I got a new TV for my bedroom. The issue is there is a bright white LED light on the bottom that comes on when you power the TV off. This is horrible in a dark bedroom. If you place both of your thumbs together, thats about the size of the light.
I’ve gone through all the settings and there is no way to disable it. I put a strip of electrical tape over it, but apparently it is also where the remote sensor is located, so that solution prevents the remote from working.
Can anyone think of a solution to this problem? What sort of psychotic engineer decided it would be a good idea to have a blinding indicator LED come on when the TV is OFF?
I have a TCL TV and there’s a setting under Advanced Options to configure the LED setting.
If you bought the TV recently, you might consider returning it and letting them know why. If the manufacturer figures out they are having to pay out for returns because of that bright light, they’ll make sure there’s a way to turn it off in future models.
I’ve had this problem with several pieces of consumer electronics over the years - my preferred solution is to disassemble to the point where I can see the actual LED and paint the lens of the LED itself with nail varnish - often the first layer will only atttenuate the brightness a bit, so several layers might be necessary.
That works for discrete LEDs in the conventional domed epoxy package - for smaller surface-mount LED packages it is still possible with a very fine brush and a steady hand, but it may be easier to stick something over it - a small piece of tape or something.
But you probably need to get the transparent fascia off so you can target the LED without covering the IR sensor for the remote.
Do you have a box of useless remotes from long-gone devices?
Most of them will have a front lens that’s transparent to IR but mostly opaque to visible light. Extract the lens and mount it in front of the LED. It’ll still pass the signals from the remote but dim the LED.
You can also buy film that does this, but the stuff I’ve found is expensive.
Oh, that’s a good idea! also I think some black refuse bags are IR-transparent.
You can test materials for IR transmissivity using the camera on a phone - most cameras can see the IR emissions of remote controls, so you’re looking for a tape or film that looks opaque to the eye, but your phone can still see the remote emitter flashing through it.
Some early Sony digital cameras had an infrared mode. It was interesting to look at the front of the VCR (which had a solid black front panel) or the remote (that had a solid black dome at tge too) and they were transparent to the camera. So maybe you could scrounge an old panel piece somewhere that is opaque to visible light but transparent to infrared and tape that over it.
Good point about the garbage bags. Probably a lot of “black” plastics are transparent to IR. Doesn’t have to be perfect–just needs to be transparent enough to IR to not block the signal, and dark enough in the visible to make a dent in the white light.
Yes, trial and error should help. Block half with electrical tape, see if it still works. Then the other half… if either half works, te sensor is in the middle. Otheriwise, keep trying blocking the remaining part, half at a time.
You may have to block all but a small strip of the square. Then top and bottom of the opening. etc…
It may be a different setting. I have a Hisense TV and it had an LED on the front to indicate that I had a notification. I had to update the TV and clear the notification to get it to go away and I have a feeling it will come back from time to time if my TV decides to do some thinking for me again.
Depending on how tightly you trimmed the electrical tape, you may find the remote sensor is near, not inside, the brightly lit area. Remember those sensors can be small, ~1/8" diameter. Details matter.
