TV Has Horizontal or Vertical Lines on Screen? Here's Why
Lines or shadow bands across the picture almost always come from the panel's own connections or driver electronics, not the source device you're watching. Here's what typically causes it.
Most Common Causes
1. Loose or damaged ribbon cable
The flexible cables connecting the panel to the main board can work loose or crack, especially after the TV has been moved or knocked.
2. Faulty COF IC (column/row driver chip)
These chips are bonded directly to the glass edge of the panel and drive individual rows or columns of pixels. When one fails, you get a consistent line or band in the same spot.
3. Panel driver board issues
The board that feeds timing and voltage to the panel can develop faults that show up as shifting or flickering lines rather than a single fixed one.
What You Can Check Yourself
- Open the TV's own settings or home menu — if the lines appear there too (not just while watching a show), the fault is in the TV itself, not your set-top box, console, or streaming device.
- Try a different HDMI port and a different source device, just to rule out a cable or input issue before assuming it's the panel.
- Note whether the lines are horizontal or vertical, and whether it's a single thin line or a wider band — this detail alone helps narrow down ribbon cable vs. COF IC vs. driver board.
Don't press on the screen or try to reseat any ribbon cables yourself — the panel's glass edge and COF bonding are fragile and can crack or delaminate permanently with the wrong pressure.
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