No, you’re not losing your mind, and your vision isn’t playing tricks with you. On the contrary, you are actually very observant. Your Samsung TV does seem lighter and darker during certain times of the day.
If your Samsung TV is otherwise working fine and you see that the color is correct, but the screen is just too dark at certain times of the day, it’s usually just a matter of tweaking the settings.
Why is your Samsung TV so dim or dark?
Your Samsung TV screen is dark because one of the following reasons:
- The brightness and/or contrast levels are too low.
- Ambient Light Detection is enabled
- Energy Saving Mode (Formerly Eco Sensor) is enabled
- The picture mode needs to be changed
- The Samsung TV’s firmware needs to be updated
- The TV is located in too bright of a room
- The backlight is beginning to fail
- Backlight Pulse width modulation (PWM) settings need adjusted
Read on for details about how to tweak each of these settings in order to brighten up your screen.
How To Adjust The Brightness, Contrast, And Backlight On Your Samsung Smart TV
If you’re having issues with your Samsung TV being too dim, the brightness settings are an excellent place to start.
To adjust the brightness of your Samsung TV’s screen, here’s what you do:
- Press the Home button on the remote control to open the Smart Hub.
- The Smart Hub appears on the screen. Press the left button to scroll to Settings (A gear icon). Press Enter to select Settings.
- The main menu appears on the screen. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select the Picture menu.
- Press the Enter button to enter the Picture menu.
- Some Samsung Smart TVs: Scroll to and select Expert Settings
- Use the up and down buttons to choose Brightness.
- Press enter to select Brightness.
- Adjust the brightness level using the up and down buttons.
The backlight and contrast setting is in the same menu section as brightness. Press enter once you are done setting the brightness and then scroll to contrast.
Brightness is to adjust the overall picture brightness, whereas backlight adjusts the brightness of only the backlight (which will also give the appearance of increasing the overall picture brightness).
Overdoing contrast is a mistake since it mixes the blacks and whites together, creating an overall shady appearance.
Contrast turned all the way up or all the way down will show only black or only white at the other extreme.
Here is how Samsung describes each of these settings (Found here):
Backlight: This allows you to adjust how much light the screen produces. You may want to turn this up if your room is exceptionally bright and turn it down if your room is dark.
Brightness: Changes the brightness of the screen.
Contrast: This allows you to adjust the contrast, or dark and light elements of the display.
Any updates to these steps can be found on the Samsung support website here.
How To Enable & Disable Ambient Light Detection On Your Samsung Smart TV
Samsung Smart TVs have light sensors that measure light intensity in the room and adjust the screen’s brightness based on the ambient light levels.
During times it is bright, like during the day, the screen’s brightness will increase. Conversely, when it is dark, like at night, it will decrease the screen’s brightness to deliver the best possible resolution. Note that this feature isn’t on every Samsung TV.
To adjust the Ambient Light Detection setting on your Samsung TV’s screen, here’s what you do:
- Press the Home button on the remote control to open the Smart Hub.
- The Smart Hub appears on the screen. Press the left button to scroll to Settings (A gear icon). Press Enter to select Settings.
- The main menu appears on the screen. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select the General menu.
- Press the Enter button to enter the General menu.
- Use the up and down buttons to choose Eco Solution.
- Press enter to select Eco Solution.
- Use the up and down buttons to select Ambient Light Detection.
- Press enter to toggle Ambient Light Detection.
If you would prefer to keep Ambient Light Detection enabled, you can adjust the minimum brightness setting so that the screen will only dim to a certain level.
How To Enable & Disable Energy Saving Mode On Your Samsung Smart TV
Energy Saving Mode is another option that Samsung provides to be more eco-friendly. The option to toggle it on and off can be found in the same menu as the Ambient Light Detection setting previously mentioned.
To adjust the Energy Saving Mode setting on your Samsung TV’s screen, here’s what you do:
- Press the Home button on the remote control to open the Smart Hub.
- The Smart Hub appears on the screen. Press the left button to scroll to Settings (A gear icon). Press Enter to select Settings.
- The main menu appears on the screen. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select the General menu.
- Press the Enter button to enter the General menu.
- Use the up and down buttons to choose Eco Solution.
- Press enter to select Eco Solution.
- Use the up and down buttons to select Energy Saving Mode.
- Press enter to toggle Energy Saving Mode.
How To Adjust Picture Mode On Your Samsung Smart TV
Every TV has picture modes like Movie, Cinema, Sports, Dynamic, Vivid, Standard, and Game. The names vary by brand, but they’ll be similar to that list.
Samsung TVs typically offer four picture modes. According to the Samsung website, found here, the available options are:
- Standard: This is the default mode that’s suitable for most viewing environments.
- Dynamic: Pictures are brighter and clearer in bright viewing environments.
- Natural: Reduces eye strain for a comfortable viewing experience.
- Movie: Suitable for watching TV or movies in a dark room.
To change the Picture Mode setting on your Samsung TV, here are the steps:
- Press the Home button on the remote control to open the Smart Hub.
- The Smart Hub appears on the screen. Press the left button to scroll to Settings (A gear icon). Press Enter to select Settings.
- The main menu appears on the screen. Picture Mode is usually first, but Press the ▲ or ▼ button if needed.
- Select the desired Picture Mode. Dynamic is the brightest option.
There is a second option designed to quickly change the picture mode as well, but in reality, it’s about the same number of steps.
Samsung put together a video on how to change the picture mode, as seen here.
How To Adjust The Brightness, Contrast, And Backlight On Your Samsung Smart TV
A Smart TV needs constant updates to ensure that it operates as expected. If your TV is behind on its software upgrades, it may not be displaying content as best as it could.
Your Samsung TV may be upgraded with new features or have bugs fixed from time to time. Keeping your software up to date is critical, regardless of the TV you have.
Usually, your Samsung TV will update automatically as long as it’s connected to the internet. Auto Update is set automatically enabled when you agree to the Smart Hub Terms and Conditions in the initial setup.
If auto-updating has been disabled, manually updating over the internet is the easiest option. The alternative is to use a USB stick.
Here is how you can initiate an update for your Samsung TV:
- Press the Home button on the remote control to open the Smart Hub.
- The Smart Hub appears on the screen. Press the left button to scroll to Settings (A gear icon). Press Enter to select Settings.
- The main menu appears on the screen. Press the ▲ or ▼ button to select the Support menu.
- Press the Enter button to enter the Support menu.
- Select Software Update.
- Select Update Now.
Updates will be downloaded and installed on your TV if necessary.
Updates are generally completed in a few minutes. During this time, don’t turn off the TV. Wait until the update is finished. The TV will restart automatically after the update is complete.
Samsung Tv Backlight Problem Causing A Dim Screen
If none of the techniques described above have helped, your Samsung TV’s backlight is most likely damaged.
Unless you have an OLED TV, the screen is illuminated by a backlight. And so far, Samsung does not make OLED TVs.
The backlight adjusts the brightness of your television. If you’re having issues with the backlight, certain portions of your screen may appear darker than others, or the whole screen may appear dim.
This is the point where I would contact Samsung customer support, but there are also some (secret) service settings you can adjust, such as the PWM mentioned earlier. I don’t recommend messing with these settings as it could void your warranty.
Contact Samsung’s Customer Support Team
TVs typically last anywhere from five to seven years. If the backlight stops working, you can start by contacting Samsung’s customer support team.
They’ll probably walk you through a few of the steps you have already been through in this article first, but if they determine you have a bad backlight and the TV is under warranty, they will get it fixed.
Update Settings In The Service Menu
Let me start by saying that only a service professional should be changing these settings. If you do a hard reset on your TV, these settings do not get changed back.
Take a photo of the settings before making any changes. These settings cannot be restored once they have been modified.
Depending on the model of your Samsung TV, there are a few different ways to access the service menu. It’s just a matter of finding the right button combination. Here are a few videos that show the process.
Conclusion
If your Samsung TV still works, but the picture is too dark, there are several options you may try.
First, experiment with your brightness and contrast settings to discover which setting works best for your environment.
If that doesn’t help, consider turning off Ambient Light Detection and Eco mode on your Samsung TV. These modes automatically control various settings on your TV to save power whenever possible, and the primary consumption of power is how bright your screen is.
You should just Reset the Picture or Factory Reset your Samsung TV if you get into trouble after messing around with too many settings and can’t quite achieve a proper picture. The instructions for how to do that can be found here: Factory Reset your Samsung TV.
All of your settings will be reverted to the day you bought the TV, assuming you haven’t made changes in the service menu.
Finally, if you’ve tried all of these steps and still can’t get your TV to be bright enough, there is a good chance that the backlight may need to be replaced.