Samsung TV keeps dimming or flickering? Turn off energy saving

Why a Samsung TV dims or flickers by itself

Samsung TVs have several energy-saving and auto-brightness features that change the screen brightness while you watch. Samsung’s own fix for a picture that is flickering or dimming sporadically is to turn some of them off: the room-light sensor, the energy-saving brightness setting, Motion Lighting and Contrast Enhancer. The names and the menu they live in depend on your TV’s software.

• If the brightness changes up and down while you watch, work through the checks in order.
• If the picture is always too dark, the same settings apply, plus Reset Picture.
• If the options are greyed out, an automatic picture mode is controlling brightness. See If the settings are greyed out.

Samsung doesn’t say which feature causes which pattern. Turn one off at a time and watch for a while before you change the next, so you know which one it was.

Find the energy-saving settings on your TV

Find the row that matches how your TV’s menu looks:

Your TV’s menu	Where the settings are	What they’re called
Settings on the Home screen leads straight to General, and General has Eco Solution (2017–2020 TVs: M, N, R and T series)	Home → Settings → General → Eco Solution	Ambient Light Detection, Energy Saving Mode, Motion Lighting
Settings leads straight to General, and General has Power and Energy Saving (2021 A-series TVs)	Home → Settings → General → Power and Energy Saving	Brightness Optimisation, Brightness Reduction, Motion Lighting
Home shows a Menu item (2022 B-series TVs)	Home → Menu → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Power and Energy Saving	Brightness Optimisation, Brightness Reduction, Motion Lighting
Left directional button opens the menu (2023–2026 TVs)	Home → left directional button → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Power and Energy Saving	Brightness Optimisation, Energy Saving Solution, Motion Lighting

US manuals spell it Brightness Optimization, and the US 2020 manual calls the energy option Power Saving Mode.

Contrast Enhancer is a picture setting, not an energy one. It’s under Picture → Expert Settings → Contrast Enhancer in every layout. Open Picture from the same Settings menu as above: straight from Settings on 2017–2021 TVs, or from Settings → All Settings on newer ones.

Turn the features off one at a time

Do these in order and check the picture after each one:

1. Turn off the room-light sensor: Ambient Light Detection (2017–2020) or Brightness Optimisation (2021–2026). Samsung describes it as adjusting the picture brightness to the light level in the room, so the screen can darken when the room does.
2. Turn off the energy-saving brightness: Energy Saving Mode, Brightness Reduction or Energy Saving Solution, depending on your row. Samsung describes it as reducing power use by adjusting brightness.
3. Turn off Motion Lighting. It adjusts brightness in response to movement on the screen. On 2021 and newer TVs it isn’t available in Game Mode, so you won’t see it change while Game Mode is on.
4. Turn off Contrast Enhancer (in Picture → Expert Settings). It automatically adjusts contrast to avoid big differences between bright and dark areas. Samsung adds it to this fix from the 2020 manuals onward; the 2017–2019 manuals list only the first three.

If you’d rather keep the room-light sensor, there’s a middle option. While the sensor is on, Minimum Brightness (Minimum Backlight on 2017–2019 TVs), in the same menu, sets how dark it’s allowed to go. Samsung notes it only acts when it is lower than the main Brightness (or Backlight) setting in Expert Settings.

2019 R-series and 2021 A-series: the light sensor and Local Dimming

Two manuals say turning the sensor option off isn’t the whole story on some models:

• 2021 A-series manual: Ambient Brightness Control is on by default. To turn it off, set Brightness Optimisation to Off and Local Dimming to High.
• 2019 R-series manual: in the Standard picture mode, the light sensor turns off only when Ambient Light Detection is off and Local Dimming (Picture → Expert Settings) is set to High or Low.

The 2021–2026 manuals also say that Local Dimming’s Standard setting detects the room’s brightness to adjust the picture, on models that have Local Dimming.

If the settings are greyed out: Adaptive Picture or AI Mode

On many 2020–2026 manuals, the energy options above are marked “not available when Adaptive Picture is turned on”. Adaptive Picture adjusts brightness to the room lighting and the content by itself. Its EyeComfort option (2022 and newer manuals) lowers brightness and warms the colours after sunset, which can look like the TV dimming in the evening. To change the energy settings, or to stop the automatic changes, turn it off here:

Your TV’s menu	Where it is
Settings leads straight to General (2019–2021 TVs)	Home → Settings → General → Intelligent Mode Settings. The 2019 manual calls the brightness option Adaptive Brightness; 2020–2021 call it Adaptive Picture
Home shows a Menu item (2022 B-series TVs)	Home → Menu → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Intelligent Mode Settings → Adaptive Picture
Left directional button opens the menu, and General & Privacy has Intelligent Mode Settings	Home → left directional button → Settings → All Settings → General & Privacy → Intelligent Mode Settings → Adaptive Picture
Left directional button opens the menu, and All Settings has Advanced Features	Home → left directional button → Settings → All Settings → Advanced Features → AI Mode Settings. The option is Adaptive Picture, or AI Picture Mode Settings in the 2026 manual. EyeComfort Mode is a separate setting under Picture → EyeComfort Mode Settings

The third layout is in Samsung’s US manual for 2023 TVs and the UK manual for some small and budget models; the fourth is in the UK manuals for C-, D-, F- and H-series TVs. These features exist only on some models: the 2019–2021 manuals limit them to QLED models and some lifestyle TVs, and the 2017–2018 manuals don’t have them at all.

If it still flickers: run the Picture Test

Samsung’s built-in Picture Test shows a test picture you can check for faults, to tell whether the TV itself is the problem. From the 2020 manuals onward it is the next step in the flickering fix; the 2017–2019 manuals give it as the first check before any picture troubleshooting:

• 2017–2019 TVs: Home → Settings → Support → Self Diagnosis → Start Picture Test
• 2020–2021 TVs: Home → Settings → Support → Device Care → Self Diagnosis → Picture Test
• Newer TVs: the same Support → Device Care → Self Diagnosis → Picture Test route, from Settings in your TV’s menu (after Menu on 2022 TVs, after the left directional button on 2023–2026 TVs). On 2022–2026 TVs the Self Diagnosis list shows Video Test as well as Picture Test; choose Picture Test, the one Samsung’s troubleshooting pages name.

If the test picture looks normal, Samsung says the problem may be the signal from the connected device, such as a set-top box or console, so check that device and its connection. If the test picture doesn’t appear or shows noise or distortion, the 2017–2021 manuals say the TV may have a problem and to contact Samsung.

Dimming that isn’t an energy setting

• OLED models dim slightly when it’s hot. Samsung says some OLED models (one manual names the S8*C, S8*D, S9*C and S9*D series) lower the brightness automatically when the room temperature is high, to prevent afterimages. No setting to turn this off is documented.
• A still image goes dark. That’s the screen saver, which protects the screen from burn-in. On models that have it, it starts after a still image has been on screen for 2 hours. Samsung says some OLED models start it after 2 minutes, and there it can’t be turned off.
• LED Clear Motion or Clear motion is on. Samsung says these make the screen darker and, in newer manuals, flicker. They’re in Picture Clarity Settings; see Samsung’s Picture Clarity setting.
• Ambient Mode follows the room. Ambient Mode has its own Auto Brightness option in its screen options. When it’s off, the Ambient Mode screen no longer adjusts to the room light.
• The screen goes black completely. That’s a power or timer feature rather than dimming; see why a Samsung TV turns itself off.

If the picture is always too dark

For a picture that is steadily dim rather than changing, Samsung’s troubleshooting suggests steps 1–3; step 4 comes from the energy menu itself:

1. Turn off the room-light sensor and the energy-saving brightness option, as above.
2. Reset the picture settings: Picture → Expert Settings → Reset Picture. This returns the current picture settings to their defaults; it’s much smaller than a factory reset.
3. Adjust Picture Mode, then Brightness and Contrast in Expert Settings (Backlight on 2017–2019 TVs).
4. Check Brightness Limit, if your energy menu has it (it’s in the 2020 T-series manual and the UK manual for some small and budget models, such as the UE32H5000F). Samsung says that when it’s On, the screen won’t reach its maximum brightness.

Common questions

Will turning these off use more electricity?

Yes, that’s their purpose: Samsung describes each one as reducing power consumption by lowering or adjusting brightness. Turning them off keeps the brightness steady instead.

Why can’t I find Motion Lighting or the energy options?

They may be greyed out because Adaptive Picture (or AI Picture Mode Settings) is on, or Motion Lighting may be unavailable because Game Mode is on. Some options also depend on the model and region.