying in rooms with different ambient lighting levels. However, it especially fits moderate to brightly lit rooms.

Sports: A picture setting optimized for sports programs where camera panning and action shots are common

Vivid: This picture mode is only set when you use your TV in a brightly lit room. It displays intense and brilliant picture quality.

Movie: The Movie mode adjusts the screen to brightness to suit a darkened room. It is for people who enjoy watching TV in a movie lounge or rooms with controlled lighting.

If your TV screen is dim, you may have selected the wrong picture mode for your room ambiance. For instance, you have enabled the  “movie mode” while in a significantly lit room.

4. Brightness Setting

Check the brightness level if your TV is on a manual picture setting instead of the preset picture modes listed above. 

A dim screen may indicate that you’ve turned the brightness down to the point where you can barely see the picture on your screen. 

5. Outdated Firmware

Firmware is a type of permanent software used to control hardware devices.

TV manufacturers roll out firmware updates once in a while. These updates contain modifications, added features, and bug fixes to improve the TV’s performance. 

The dimming issue on your TCL Roku TV may result from outdated firmware. The older version may harbor some bugs affecting your TV’s display performance. 

6. Hardware Issue

Certain components control the backlight brightness. Sometimes these components (or the backlight itself) malfunction because they are broken, or their connections are loose somewhere. 

Depending on the extent of hardware damage or malfunction, your TCL Roku TV screen can grow dim/dark.

How Do I Stop My TCL Roku TV Screen From Dimming: 7 Solutions

If you have identified the possible cause of your dim TV screen, it’s time to fix it.

We have compiled a list of solutions and step-by-step guides to help you fix your TCL Roku TV screen dimming.

1. Restart Your TV

A good old restart is the first solution to try whenever you face issues on your computer or other devices.

A restart helps refresh your TV’s processing and shut down background apps. It is also proven to fix certain types of bugs and glitches. 

To restart your TCL Roku TV, follow these few steps. 

Step 1: Switch off the TV.

Step 2: Unplug the TV from the electric socket.

Step 3: Wait for about 10-15 minutes.

Step 4: Plug your TV back into the power outlet.

Step 5: Turn on the TV using the Roku remote.

2. Disable Energy Saving (ECO Mode)

The Energy-Saving feature is found under Dynamic Backlight Control (DBC) settings. This feature may malfunction if the light sensor is glitchy. 

In this case, the easiest way to fix the dim screen is by disabling the Power Saving feature. However, not all TCL Roku TVs have this setting. 

You can access the Energy-Saving feature through the hidden settings on your TV. Follow the steps below: 

Step 1: Press the Home button on the remote.

Step 2: Navigate to Settings and press Enter.

Step 3: Go to Picture > Advanced Settings.

Step 4: Highlight Contrast.

Step 5: Use your remote to enter this code: 1950.

Step 6: Go to Parameter Settings > DBC.

Step 7: Turn off the Energy Saving feature or set DBC Enable to Off.

3. Disable Local Dimming (Micro Dimming)

If your TV has a problem executing the local dimming feature, you may face an entirely dim screen. To solve this issue, here are steps to disabling local dimming:

Step 1: Turn on the TCL Roku TV.

Step 2: Play a video on the TV.

Step 3: Once the video has started playing, press the Star/Asterisk (*) button on the remote to access the Options menu.

Step 4: Select Advanced Picture Settings > Local dimming.

Step 5: Set Local dimming to Off.

4. Change Picture Mode

Your picture mode setting may be why your screen is dim while displaying a video. Follow the steps below to change to a suitable picture mode:

Step 1: Power on the TV and play a video.

Step 2: Press the Asterisk (*) button on your TCL Roku remote.

Step 3: From the options displayed, go to Advanced Picture Settings.

Step 4: Change the picture mode to Vivid and see if it fixes the dimness. 

NOTE: If Vivid mode doesn’t work, you can keep swapping picture modes until you get a satisfactory result. 

Watch the video below on how to change the picture more on TCL Roku TV.

5. Adjust the Brightness

You can manually adjust the screen brightness if it is turned down too low. Follow the steps below:

Step 1: Go to the Settings ⚙️ menu on your TV.

Step 2: Navigate to Picture Settings and press OK.

Step 3: Navigate to Brightness and press OK. The brightness level adjuster will appear on the screen. 

Step 4: Use the arrow buttons on the remote to move the scale to the left or right to increase or decrease the screen brightness.

Step 5: Stop when you are satisfied with the results.

Step 6: Press the back button, and the TV will automatically save your new brightness settings.

Watch the video below on how to adjust brightness on TCL Roku TV.

6. Software Update

Users have reported that the dim conditions of their TCL TVs seem to have improved after a software update. 

If you want to try a software update, too, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Press the Home button on the remote.

Step 2: Go to Settings > System Update.

Step 3: Select Check Now. 

Step 4: If you find a new update, select Update Now.

7. Fix Or Replace the Hardware

If any internal backlight components are damaged, you need to have them fixed by a professional. If it’s a new TV, you can return it to the store you bought it from and request a replacement. 

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