Why Is My TV Screen Green?

Technology is fantastic when it works as it should. But it’s super frustrating when it fails. 

Have you ever tried streaming from your new TV to find the screen has gone green?

Why is my TV screen green? More importantly, how can we fix this?

If you’ve ever encountered the “green screen of frustration,” you’re in luck because today, we’ll talk about its causes and list a few simple solutions you can try.

Let’s go. 

Why Is My TV Screen Green?

A green screen, although frustrating, is not a reason for alarm. That’s because your screen is often green due to minor, more annoying issues that need a little attention. However, I should mention, in rare occasions, it could be due to a hardware issue. If that’s the case, you’ll need to take your TV to a professional.

Some of these causes include:

• A glitch
• A power surge
• Loose cables
• Software issues
• Incorrect picture settings

This list might sound daunting, but many of the items mentioned above are mostly inconvenient and not detrimental to your TV set.

Fixing the Green Screen on Your TV

Some of the causes mentioned above, like glitches and power surges, create a temporary green screen that can be quickly fixed. But the rest of the reasons might be a little more troublesome to fix.

So, now that we’re familiar with the causes of your TV’s green screen, we can focus on the solutions.

Solution 1: Restart Your TV

The first solution on our list is to turn your TV off and turn it back on again. This often fixes the issue. 

Let’s try something a little more powerful below if this easy solution doesn’t fix the problem.

Solution 2: Power Cycle Your TV

Power cycling (AKA soft resetting) your TV is similar to restarting your TV, except now, we want to drain the TV of all the residual power to fix the issue.

To do this, follow the steps below:

Step 1: First, turn off your TV set.

Step 2: Next, unplug the TV from the wall socket that powers it. 

Step 3: Wait about 60 seconds or more before proceeding to the next step.

Step 4: Now that all power supply is cut from your TV, we’ll drain it of its residual power. Hold the TV power button on the TV (not the remote control.) Do this for about 10 seconds or more.

You have now drained all your TV’s residual power.

It is now okay to plug your TV back in and power it on. A soft reset or power cycle fixes many issues on TVs, including the green screen.

Solution 3: Inspect for Loose Cables

Another solution is to ensure all cables are connected securely. This includes any electronics connected to your TV. Chances are, an input source is not correctly inserted into your TV, which can cause a green screen.

Inspect loose cables and:

• Ensure you check any HDMI cables going to and from your TV.
• Check your power cords and make sure they’re plugged in firmly.
• Check all cables from any input devices.

Solution 4: Update the Software

If you haven’t updated the TV’s software in a while, update it as soon as possible. 

Software updates are vital to keeping your TV’s security up to date. However, many TV brands provide necessary software patches that clean up any bugs and stop glitches, like a green screen, from happening.

Although every TV is different, updating your software is easy.

To update your TV, head to your settings tab, then find a Software Update or Support option.

These menus will let you know if an update has been downloaded to your TV and is ready to install.

If necessary, click “install” on your TV to begin the installation process.

An Alternative Way To Update Your Software 

You can also update your software via a USB drive. Follow the steps below to learn how to update your TV software using a USB drive.

• To do so head to your TV brands website.
• Type in your TV’s model number.
• Once the items populate on-screen, scroll down to see the .zip file and a .pdf file.
• Download both files onto your USB drive.

It’s important to notate that the .zip file is the software you’ll need to install. However, the .pdf file is the “how-to” file you’ll use as a guide. And since every TV is slightly different, please follow the respective .pdf file.

Here’s a video that shows you just in case.

Solution 5: Inspect for Damaged Cables

If you’re encountering the green screen of death, it’s essential to check your cables for damages, bite marks, bends, and other indications of mistreatment.

Chances are the green screen is appearing because of a damaged HDMI cable that needs replacing. When this happens, the cable connected to your input device cannot feed the data to your TV.

Solution 6: Change Your Color Settings

If you’re experiencing a strong green hue over a moving image, your TV color settings might be off.

Every TV has a different Color Settings menu. However, you can manually adjust each color to fix the issue.

So, if you find that green is too intense, perhaps tuning it is the best option.

To find the proper menu, head to your TV settings or main menu.

Find the Picture Settings. Then navigate to Saturation. You can also check your Tint settings and adjust the green-to-purple slider.

It’s important to note that every TV brand will have its menus in different locations and might even call them by another name. If that’s the case, please consult your manual for proper instructions.

Fixing a Green Screen When Your Computer is Mirrored to Your TV

Many times, people encounter the dreaded green screen when mirroring their computer to their TV to stream YouTube videos.

The difference here is that it only affects the YouTube video screen and not the entire TV screen.

If that’s the case, here are a few solutions you can try to stream those fantastic YouTube videos you want to share with the world.

Solution 1: Sign Out of Your Google Account

A green screen while streaming YouTube feels random, especially because it affects some videos and not others.

An easy solution is to sign out of your Google account. This generally signs you out of all Google apps, including YouTube. However, if it doesn’t, please ensure you sign out of your YouTube account as well.

Solution 2: Check Your Graphics Card

If you’re having green screen issues with YouTube, sometimes the problem lies within your graphics card. Chances are, your card is outdated and needs a quick update to solve the issue at hand.

Please follow the steps below to update your graphic card on a Windows machine.

Step 1: Proceed to your desktop and right-click on Start button.

Step 2: Scroll and select Device Manager. Click to open it.

Step 3: Now, look for and expand Display Adapter.

Step 4: After expanding Display Adapter, you’ll see the option for your graphic card. Hover over your graphic card and right-click on it.

Step 5: Click on Update Driver and Search Automatically for Drivers.

Step 6: Click Install.

Once your graphics card is updated, navigate to YouTube to test it. However, chances are this would solve any issues related to a green screen caused by your graphics card.

Conclusion

Getting the green screen of death on your TV is annoying. But the good thing is that it’s not usually a big issue. In the rare occasion that you’re green screen is caused by a hardware problem, please take it to a professional for repairing purposes.

Otherwise the solutions are quick and usually easy. We hope we have given you all the solutions to your green screen problems. As a bonus, we also included a small portion in this article that talks about getting rid of a green screen when you’re mirroring from your PC.

Do you have other questions about the terrible green screen? Please leave them below.