Phillips Ambi-Light

[krzywica]

Hey guys I was watching the tube a minuet ago and had a question about ambient light. I have heard before that you are supposed to have a certain ammount of light behind your set but I am not sure how much?

I have a 65" crt and was considering putting something like this behind it.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0377393963.1130112844@@@@&BV_EngineID=cceeaddgddijkfmcgelceffdfgidgln.0&MID=9876


But what color/wattage bulb?

Thanks in advance.

Aaron

 

[krzywica]

C'mon guys somebody has to have some specs or experience or somethin?

 

[driver]

I don't know of any specs but these seem to look alot better : http://illuminaire.com/ . I have a choice of getting either the 42 philips with ambi - light or a 42 in. samsung plasma . I am going with the samsung .I don't like the look of those florescent lights on the philips . The lights on this site are l.e.d. . Maybe this helps ???

 

[MDS]

The backlight is supposed to be as close to 'daylight' as possible. That means it will be labelled D65 or 6500K (6500K is the color 'temperature' of daylight).

 

[j_garcia]

Your back lighting can be whatever you like. I use a green rope light that cost like $10 for 2 from Home Depot for 5 years. I used to use a $5 flexible desk lamp with a 15w bulb, angled to produce just enough back lighting, but I find the green to be less invasive and I can control the intensity by how much of the rope is exposed to reflect off the wall.

 

[Francious70]

Your back lighting can be whatever you like. I use a green rope light that cost like $10 for 2 from Home Depot for 5 years. I used to use a $5 flexible desk lamp with a 15w bulb, angled to produce just enough back lighting, but I find the green to be less invasive and I can control the intensity by how much of the rope is exposed to reflect off the wall.

Why is backlighting such a good thing??

 

[BMXTRIX]

My understanding (free to call me wrong on this):

Backlighting should be ONLY at 6500K a neutral white color that washes the wall and eases the pressure on your eye to switch from the rooms non-6500K color to the 6500K color of your TV.

It lowers surrounding contrast as the light will fade into the wall the further from the TV it is so this is less harsh on your eyes as well. This alleviated eyestraing and can help prevent headaches from watching in a to high of contrast situation between the TV and the background wall.

As well, the 6500K temperature with a properly calibrated TV will actually help to make the TV look correct. In a room that may be way off of 6500K for lighting with lots of incandescent lighting producing a much warmer environment, it can make a properly calibrated TV look 'off'. So, adding the 6500K lamp lights up the area around the TV with proper lighting and helps you perceive the image as being properly calibrated (which it is).

What about the colors? Yeah, that's what is called a gimmick.

Looks cool though.

 

[Francious70]

So watching TV with all the lights off is actually bad for my eyes??

 

[mtrycrafts]

Hey guys I was watching the tube a minuet ago and had a question about ambient light. I have heard before that you are supposed to have a certain ammount of light behind your set but I am not sure how much?

I have a 65" crt and was considering putting something like this behind it.

http://www.homedepot.com/prel80/HDUS/EN_US/diy_main/pg_diy.jsp?CNTTYPE=PROD_META&CNTKEY=misc/searchResults.jsp&BV_SessionID=@@@@0377393963.1130112844@@@@&BV_EngineID=cceeaddgddijkfmcgelceffdfgidgln.0&MID=9876


But what color/wattage bulb?

Thanks in advance.

Aaron

As was posted, the light needs to be 6500K and about 5-10% of the intensity of the monitor you are watching.
This issue is explained in the first test DVD, Video Essentials. Not sure if they kept it in the new Digital VE

 

[mtrycrafts]

I don't know of any specs but these seem to look alot better : http://illuminaire.com/ . I have a choice of getting either the 42 philips with ambi - light or a 42 in. samsung plasma . I am going with the samsung .I don't like the look of those florescent lights on the philips . The lights on this site are l.e.d. . Maybe this helps ???

Yes, from an artistic point of view, it looks better.
BUT, it is the wrong color! And may be too intense.

 

[MDS]

So watching TV with all the lights off is actually bad for my eyes??

Yes, and that is another reason why backlighting can be beneficial. When the room is pitch black and the movie suddenly changes to a brighter scene your eyes have to adjust rapidly. Your pupils end up rapidly switching from fully dilated to as small as a slit. That can cause fatigue and headaches although it affects people differently. If you are the type that sits in the first row of a movie theater, then it might not bother you.

D65 is the supposed ideal, but I think any soft ambient light is better than none. I have a spotlight that illuminates the area over my fireplace. It is currently just a normal 60 watt bulb (no idea of the color temp). The light is to the right of the viewing area. I turn that light on at night because without it the room is pitch black and I am bothered by dark->light->dark scenes. Just that little bit of ambient light helps my eyes alot.

The Philips ambient light though I consider a gimmick. I think it would bother me having different color lights pulsating behind the tv image.

 

[mtrycrafts]

Your back lighting can be whatever you like.

Of course it can be But only the 6500K is the ideal one.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So watching TV with all the lights off is actually bad for my eyes??

Not really but it will not render colors properly, is a better explanation for the use of back lighting
This is explained in the old Video Essential DVD, if memory serves me correctly

 

[mtrycrafts]

As well, the 6500K temperature with a properly calibrated TV will actually help to make the TV look correct. In a room that may be way off of 6500K for lighting with lots of incandescent lighting producing a much warmer environment, it can make a properly calibrated TV look 'off'. So, adding the 6500K lamp lights up the area around the TV with proper lighting and helps you perceive the image as being properly calibrated (which it is).

I believe this to be the crux of the issue for back lighting

 

[j_garcia]

My room is almost completely light controlled, so I can use a very dim light and calibrate my set at the correct level which is fairly dark and will get washed out during the day with any light coming in. I've found the green ambient light to be the least distracting, though I'm considering trying out blue.

I use VE to calibrate my display and find it very helpful. It has an ambient light test pattern. Once you've calibrated the display, the pattern displayed is how bright the backlight should be relative to the display. My green backlight is lower in intensity, but it is below the display and completely indirect.

I think "ambilight" is a cool idea, but it is definitely a gimmick.

 

[Francious70]

So is there a 65k light made, and if so, where can I pick one up at?? And I'd want it at a low level compared to the TV right??

 

[driver]

Yes, from an artistic point of view, it looks better.
BUT, it is the wrong color! And may be too intense.

The not only have blue but white in 6500 k as well .

 

[BMXTRIX]

http://mivasecure.abac.com/varad1/merchant.mvc?Screen=PLST&Store_Code=I

The first item they list is 6500K in white.

My opinion? I'm just not that serious - I have more fun with it and want it to be fun. So, I'll take blue, or red, or white - as long as it looks good. The gimmick works for me.

 

[mtrycrafts]

So is there a 65k light made, and if so, where can I pick one up at?? And I'd want it at a low level compared to the TV right??

Not sure where you can get it but google should be a great help. Try TV back lighting.
D65 or 6500K and yes, much lower in intensity than the TV, 5-10% of it.

 

[westcott]

i disagree!

I am going to go out on a limb and declare my disagreement.

Any extraneous light will reduce perceived contrast and will only lead to visual distraction.

This has to be the biggest marketing joke I have ever seen.