Brother mentioned this today, said its supposed to improve contrast and reduce eye strain watching telly in a darkened room. Sounds like more bling chav tat to me but a quick Google suggests it’s a thing. He also sent me a link for 4 programmable LED strips to stick to the back of the telly (USB powered) and a remote for a tenner. Anyone tried it and whaddya reckon?

Philips do, definitely prefer an Ambilight tele to a normal one.

I’ve got an LED strip behind the TV bench, works a treat and reduces headaches and eye strain watching tv in the dark.

My telly has has mesh type holes in the back (to dissapate heat?) only very small but enough to let a bit of light bleed out from the panel.

It’s only very subtle but I quite like it, bit of ambient lighting when the rooms dark aside from a couple of subtle table lamps.
I think it’s a design fault rather than a feature, but it’s OK.

Philips do, definitely prefer an Ambilight tele to a normal one.

never heard or thought of this kind of thing before, but I’ve just googled it and I really like the sound of it! However, would prefer to have it with a good telly 😂

Internet to the rescue! Found this DIY project that uses a Raspberry Pi to intercept the HDMI signal and work out what colours the RGB LEDs that you’ve stuck to the back of the telly should be. I feel a project coming on 🤔
https://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-Ambilight-With-Raspberry-Pi-and-NO-Arduino-Wor/

Yes, I did it. TV is mounted on a white wall, eye level about 1/3 down the screen when on the sofa.

I’ve got 24v LED strip along on the back along the top and down the sides. (centre speaker is mounted below so didn’t put any there). You want it dimmable so you can get the light level right, and supposedly daylight colour temperature for best colour rendition (mine isn’t but it’s not super-warm).

It’s definitely better to watch when its on, even if you have other room lights on, and ensures you don’t have any lights reflecting in the screen. Its a plasma so black level is very good anyway but does seem to improve colour/contrast and detail (you have less ambient light from other sources bouncing off the screen)

I’ve seen ambi light in demos but wasn’t convinced.

Bias lighting. Yeah, seems to work. Mate did it with LED strips. I just have a couple of table lamps either side of the TV shining on the wall behind it.

Saw the tv with the lights built in that matched exactly the colour on the screen predominant on that edge. Forget who made it. Never saw it in shops though. Worked remarkably well.

I have philips hue light strips behind my TV (allows easy control of colour/brightness). Works well, if a little pricey

Our Philips one has it and it is a great TV too, why wouldn’t it be?

I have an old desk lamp with CFL bulb stood behind the TV. No fancy reason – it just provides a bit of soft room lighting with zero screen reflections.

Interesting, I’ve wondered for a while about getting an Ambilight but figured the colour changing might be distracting, might give it a go with just a standard white Hue strip light to see if it makes any difference (I always watch TV with a room ceiling light on as well though)

Ambilight is great for this. I’ve got it set to static warm white and it does improve the apparent contrast levels quite a bit in a dim room.

zilog6128

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Philips do, definitely prefer an Ambilight tele to a normal one.

never heard or thought of this kind of thing before, but I’ve just googled it and I really like the sound of it! However, would prefer to have it with a good telly 😂

So you haven’t heard of ambilight but know Phillips don’t make any good sets…🤔

We got some of the usb powered led strips and put them around the back edge of the TV (mounted in an recess) it was all the wife’s idea and seems to look ok. No baby robins have died yet.

I’ve got a 13 year old ambilight. Sadly the remote no longer works so the lights are permanently off. Was quite pleasant having them on though, and the picture quality is still excellent in my opinion.

Used a cheap kit from B&M on my TV. Looks good IMHO.

Seems popular so have ordered one of the £10 kits, worth a try for that money. Cheers all

We have always had a table lamp hidden behind the TV, it’s always been known that this improves viewing and reduces eye strain. The walls and ceiling are lit and the TV forms a black block in front of the lamp.

I just have a couple of table lamps either side of the TV shining on the wall behind it.

Same here. It’s a really nice way to light the room when the TV is on. Also have two floor lamps shining upwards in the corners behind the sofa.

If you want totally immersive colour behind your TV, spend a fortune…

https://www2.meethue.com/en-gb/p/hue-play-hdmi-sync-box/8718699704803

https://www2.meethue.com/en-gb/p/hue-white-and-colour-ambience-play-light-bar-double-pack/7820231P7

It looks cool from the you tube videos I’ve seen – bit like a non-philips TV ambilight system.

Kind of.

Our old snowboards are mounted on the wall either side of our telly / unit and they have Philips Hue LED lighting on the back of them.

No – it’s a complete distraction.

What you need is a dark room and a telly big enough to fill your vision. That will give you the best contrast. This comes from the time when display devices were small and only occupying a small part of your sight line.

Film / TV series’ are designed for darkened environments with little or no spill.

However dress your room up how you want!

Yep its great – runs off usb on back of telly and automatically comes on/off with it , multicolour remote so you can set it how you want , about £12 ages ago , been on there about 3 years – lights up the dark scorner of the TV.