Home theater troubleshooting hub
This hub is a starting point for solving the most common home-theater issues—no signal, no sound, strange HDR behavior, and streaming glitches. Instead of guessing, you can work through a simple decision tree and jump into a more detailed guide when you recognize your problem.
Step 1: Identify the main symptom
- No picture or “No signal” – Likely an HDMI connection, port, or resolution problem.
- No sound or sound cutting out – Often an audio-format or ARC/eARC issue.
- Picture looks wrong (too dark, washed out, or stuttery) – Usually picture-mode or HDR settings.
- Streaming apps crash or buffer constantly – Commonly a network or app-platform issue.
- TV or receiver will not turn on – Power-supply, cabling, or protection-mode behavior.
Step 2: Do a quick global reset
- Power the TV, receivers, and sources completely off and unplug them for 30–60 seconds.
- Reseat all HDMI cables and remove any unused devices for now.
- Turn the TV back on first, then receivers or soundbars, then individual sources.
Step 3: Jump into a focused guide
From here, choose the guide that best matches your issue—for example, the HDMI no-signal guide, the eARC/ARC audio guide, or the HDR picture-quality guide. Each one walks you through targeted steps so you do not waste time on settings that are unlikely to matter.
Expert tip: change only one thing at a time
Tip: When you are frustrated, it is tempting to flip a dozen settings at once. That usually makes things worse. Change one thing, test it, and then either keep it or undo it before moving on. This approach makes it much easier to understand what actually fixed (or broke) something.
Scenario example
Scenario example: You start with this hub because your console shows a black screen. After confirming that “No signal” is really the symptom, you jump into the HDMI no-signal guide, learn that only one TV port supports 4K120, and moving the cable there instantly restores your picture.
This hub works best alongside the device-specific guides on GadgetGuiders. When in doubt, use it as a safe checklist before you dig into more advanced troubleshooting.