Have you seen the little light at the bottom on your TV? Notice that it’s only on when the TV display is turned off? Think it’s a little weird? You’re not the only one!
This is the standby light. It powers itself on whenever you power your TV off. Why does a TV (or any device for that matter) need a special light just to tell you it’s off?
The standby light is there to indicate the TV is off but is still plugged in and can be used at any time.
However, we understand this light might be a bit bothersome to users. Especially if you happen to have your TV in a bedroom or any other room where there are times you want as little light as possible.
The odd behavior of this light is probably the #1 query for most customers once they have a new TCL television. Lucky for you and me there’s a way to turn it off if you don’t like it.
Before you resort to putting a piece of electrical tape over your beautiful new television, let me tell you a simple menu option you can use to turn this light off.
How To Turn Off The Standby Light
Use your TCL remote to turn disable this light. Follow the steps below:
- Press the HOME button on your TCL remote.
- On the left side of the screen, select the SETTINGS option and press OK.
- Select the SYSTEM option and press OK.
- Go to POWER and press OK.
- Select STANDBY LED and press OK.
- Here you have the option of turning this light on or off. The light is on by default. To disable it, simply select OFF and press OK on the TCL remote.
Now the light will stay off when your TV is powered off.
My Settings Menu Does Not Have An Option To Turn Off The Light!
Depending on when your TV was manufactured, it may not have a setting in the normal menu to turn off the light. If you have followed the steps above but cannot find a way to turn off the light, then you can disable the light a different way. You will do this by pressing a code using the buttons on your TCL remote.
Press these buttons in this Sequence:
- Press the HOME button five times.
- Press FAST FORWARD
- Press REWIND
- Press PLAY
- Press Fast Forward
After pressing the home button (5x), FF, Play, Rewind, Play, FF, the TV display will bring up a secret menu. Select the LED brightness option. You can reduce the brightness level to 0%. This will disable the light.
There are some TCL televisions that do not have a settings option for the standby light. In these cases, there is no way to turn off this light, so you might need to actually resort to using some black electrical tape. On most TVs manufactured since 2016, there is an option to disable this light by following the steps listed above.
On most TCL TVs, the standby light blinks anytime you press a button on your remote. This is to give you visual confirmation that your TV is receiving a signal from your remote. There is no way to prevent the light from blinking when you use your remote button.
Standby Light Behaviors and Meanings
| TV Condition |
LED Light |
Meaning Of The Light |
| Screen is on and displaying a picture |
Off |
The picture is showing that the display is on and working |
| Display is on but is showing the screensaver |
Off |
The screensaver shows the TV is on |
| Powered off |
Off |
If the display is off and the LED light is off, the TV is likely not connected to power. Check the power cord. |
| TV is off but in standby mode |
Off |
The TV is powered off but is connected to a power outlet. It can be used at anytime decided by the user. |
| TV is powering on from the standby mode |
LED light blinks slowly |
The TV is powering on. Give it a moment. |
| TV is powered on but updating via the USB port |
LED light blinks slowly while updating the TV’s software |
The TV is updating. Give it a few minutes to complete the update process. |
| On and you just press a button on the remote |
LED light powers on then immediately off |
The TV is reciving signals from the remote. The LED light will blink each time you press a button on the remote. |
| TV is powering off |
The LED blinks slowly until the TV is fully powered down |
The TV is thinking. Give it a few moments to power down. |