OT: Room Lighting for Plasma TV

[icor1031]

I have a new 50" Plasma. As many of you know, Plasmas use a glossy screen and thus, light has a major effect on them.

But it causes major eye strain to try to watch a TV in the dark, especially one without the ability to change backlight.

There are a couple of a things that come to my mind to try and work around this, being:

Put a dark cloth over the sofa and recliner, and paint the wall in Front of the TV a very dark color. ( Not behind it - it can't reflect that wall. ;) )

Also, use UV LEDs on the wall behind the TV, because the eye is least sensitive to Purple/UV.... Or, use regular, indirect lighting "behind" the sofa so there's no light on my face to be reflected.

But, what would you do? Do you have any suggestions? Or even ways to improve what I already thought of?

Thanks!

[Whitneyville1]

Toarcher'e lighting where the lights reflect off the ceiling and are above the "sightline" of the TV, or good old fashioned floorlamps like great-grandma had (same principle) with opaque shades. Really fancy is around the ceiling dimmable flourescent indirect valence lighting. I'm gathering your TV doesn't tilt forward 0-5% to reduce most of these issues. The "color temperature" of the light in your room should approach 5000*-5500* Kelvin or Noon daylight as that's the minimum most TV's are set-up for today. Many, (as with computer monitors) may be as "cold" as 9000*K, which I just can't live with, personally. That makes the whites as blue as old black and white (blue and dark olive green) TV's.

[arlis_1957@yahoo.com]

I use a blue light bulb behind the tv.

[icor1031]

Whitney,

Thanks for the reply.

The torchiere lamps are about $40/ea, but I am very interested in doing something like this. I could use PVC for the center, but I haven't been able to figure out what to use for the top.
Have any ideas? It must be solid, I don't want to see the bulb.

Do you mind explaining why 5,000º - 5.500º is preferred?

Valence lighting looks very nice, but expensive.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/-1F81-6m3v8I/S9CxDImhaYI/AAAAAAAAJMM/vCR1CKKDZBI/IMG_5247.JPG

[icor1031]

It's not distracting or straining?
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e9/Eyesensitivity.png

Regardless, I'm interested in seeing your setup. Do you have a photo, mate?


I use a blue light bulb behind the tv.

[Whitneyville1]

5000-5500*K approximates daylight and accomidates the eye to the color temperature of the screen better. The result is the color on the TV looks better. Fly me to you, and I'll bring my sister's X-Rite/MacBeth monitor calibration unit to your place and and "tune" it like all the TV stations do their "master control monitor". My sister is a professional photographer and used to do about 20,000 baby photos a month. She showed the "proofs" electronically and electronically retouched them, then "e-mailed" it to her lab for printing. We had one at the CATV station where I worked to make sure all the "feeds" were the same color, either off-air or off the birds. When your TV/monitor is set-up properly, you can tell how sloppy the network or technical director is with their feeds. 90% of the time, the commercials have the best color and exposure. I want to kick the technical directors of NFL Football on Sunday afternoons in outdoor stadiums in the groins, because they ALWAYS over-expose the camera settings, which is stupid. The Sun is ALWAYS the same brightness. I've shot in excess of 300,000 Kodachrome 25 35mm slides without using a light meter, and every one was properly exposed.I have the exposure for different lighting conditions COMMITTED TO MEMORY.

[greywarden]

I have a tentacle-y-looking floor lamp, I put some LEDs in it and make sure they're pointed behind the tv, and turn off the lights behind me when I'm watching movies or doing some [Sky]rim Jobs :D

[rone]

Put one of these in each corner behind the TV and point it at the upper corner using a very low watt bulb.

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20110903/

[fastbike1]

Any number of solutions are posted on HT sites and HT mags.

Simplest is low level lighting behind the screen (as suggested here). A desk lamp with a low wattage bulb works fine.

[Dirk]

I've got a DLP, so I'm in a LITTLE different place than you. I don't mind watching in the dark, but DLP's just don't have the black levels that other screens do. OH, if your room is bright, they certainly keep up. In the dark...not so much.

I bought a cheap $15 flourescent fixture and a daylight-temperature tube and attached it with industrial velcro to the back of my set. Plugged it into the outlet on the back of my receiver so it comes on when the receiver comes on.

The difference it made in my perceived black levels was HUGE. It's a bit hard to see in the photo, but it makes for just enough light to be able to find your drink and/or not step on the cat.

[Dirk]

5000-5500*K approximates daylight and accomidates the eye to the color temperature of the screen better. The result is the color on the TV looks better. Fly me to you, and I'll bring my sister's X-Rite/MacBeth monitor calibration unit to your place and and "tune" it like all the TV stations do their "master control monitor". My sister is a professional photographer and used to do about 20,000 baby photos a month. She showed the "proofs" electronically and electronically retouched them, then "e-mailed" it to her lab for printing. We had one at the CATV station where I worked to make sure all the "feeds" were the same color, either off-air or off the birds. When your TV/monitor is set-up properly, you can tell how sloppy the network or technical director is with their feeds. 90% of the time, the commercials have the best color and exposure. I want to kick the technical directors of NFL Football on Sunday afternoons in outdoor stadiums in the groins, because they ALWAYS over-expose the camera settings, which is stupid. The Sun is ALWAYS the same brightness. I've shot in excess of 300,000 Kodachrome 25 35mm slides without using a light meter, and every one was properly exposed.I have the exposure for different lighting conditions COMMITTED TO MEMORY.

So while everything you say is true, it's way more analytical than we probably need to be here.

As much as we try, we're also talking about spraying light onto walls that are not a perfect white. More often than not, it's beige, so our color temps are already going to be skewed to the warm side. When I built mine, the daylight florescent lamps were right next to the fixtures, so I just went with it. However, I can also see the use of a blue lamp as being a good idea, especially since sets these days seem to be biased towards the cool end of the spectrum.

[tobis]

There is some pretty inexpensive led strip lighting available these days. Such as
5 Meter Reel Warm White 3100k Flexible LED Ribbon 300 Leds (http://www.amazon.com/Flexible-LED-Ribbon-LEDwholesalers-2026ww-31k/dp/B002QQ48TK).

I went with the warmer 2700k for our living room to better match the incandescent lights. And this cheap RGB remote controller (http://www.amazon.com/Remote-Controller-LED-Light-Strip/dp/B004IJFAMW). It's meant for red-green-blue, but I'm using it for white-white-white.

EDIT: I can't remember where I heard about these. If it was someone on this forum... thanks.

[Whitneyville1]

Where some of you hear every imperfection in a speaker, I see it in photographs/video. In audio, I can cater to people's taste's much more. I got to run to the can again.... sinus infection...two antibiotics...borrowing food.

[jcpahman77]

I've always been a fan of using can lighting overhead. They light the parts of the room you want lit and not the parts you don't. Of course in my case, I have a projector, so lighting behind my screen isn't possible, and with my current projector a flashlight could wash it out. Also, just as a personal preference I like can lighting over most other sources, I really don't like being able to see the light source.

[icor1031]

"Can," Pahman?

[jcpahman77]

My bad, I forgot it's more commonly known as recessed lighting. I used to work for an electrical supply company and that was kind of a trade term for it.

I can personally recommend the brand below, but you can find better pricing than Lowe's/Home Depot.

http://images.lowes.com/product/converted/661209/661209700209xl.jpg (http://www.lowes.com/pd_97543-38269-IC2_4294857053+4294965738_4294937087_?productId=11 15167&Ns=p_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr|0||p_product_qty_sale s_dollar|1&pl=1&currentURL=%2Fpl_Juno_4294857053%2B4294965738_4294 937087_%3FNs%3Dp_product_prd_lis_ord_nbr%7C0%7C%7C p_product_qty_sales_dollar%7C1&facetInfo=Juno)

[bkeane1259]

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20119418/

Or the LED strip lighting from other shops is just as good. Pick your temperature, stick it, and light it up.

I've only done this behind our smaller Sony LED, but it makes a big difference and provides just enough light and it looks cool too.

They have these LED strips that have color controllers as well, so you could really trick out the space when you're NOT watching the TV.

[bkeane1259]

I've had bad luck with the can lighting. We have it throughout the house and it's always OFF when we watch TV. They are all large floods though. I suppose if we had the smaller narrower spot lights, we'd not have a reflection problem.

[jcpahman77]

I've had bad luck with the can lighting. We have it throughout the house and it's always OFF when we watch TV. They are all large floods though. I suppose if we had the smaller narrower spot lights, we'd not have a reflection problem.

A narrower angle lamp can help as well as a different trim that limits light output on one side, like a wall sconse trim. Also, if recessed lighting sounds good but you don't want to tear your house up they sell remodel cans that fit and mount with nothing more than the proper size hole in the ceiling. My living room will have 6, at some point.

[wlb]

I have a 58" plasma TV and my living room is on the dark side so I put 25 watt incandescent light behind my TV. I can't see the bulb but it gives off a soft glow all around the wall behind the TV. I like it . It seems easier on the eyes.