TV Has No Sound But Not Muted: How to Fix It?

Maria D. Stephens
Knowing how to fix a “TV with no sound but pictures” is challenging if you do not know where to start when troubleshooting the problem. Getting no sound from your TV is a common issue among digital and smart TV owners. However, that does not necessarily mean your TV's better days are behind because you can troubleshoot the problem without advanced technical experience. Here is how you can fix the audio problem on your TV.

It is a weekend, and you have time off to binge-watch your favorite TV series. However, when you start playing the TV series, you notice that the picture quality is fine, but there is no sound. Getting another time off is unforeseeable, and you would like to troubleshoot the problem. Luckily, you are in the right place because the content below covers fixing a TV with pictures but without sound.


Table Of Contents

Causes of TV Showing Pictures without Sound

You must first understand the possible causes of your TV showing pictures without sound before you attempt to troubleshoot the problem. Below is a summary of the possible causes of the audio issue on your TV unit.

  1. Incorrect audio settings: Having incorrect audio settings on your TV is one of the common causes of no audio playback on your device. The issues could be as simple as having the mute feature active or the volume level turned down.
  2. Faulty cables or connections: Loose or damaged audio cables could also cause the audio playback on your TV to fail. Audio connection cords like the HDMI or RCA cables could be where the problem lies.
  3. External device issues: The audio playback problem could also lie with external devices like the cable/satellite boxes, DVD players, or gaming console connection to your TV.
  4. Audio output selection: It is common now to see some TVs with multiple audio output options like internal speakers, external speakers, or soundbars. Selecting the incorrect audio output option could lead to an audio issue on your TV.
  5. Audio format compatibility: Trying to play a media file with incorrect format compatibility with your TV could lead to no audio sound from your device.
  6. Software/firmware issues: Outdated or faulty TV software or firmware could cause problems with the hardware/software running your TV, thus leading to no audio output on your device.
  7. Sound settings on external devices: External audio devices like a soundbar or AV receiver come with their set of audio configurations, and incorrect audio settings could cause incompatibility issues, leading to no audio output.
  8. TV speaker issues: The in-built speakers on your TV could be faulty or disabled, thus leading to no sound on your device.
  9. Audio processing settings: Some advanced TVs have audio processing features like surround sound or “special” sound modes. Incorrectly enabling the advanced features could cause issues with your audio playback.
  10. System glitches: Temporary system glitches are standard on almost every electronic device, and TVs occasionally experience their fair share of glitches affecting the audio playback.

Troubleshooting Tips for TV with No Sound but Not On Mute

The troubleshooting tips below address the issue of having no audio playback on your TV but not on mute.

Troubleshooting Tip 1: Increase the Volume 

Try increasing the volume if you are sure the mute function is inactive. You can check if the mute function is not on because the “mute” icon usually appears on the screen when active. Increasing the volume can help fix the audio issue because a lower volume often means less sound output.

Troubleshooting Tips 2: Change the Channel 

It sounds ridiculous, but sometimes the audio issue could originate from the channel you are watching a TV channel. Changing the TV channel could help rule out hardware/software problems with your TV and save you the trouble of messing with a working sound configuration.

Troubleshooting Tip 3: Reboot the TV 

The third troubleshooting tip is rebooting your TV if changing the channel fails. Try a cold boot by restarting the TV from the power source to reset the hardware and software. Rebooting the TV helps resolve any software/hardware glitches with your device.

Troubleshooting Tips 4: Check the Audio Cables 

Check if the audio connection cables are loose to resolve issues from a weak connection link. You can also remove the cord and test it on a different device to rule out any damage to the audio connection cord. However, the solution for a faulty audio cord is replacing it with a new one.

Troubleshooting Tip 5: Check the Headphone Output 

Check the headphone output port because plugging a 3.5mm audio jack in that port will cause the primary audio output to switch, resulting in no sound from the built-in TV speakers.

Troubleshooting Tip 6: Check the Audio Output Selection 

Ensure you pick the correct audio output selection if you have a TV with multiple audio output options like internal speakers, external speakers, or soundbars.

Troubleshooting Tip 7: Check the Media Format Compatibility 

Check the audio format compatibility when playing media from a USB drive or live streaming. You can download and convert media with an incompatible audio format to fix the audio codec issues.

Troubleshooting Tip 8: Check Sound Settings on External Devices 

Check the sound settings on external devices when using external devices like home theaters, soundbars, or AV receivers.  Check for the correct sound configurations with the manual from your respective external audio device.

Troubleshooting Tips 9: Update the Firmware on the TV

Updating the firmware on your TV helps resolve issues with conflicting or incompatible hardware/software affecting your V audio output.

Troubleshooting Tip 10: Factory Reset the TV 

The last solution is factory resetting the TV to resolve issues with faulty configuration affecting the audio output on your device.


Conclusion

The above troubleshooting tips can help you get the audio playback on your TV. However, you can also seek professional help if all the above solutions fail. It is best to seek professional help if there is damage to the built-in speakers on your TV because it requires advanced skills to fix the problem. The worst outcome is that you may need to replace your TV.

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