In Sony Bravia TVs, a 6‑blink “backlight error” can come from either the power / G‑board or the LED backlight strips, but the symptoms and failure modes differ enough that you can usually tell them apart.
Typical power‑board (G‑board) failures
These are upstream problems in the power‑supply or backlight‑driver section itself:
-
No backlight at all, even briefly – the TV powers on to standby but never shows any picture or LED‑edge glow, and the 6‑blink code repeats.
-
Voltage missing or unstable at the LED‑test points – when you measure the LED‑rail test points on the G‑board, you see no voltage, very low voltage, or the voltage drops rapidly (indicating an overloaded or shorted driver).
-
Bad components on the driver circuit – visible burned or blackened ICs, swollen capacitors, or hot‑spot MOSFETs around the backlight‑driver section of the G‑board, often near ICs such as the BD9397EFV‑type driver used on many Sony 32–43 inch sets.
-
TV sometimes works with exactly one configuration – for example, backlight comes on only when the TV is in a particular orientation or just after a power‑cycle, suggesting a cracked solder joint or failing IC on the board.
If the LED strips still light when driven by an external backlight tester but the TV still trips 6 blinks via the internal supply, the power / G‑board is usually the culprit.
Typical LED backlight‑strip failures
These are downstream problems in the physical strips behind the panel:
-
Brief backlight flash or partial strips before shutdown – the screen lights up faintly or shows one or two bright edges, then the TV turns off and the red light blinks 6 times.
-
Dark bands, flicker, or missing sections – when the TV is on, you see horizontal or vertical dark areas, flickering, or obvious dead zones across the screen, which correspond to shorted or failed LEDs in the strip.
-
Shorted or open‑circuit strips – when tested with a backlight tester or multimeter, one or more strips either draw excessive current, show no continuity, or light only part of the strip.
-
6‑blink code disappears when strips are unplugged – if you disconnect all LED‑strip connectors from the power‑board and the 6‑blink error stops or the TV stops tripping, the strips are causing the fault; the G‑board is simply reacting to a short or leakage.
How to quickly distinguish them in practice
-
Strip‑issue clues: brief backlight glow, visible dark bands/flicker, strips failing on an external tester, or 6 blinks stopping when strips are disconnected.
-
Board‑issue clues: no backlight at all, abnormal or missing LED‑rail voltage on the G‑board, visibly damaged driver‑circuit parts, or 6 blinks remaining even with the strips disconnected.
In many Sony Bravia repairs, both the power‑board and LED strips can fail together, especially if bad LEDs overload the driver ICs, so a technician will often replace both if either looks suspicious.