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Samsung TV Red Light Blinking 2 Times (Why & How to FIX!)

If your Samsung TV red light is blinking 2 times when you turn it on, you may also notice that the screen lights up very briefly (light blue color), and turns off again. Then, it will remain stuck in a continuous boot loop process unless you completely unplug it from the power outlet. 

Samsung TV red light blinking 2 times

In this guide, I am gong to show you 5 proven ways to fix the issue quickly. 

Without any further ado, let’s dive right in!

Why Samsung TV Red Light Blinks 2 Times

The red light on Samsung smart TVs blinks 2 times for a number of reasons. It could be something as simple as a software glitch, a faulty power bar, surge protector, remote control or HDMI cable. If none of these is the case for you, then it’s most likely caused by an issue with the ribbon cable on the LCD panel or a bad LCD panel.

Whichever the case may be, I will show you how to troubleshoot each of the potential causes, until you find a solution that applies to you. 

Also, I’ve seen a number of people who tried to fix it by replacing the power board and/or main board, to no avail. This is because the issue has nothing to do with any of those. 

Samsung TV Red Light Blinking 2 Times Fix

Below are 5 proven ways to fix the issue once and for all. 

1. Power Cycle TV

I mentioned earlier that you may be experiencing the issue simply because of a software glitch. If that’s the case, you need to power cycle it (also called a soft reset). 

The reason why power cycling works is because it helps to remove excess electric charge that sometimes build up. It also helps remove corrupt cache files and may sometimes fix other software glitches. 

That said, here’s how to do that:

  • Unplug your Samsung TV from the power outlet
  • Leave it unplugged for 60 seconds
  • While unplugged, press and hold the power button on the TV (not the remote) for 60 seconds. 
  • Next, plug the TV back into the power outlet
  • Finally, turn on the TV and see if the red light stops blinking twice. 

If that doesn’t fix it for you, try it again, but this time leave it unplugged for at least 1 hour (yes, I know that’s a lot of waiting, but it does work!). After one hour, press and hold the power button on the TV for 60 seconds. Then, release the button, plug the TV back in and turn it on.

Since you don’t know for sure if the issue is caused by a software glitch and whether a soft reset for 1 hour will get rid of the issue, you can try other fixes in this guide first and come back to this later (if you still need to by then). 

That said, let’s continue. 


2. Check the Power Bar and Surge Protector

Another reason why some Samsung TV red light blinks 2 times is due to a faulty power bar or power surge protector. What you need to do here is simple. 

  • If your Samsung TV was plugged into a power strip or surge protector, unplug it and try plugging it directly into the wall outlet. Once done, if your TV stops blinking red light 2 times, then you know what the issue is. In that case, you simply need to replace the power bar or surge protector.  

power strip surge protector

  • Also, if your TV has a power cord that can be removed from the back of the TV, make sure that it’s plugged firmly into the back of the TV. Also, if there is a separate AC power adaptor, make sure the connection between the adaptor and the power cord is tight. 

check Samsung TV power cord

If that fixes the issue for you, great! Otherwise, move to the next solution. 


3. Troubleshoot & Reset TV Remote

Your TV remote controller may also be responsible for causing your Samsung TV to blink 2 times without showing any picture on screen. Again, what you need to do here is simple – perform a soft reset on the remote. 

Here’s how to do that:

  • First, turn off the TV
  • Next, remove the batteries from the remote control
  • Press and hold the power button on the remote for 30 seconds (this will help to fully drain static charge in the remote)

press and hold power button on Samsung TV remote

  • Insert the batteries back into the remote
  • Finally, turn the TV on and you should be up and running. 

If this doesn’t fix the issue for you on the first try, go ahead and do it again 2 more times

Some users who had the same issue reported that they had to do it more than once before the issue was fixed, while some others got it fixed on the first try. 

If you try it a couple of times and still can’t get your Samsung TV to stop blinking red light 2 times, move on to the next fix. 


4. Check the HDMI Connection & Cable

If your Samsung TV is still blinking red light 2 times, then you need to check the HDMI connection and cable next. 

First, you need to check if the HDMI cable is responsible for the issue. To do that, simply unplug the HDMI cable from the TV and see if it stops blinking red light. Although you may not have picture on the TV screen once the HDMI is unplugged (unless you have some other AV cable), you will at least notice if the blinking stops. 

If your TV stops blinking red light 2 times after unplugging the HDMI cable, simply plug it back in to check if the issue comes back again, in which case you know the HDMI cable is most likely responsible for the issue. 

However, before you go ahead and get a replacement cable, unplug the HDMI cable and blow out the HDMI port (this will remove dust or dirt that may be stuck in the HDMI port, preventing proper contact between the cable and port). If the issue persists after plugging it back in, then you definitely need to replace the cable. 

check the HDMI port

In that case, it is recommended that you get a premium, certified HDMI cable (If you didn’t know, there are different types of HDMI cables). 

use a certified premium high speed HDMI cable
Image credit: hdmi.org

 

Also, the fact that your HDMI cable shows premium does not actually mean that it’s a certified premium cable. All certified premium cables will display a Hologram and QR code on the package which can be used to confirm if genuine. This also helps avoid counterfeits.

use high speed premium certified HDMI cable

If you issue is not coming from the HDMI cable, then you most likely have a faulty LCD panel. 


5. Disconnect Faulty Pins on LCD Panel Ribbon

This procedure of fixing a Samsung TV that keep blinking red light 2 times (with continuous restart and no picture) requires you to open up your Samsung TV.

Although it may be a bit time-consuming compared to the previous ones, it is not a technical procedure at all. In fact, it is only time-consuming while you are trying to locate the faulty pins on the LCD panel ribbon. Once that’s done, the rest is quick and easy. 

Even better? This procedure will most likely fix the issue for you!

I will also attach 2 different videos showing the same troubleshoot procedure below, so you can see it for yourself. 

But first, let me explain what you need to do and why it works

The red light blinking twice on your Samsung TV is an error code indicating a screen panel issue which is then sent to the main board. So, until the issue is fixed, your TV will keep blinking and restarting without picture or sound.

When one or more pins on the LED panel cable is faulty, it “spreads” the error signal. However, by “hiding” the path of the pin(s), the error message will be disabled and not sent to the main board. Yet, the panel will still continue to work perfectly well. 

You may be wondering, “why not change the whole panel or something?”. It’s difficult to explain, you can’t really fix it that way and even if the LED panel is fixed, it costs hundreds of dollars. 

That said, here’s a step by step process of what you need to do (videos attached at the end):

  • Step 1: Open the back of the TV

Before you open up your TV, make sure you unplug it from the power outlet (very important!).

If you have a Samsung TV with a screwed back cover, then you need to remove the screws and lift the back cover. 

However, if you have a Samsung TV without screws on the back cover, the procedure to open it up is different. 

Using a pry tool, start at the bottom edge of the TV where there’s a hole at each end. Release both bottom corners (hold with an object so it doesn’t close back), then run the pry tool all the way around the TV.

You will hear the clips pop open as you go around. Once you’ve gone round the TV back cover, then you can lift it. 

  • Step 2: Locate & unplug the ribbon

The next thing is to locate the ribbon cables that connects to LCD panel, then unplug them carefully from the panel. 

Depending on the model of your Samsung TV, you may have two ribbons or just one ribbon. If you have two ribbons, you need to check one after the other. 

locate ribbon cable on Samsung TV

Also, check if you have a small ribbon cable below the speaker connecting to the front panel. If you, you may need to troubleshoot that as well as I will show in the next step. 

  • Step 3: Locate and block faulty pins

Now, you need to block a few pins on the ribbon cable which you have located with a tape (cellophane tape or black tape). There is no one way or straight way to do, and you may need to try a couple of pins before you locate the ones causing the issue. 

block faulty pins on ribbon cable

Here’s how to to it:

  • Try to cover 4-5 pins on the ribbon cable with a black tape. Then, check if the TV stops blinking red light 2 times, and that you also have picture and sound on your Samsung TV. 
  • If it’s still blinking red light 2 times (or it stops blinking but you have issues with picture and/or sound), then you need to cover fewer or more lines on the ribbon.
  • Try to move the tap pin by pin from the end of the strip with pins until you locate the pins with the failure. 

Here’s the first video showing the process:

Here’s another video showing the issue being fixed by the same procedure:

You may also contact Samsung support for further assistance, especially if your TV is still under warranty. 

Bottom Line

If your Samsung TV keeps blinking red light 2 times and has no picture/sound, it could be caused by a number of things. 

This could range from simple issues like a software glitch and faulty remote control (both of which can be fixed with a power cycle or soft reset of the TV and remote respectively).

It could also be coming from a faulty power bar or surge protector. To fix this, simply plug the TV directly into a working power outlet and see if the issue stops.

You may also have HDMI connection issues coming from the cable or the port. To fix this, simply unplug the HDMI cable and try to notice if the issue stops or not. 

Finally, you may have a bad LCD panel. In this case, you need to open up the back of the TV, disconnect the LCD panel ribbon, locate the faulty pins and tape the pins with a cellux tape or black tape to bypass the bad LCD panel cable. 

If you found this guide helpful, let me know which of these troubleshooting steps helped you fix the issue in the comment section. 

6 thoughts on “Samsung TV Red Light Blinking 2 Times (Why & How to FIX!)”

  1. You saved my TV, Bro! My Samsung was blinking twice after a power outage and the one hour soft reset brought it back to life!
    Thanks for sharing your knowledge!

    Reply
  2. I did it the way you describe, but the picture doesn’t work. The sound does. The indicator light doesn’t flash twice and the led panel lights up. There is a flash when I touch the panel. Where could there be a mistake. There is a chip on the left side and an arrow 3.6 V on pins and others I don’t know. Thank you for the answer.

    Reply

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