Screen backlighting...

[Sonnie]

I failed to ask when I was visiting this store, and my guess is this blue backlighting around the edge of the screen is just for looks in the McIntosh room, or is there some benefit to backlighting a screen?

 

[Sonnie]

Where are all our experts on this?

 

[Todd Anderson]

Using blue light is just for looks... don't put blue backlighting around your screen at home. It will negatively skew how your brain interprets colors on the screen. A bias light (D65) is what you want!

 

[Sonnie]

I can't say I've ever noticed any eye strain with how it is now. We'll see what happens with the change to the 98" TV. It would be easy to attach lights to the back of it if needed.

 

[Todd Anderson]

Super easy… what you want is the LX1 Bias light kit from media light. Does a lot more than ease eye fatigue.

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This will give you a good background as to why… also has purchasing links, and, at the bottom of the page, there’s a link to a live stream where I interview the creator and he goes deep into the weeds about the science behind bias lights

 

[mechman]

I have used bias lighting for quite some time. D65 lighting is only significant if your wall is painted a neutral color, otherwise it’s pointless.

I have a HD Fury Diva that I use to spoof DV on my projector and it has ambient light kits for it. The only downside was that they’re not for my screen size - the largest they sell is 85”. I was told they were coming out with larger sizes but that hasn’t come to fruition. This back lighting matches what is being displayed on the screen.

EDIT: I should add that I would think this effect would probably annoy me to no ends on a movie. But it may be interesting for sports or regular TV.

 

[Sonnie]

I'm using the bias lighting from Medialight on a neutral gray N5 painted canvas that I framed to cover my screen.

 

[Mike Schramm]

I have used bias lighting for quite some time. D65 lighting is only significant if your wall is painted a neutral color, otherwise it’s pointless.

I have a HD Fury Diva that I use to spoof DV on my projector and it has ambient light kits for it. The only downside was that they’re not for my screen size - the largest they sell is 85”. I was told they were coming out with larger sizes but that hasn’t come to fruition. This back lighting matches what is being displayed on the screen.

EDIT: I should add that I would think this effect would probably annoy me to no ends on a movie. But it may be interesting for sports or regular TV.

I picked up the the LX1 a few years ago, and rarely use it. Interesting that you mention it's only beneficial for neutral colored walls. My wall is a light blue and I never really felt like it did much. That must be the reason why.

 

[Sonnie]

Now that I have this TV... I'm finding I'm not turning the lights off as much as I did with the PJ.

 

[mechman]

I picked up the the LX1 a few years ago, and rarely use it. Interesting that you mention it's only beneficial for neutral colored walls. My wall is a light blue and I never really felt like it did much. That must be the reason why.

The whole reason behind having a D65 light is because it's neutral (for lack of a better term at the moment). Neutral being from white to black and all the grays in between. If you're going to be using it on a light blue or any other colored wall, it being D65 is pointless as it would not carry over onto the wall.

The price point on the LX1 though is very reasonable.

I've been looking into getting the HD-Fury ambient lights for Diva and testing them out. But time is something that's in short supply of late.

 

[Mike Schramm]

Thanks Steve, that's great info. Yeah, the fact that I'm not using my LX1 doesn't really bother me because of the low cost in the first place. It's also nice to have should I ever decide to repaint my wall a more neutral grey.