Article: What is Bias Lighting for TVs?

[Steve Withers]

Professional content creators use it in the studio, Philips has TVs with it built-in and it’s one of the most affordable upgrades for getting more out of your TV watching experience - so what exactly is bias lighting and why is everyone talking about it?
Read the news.

 

[Coulson]

Another advantage of surrounding the screen with light is that it improves the perceived contrast of the display

I have an LED tv. Bias lighting just about mitigates the main advantage OLED tv has, contrast levels. I know it's only perception, but then so is just about everything. The reverse is not true. It is not possible to increase the maximum brightness of a tv.

No I'm not saying that people are wrong about OLED or that this applies to any old LED tv. I'm just stating a useful point for those considering a decent high end LED TV as an option. Also for those of you who already have great LED TVs but have not tried bias lighting yet.

 

[Zombie Twin]

I have both a Philips Ambilight TV and a Panny OLED, and whilst not even in the same league, the lighting on the Philips does help out the contrast and help out with the black levels.

Having the system set to follow the video can be also be a lot of fun, extending the viewing experience outwards whilst reducing the chances of eyestrain at the same time.

 

[Evinger]

We tend to watch only one Movie, or a couple of episodes of a series, in one sitting, and only drop the blinds if it is the type of Movie or Series that needs it (As in The Expanse, or Alien, with lots of dark scenes). Otherwise we have some light bleed from the Street lights, or at most an LED upfiring standard lamp on the lowest setting, which is in the diametrically opposite corner to the TV. I guess that way we pretty well avoid any eyestrain.

 

[jockychan]

I have them Luminoodle ones will the back light increase the contrast no. The perception miby and the clam is with the correct white level from Bias lighting you can increase or have the perception of contrast improvements. The problem with that it becomes to bright and adds stress to the eye's with the levels needed. What i find at the correct back light setting the viewing is very pleasant takes the strain of the eye's on Evenings & Night viewing.

 

[Jagjit]

I've also use a Luminoodle. They claim that their LED Lightstrip is D65 but has anyone measured how accurate it is?

 

[jockychan]

I've also use a Luminoodle. They claim that their LED Lightstrip is D65 but has anyone measured how accurate it is?

I have never measured them bro. My lord they are bright at max especially the white to bright for comfort viewing.

 

[Coulson]

I have them Luminoodle ones will the back light increase the contrast no. The perception miby and the clam is with the correct white level from Bias lighting you can increase or have the perception of contrast improvements. The problem with that it becomes to bright and adds stress to the eye's with the levels needed. What i find at the correct back light setting the viewing is very pleasant takes the strain of the eye's on Evenings & Night viewing.

I've also use a Luminoodle. They claim that their LED Lightstrip is D65 but has anyone measured how accurate it is?

I have the same. They are not D65, they are 6000 Kelvin but they do a great job for me.

 

[Jagjit]

I actually use mine on max and find them fine. But then I did attach the strip a little further away from the edge so that might be why. Happy with the results.

 

[Coulson]

I actually use mine on max and find them fine. But then I did attach the strip a little further away from the edge so that might be why. Happy with the results.

View attachment 1434813View attachment 1434814

Yeah mine are about 1.5 inches from the edge and I also only did 3 sides.

 

[tazg101]

I also found the luminoodle too bright . Have now got Hue Lightstrip for 3 sides (2m + 1m extension). Can set to 6500k and other colours and control via my Harmony Remote

 

[Jagjit]

I also found the luminoodle too bright . Have now got Hue Lightstrip for 3 sides (2m + 1m extension). Can set to 6500k and other colours and control via my Harmony Remote

Out of interest how do you select 6500K on the Hue? I use "Energise" setting as to me that looks the closest to the luminoodle IMO

 

[MikeTheBike2010]

Bought a very cheap modular light strip from Ikea a while back (I think less than £10) and its worked well for several years, white seems a good balance and not too bright. Had an old "remote" mains plug with radio remote from Maplins (remember them?) so its easily "off and onnable". If I wanted to upgrade to a more wrap around solution (its only along the top at the mo) I might look at these which I think can be powered direct from the TV?

Amazon product

 

[Jagjit]

Bought a very cheap modular light strip from Ikea a while back (I think less than £10) and its worked well for several years, white seems a good balance and not too bright. Had an old "remote" mains plug with radio remote from Maplins (remember them?) so its easily "off and onnable". If I wanted to upgrade to a more wrap around solution (its only along the top at the mo) I might look at these which I think can be powered direct from the TV?

Amazon product

They're only 2m so depending on size of your TV if it will cover all 4 sides.
The luminoodle ones are a good alternative for the price but they're no longer on Amazon:

Power Practical: Luminoodle Bias Lighting

 

[Dolus]

For a few years now I have been using behind the TV a clip on bulb holder:-
Powerplus 1016 Clip On Light with 2M Cable for sale online | eBay
and a daylight bulb:-
Low Energy Saving CFL bulbs Bright White Natural Daylight 6500K SAD Day Light | eBay

 

[DT79]

I really want to get one of the MediaLights, particularly after reading this article, but my TV is wall mounted (LG 65C9) with about 7cm between the back of the panel and the wall, around the edges where the light would go. Does anyone with experience know whether it will be possible to fit the light strips without having to remove the TV from the wall (I just can’t face that)?

 

[Banksie]

My screen is on a stand, not tight against the wall, does bias lighting "work" in this scenario?

 

[tazg101]

Out of interest how do you select 6500K on the Hue? I use "Energise" setting as to me that looks the closest to the luminoodle IMO

download an app called Yonomi. You can set 6500K via here. Then once your light is set, open the Hue app and save current light setting as a new scene.

 

[youngsyp]

I really want to get one of the MediaLights, particularly after reading this article, but my TV is wall mounted (LG 65C9) with about 7cm between the back of the panel and the wall, around the edges where the light would go. Does anyone with experience know whether it will be possible to fit the light strips without having to remove the TV from the wall (I just can’t face that)?

If you have a ladder to reach the top edge then sure, it'll be possible.

I can highly recommend the MediaLight strips and have one on my GZ2000, having used generic 'D6500' strips for years beforehand.

I haven't read Steve's article but did see some comments about brightness levels of the LED strips. Just for info, if you have them up too bright you'll end up crushing near black detail on the TV, due to your eyes no longer being able to discern the low light levels required to make any graduations.
For optimal viewing, the standards (from the same people who define the video standards used to calibrate your TV), are that ambient light should be no brighter than 10% of the peak white light output of the TV for SDR. And 5 nits maximum for HDR.
What you may also twig from this is that to get maximum enjoyment from your viewing, watching the TV in pitch black is not recommended. And with HDR content, it'll also be very uncomfortable with modern TV capabilities. Some ambient light is always recommended.

Paul

 

[adbailey18]

LED roll cost £9.99, has multiple colours and levels of brightness. Does the trick perfectly for me

 

[stanster59]

I also found the luminoodle too bright . Have now got Hue Lightstrip for 3 sides (2m + 1m extension). Can set to 6500k and other colours and control via my Harmony Remote

Is that the philips system ?

 

[tazg101]

Is that the philips system ?

yes

 

[DrGekko]

Another excellent article Steve, very informative and something I'm seriously going to consider incorporating into my current set-up.

 

[stanster59]

Quite like the idea of the luminoodle pro, so when your 're not watching the set you can set it to a coloured background.

 

[Indiana Jones]

First started using bias lighting on my 55" Sony roughly 6 years ago, the perceived difference was astounding (those horrible grey looking blacks changed to inky black in an instant) and I am now at the point where I just couldn't use a TV without it, hell even if I bought an OLED I am certain I would fit a strip.