In our everyday lives, objects around us exhibit color through the absorption and reflection of light, an interaction that forms the basis of color perception. However, it works a bit differently when it comes to displays, which create color by transmitting light through pixels for LED or emitting light from pixels, in the case of OLED. The role of lighting becomes crucial here as it influences the perceived color accuracy of the displayed images through a process called chromatic adaptation.
In short, our visual system adapts to the color of the light in our environment, leading to an interesting phenomenon where the perceived colors on a transmissive display can be influenced in an opposing manner, such that the color of the ambient light emphasizes the complementary or opponent color on the display.
For instance, when exposed to warm ambient light, our screens will appear cooler in tone, while light sources with excessive magenta, a common occurrence in tunable light sources, will cause our screens to take on a greenish hue. This process of chromatic adaptation underscores our brain's ability to adjust our perception of colors to maintain a sense of consistency and naturalness in varying lighting conditions.
When your mobile device or computer dynamically adjusts its display according to the ambient lighting conditions, as exemplified by Apple's TrueTone technology, it does so for a specific reason. However, such adaptive behavior can pose challenges in a dedicated reference home theater or professional post-production environment, as it introduces disparities between the screen's color rendition and that of other screens.
First, consider the scenario in a post production facility, where color accuracy is non-negotiable. The ambient lighting conditions significantly impact how colorists and editors perceive colors on screen. A neutral and consistent light source, like that provided by MediaLight, aids in preserving the true essence of colors, enabling professionals to make accurate color judgments. This precision, in turn, contributes to achieving the desired output, be it in film editing, graphic design, or any color-critical task.
The application of bias lighting transcends professional environments and finds its relevance in home theaters as well. By reducing the glaring contrast between the bright screen and the dark room, bias lighting moderates the harshness of the screen light, especially in dark scenes, making for a more relaxed and enjoyable viewing experience. You've heard the term "preserving the director's intent" when discussing display calibration. This extends to viewing the content under the same lighting conditions.
Additionally, the consistent ambient light provided by bias lighting can mitigate some of the challenges posed by different display technologies. For instance, OLED displays, known for their infinite contrast, can cause more eye strain compared to LED panels due to the pupils' constant dilation and constriction reacting to the varying brightness levels. By moderating these brightness disparities, bias lighting alleviates the strain, promoting comfortable viewing.
In an era where display technology continually evolves, achieving enhanced color accuracy and reducing eye strain remains a priority for many. Bias lighting, although simple, plays a vital role in realizing this goal, making it an indispensable companion in both professional settings and home theaters. By embracing the influence of ambient lighting on image perception, viewers can unlock a visually rich and comfortable viewing experience,while getting the best picture out of their equipment.
Adhering to recognized standards in display and ambient lighting is paramount to ensuring a true-to-source visual experience. Standards bodies such as the Imaging Science Foundation (ISF), Custom Electronics Design and Installation Association (CEDIA), Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE), and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) lay down stringent guidelines that help in maintaining a uniform quality and performance across various display and lighting setups. Products that meet or exceed these standards are seen as benchmarks in delivering a reliable and accurate viewing experience.
MediaLight stands out by designing solutions that not only meet but exceed the industry standards set forth by these authoritative bodies. Our adherence to and exceeding of established standards underscores a commitment to quality and accuracy, providing both professionals and home theater enthusiasts with a reliable solution to enhance their visual engagements. By aligning with these standards, MediaLight brings a level of sophistication and reliability that is crucial in a domain where precision and consistency are most important. Other brands in our range, such as LX1 and Ideal-Lume share the same commitment to standards and accuracy.
Accurate light is the foundation of accurate color. Bias lighting, by enhancing image perception and reducing eye strain, remains a silent "behind the scenes and behind the screens" player, offering a simple solution to a more comfortable and enjoyable viewing experience.
But did you know that the key to making the most of your TV's picture-perfect display lies in the ambient lighting around it? In this article, we'll dive into the fascinating world of chromatic adaptation, explaining how it affects your binge-watching sessions, and why accurate ambient lighting (hello, bias lighting!) is more important than ever.
The Colorful World of Chromatic Adaptation
Let's start with a quick science lesson. Chromatic adaptation is your eyes' incredible ability to adjust to different light sources, ensuring that you perceive colors consistently across various environments. In layman's terms, it's what allows you to see the same shade of red on an apple, whether you're indoors or outside in the sunshine.
However, when it comes to watching TV, chromatic adaptation can be a bit of a double-edged sword. You see, if your room's ambient lighting is off, your eyes can "adapt" in a way that makes the colors on your screen look unnatural. Unlike the apple in the previous example, the display is transmissive and it does not reflect the light in the room.
It's why your phone's screen looks bluer under low-temperature incandescent lights and why low quality LED strips with a blue/magenta cast will make skin tones look yellow and sickly on your TV. That's where accurate ambient lighting comes in, saving the day (and your favorite show's color balance!).
Setting the Stage: Accurate Ambient Lighting
To make sure you're getting the most out of your TV's color settings, it's crucial to pay attention to the lighting in your viewing environment. And the star of the show? Bias lighting.
Bias lighting is a soft, uniform light source that you place behind your TV or monitor. Its main goal is to reduce eye strain during long viewing sessions, but it also helps maintain your screen's color accuracy by minimizing the effects of chromatic adaptation. To make sure your bias lighting is doing its job, choose a light source with a color temperature of 6500K (D65), the industry-standard color temperature.
Besides bias lighting, there are a few other tricks to creating a top-notch TV-watching space. Here's what you can do:
The (Light) Source of the Problem
While the color of your walls does play a role in your viewing experience, it's not as influential as the color of your light source. A perfectly calibrated TV can be thrown off by inaccurate lighting, so it's essential to prioritize the color of your light source when setting up your space. Here's how:
Conclusion
As TV technology continues to advance, it's crucial to pay attention to the ambient lighting around your screen. By understanding the role of chromatic adaptation and taking steps to create the ideal viewing environment, you'll be able to enjoy your favorite shows and movies as they were meant to be seen. So grab the popcorn, dim the lights, and get ready to enjoy a top-notch viewing experience!
More Tips and Tricks for Your Ultimate Viewing Setup
While we've covered the essential aspects of creating the perfect environment for your TV-watching escapades, here are a few bonus tips to help you elevate your viewing experience even further:
With your newfound knowledge of chromatic adaptation, accurate ambient lighting, and the essential elements of a well-designed viewing environment, you're all set to transform your TV room into a true home theater experience. So, gather your friends and family, dim those bias lights, and get ready to embark on a visual journey like never before!
]]>And the fact is that any of these lights is accurate enough to use in a professional setting or with a calibrated TV at home.
However, we receive a lot of emails and chat requests asking which unit to buy. I’d like to share my own thoughts on the subject along with what we learned from customers who made the choice.
Think of your TV in terms of “good,” “better” or “best” and make your buying decision accordingly.
We recommend the “10% rule,” or keeping the cost of accessories like bias lighting to 10% of the price of the TV or less.
Through customer surveys and web chats, we learned that customers don’t want to pay more than 10% of the price of the TV on accessories. In other words, customers don’t want to put $100 lights on a $300 TV.
This sounds arbitrary, but it generally works as a "golden rule” because TVs in the “good” category incorporate various trade offs to reach their target price. This trade off might be a lower contrast ratio or more more severe blooming issues due to fewer dimmable zones. TVs in this category stand to benefit a lot from bias lighting due to the reduction of blooming and improved contrast that are among its most-noted benefits.
As a company, we recognized that TVs, including the value-performance models at lower cost, were growing in size. We had to find a way to modify our specification to provide the accuracy that we’re known for, but at a more attractive price, particularly in the longer lengths that were becoming more popular.
We did this by lowering the LED density, or number of LEDs per meter, on the LX1 to a density that is closer to what you’d find on lower-cost USB-powered LED strips. When customers would ask why MediaLight was more expensive, we’d often answer that we had better quality LEDs, and more of them per strip. We had to create the LX1 line of bias lights to escape that specific requirement, which has no impact on the quality of light as long as there is enough room for the lights to diffuse on the wall.
The ColorGrade LX1 LED chips are manufactured at the same time as the Mk2 chips. We separate the best of the best — any LEDs with CRI ≥ 98, and use them in the Mk2. The other chips, with the same chromaticity coordinates, and with a CRI between 95 and 97.9, are used in the LX1. They are, for all intents, “a match.” You could use them in the same installation.
So, is the MediaLight Mk2 better than LX1 in terms of performance?
Yes, it is objectively more accurate.
If you measure the bias lights under a spectrophotometer, you will find that CRI of the LX1 is slightly lower than the Mk2. However, in practical terms, not everyone will benefit from this improved accuracy. This is more dependent on the individual. If you know yourself to be very demanding, the Mk2 probably makes more sense. If you are having your display professionally-calibrated, the Mk2 probably makes more sense. If you spend a lot of time in front of your display, the Mk2 probably makes more sense in terms of accuracy and the longer warranty period (5 years versus 2 years for LX1).
If you are the type of person who says, and I quote, “I‘ll never forgive myself if I don’t get the best gear available,” it might make sense to get the Mk2. (But just know that you probably would be fine with the LX1).
The same goes for TVs with very flush mounts. The higher LED density on the Mk2 will provide a more even dim surround in these cases because there is less distance between each LED.
OK, so where is the MediaLight Pro2 in this discussion?
Just as building the original MediaLight Pro taught us how to improve our yields and accuracy to make the MediaLight Mk2, we believe that our future products depend on us being able to achieve better yields and scale with newer technologies. That’s why I say that the MediaLight Pro2 is our forward-looking product. Our job, over the next 12-18 months, is to narrow the performance and price gap between the MediaLight Mk2 range and the Pro2.
Currently, The MediaLight Pro2 costs more to manufacture and would exceed the 10% rule in many cases, particularly for longer strips on larger displays. However, at $69 for a one meter strip, the Pro2 still fits the rule for many computer monitors.
The MPro2 LED chip itself is gorgeous. The quality of light was described as “sunlight on an LED strip” by one impressed visitor at NAB 2022, owing to its very high spectral similarity index (SSI) to D65 (the spectral power distribution looks more like sunlight, without the blue spike that is found in most LEDs) . In a grading suite, particularly with an extremely capable display, the MediaLight Pro2 would be a very nice addition.
To recap, all of our bias lights are accurate enough to use in a professional environment. All of them exceed industry standards as set out by organizations such as ISF, SMPTE and CEDIA.
The “10% rule” reflects reality. It’s simple. Potential customers told us that they weren’t buying our products because of the price, but that they wouldn’t hesitate if we could keep our accuracy at a lower price. We listened, and created LX1 Bias Lighting to do that.
One more question that we get a lot:
Why didn’t we call the LX1 “The MediaLight LX1?”
We wanted to avoid confusion.
We were concerned that retail arbitrageurs would try to pass off our LX1 as a MediaLight. They could buy an LX1 for $25 and try to pass it off as a $69 MediaLight Mk2. Both Mk2 and LX1 are made side-by-side, but there is a difference in LED density and CRI. We didn’t want their customers to pay for MediaLight standards and wonder why there were fewer LEDs on each strip than before.
]]>There are a few brands of TVs where the USB ports do, indeed, turn off when the TV is off, but there are also a number of brands where the USB ports remain powered even when the TV is off. Some TV manufacturers decide to throw some pandemonium into our lives by having their USB ports turn on and off every 10 seconds when the TV is turned off.
Unless you are hosting a rave, this is probably not ideal. So, what are you to do?
Customers on our site often reach out via chat to figure out which dimmer is best for their TV. When possible, they want to set the brightness of the bias lights and forget about them. This “set-and-forget” ethos is not always easy, but we will explain how to get as close to this as possible by pairing your MediaLight or LX1 bias light with just the right dimmer for each brand of TV. Remember, our goal in this article is to tell you how to achieve "set and forget" supremacy over your bias lights, at least when the TV allows it.
We offer a variety of dimmers. We will go into more detail on each type below:
1) Button dimmers (without a remote control): These are very simple, there is no remote control to use and you press a “+” or “-“ to set the appropriate level. These dimmers also have an on/off button.
2) Infrared dimmers We currently offer two varieties of infrared dimmers. What’s nice about them is that they are cheap and they are interoperable with universal remotes. The downside is the potential for interference with other devices. If your TV has a reputation for interference, it will be discussed below. However, if you own Any Vizio or Klipsch gear, the potential for interference is very, very high.
3) WiFi dimmers: These dimmers use a phone app or Alexa or Google Home device to turn your lights on and off and set brightness. If you are not heavily-invested in smart home devices, we don’t recommend them. Keep your setup simple.
There are also other dimmers, such as Bluetooth and RF, the latter of which use unlicensed radio frequencies, but you won't find them on our site these days. In some cases, we used them in the past but they proved problematic. For example, RF dimmers worked through walls, much like WiFi, but because the units weren't easy independently addressable, if there were 40 MediaLights at a post-production facility, people in different editing suites would control lights in other suites. We tried to make a version that was independently addressable, but it was prone to losing synchronization. This made people think that they were broken, and the resynchronization process was annoying.
In any case, we have a lot of experience with dimmers. We only offer dimmers that have nonvolatile memory. This means that if the USB port turns off and the dimmer is cut off from power, when the USB port turns on, the lights return to their previous state instantly. Again, if you buy your dimmer from us, it will behave in this way. It is important to note that it is not a given that other dimmers from other sources will do this.
OK, so we promised to tell you the right dimmer for your TV. We will begin with an overview of each major TV brand. If you are in a hurry, just look for the section of this article that matches your TV.
LG displays, both OLED and LED, are very popular with MediaLight customers, dispelling the myth that OLED displays don't need bias lights (bias lights have nothing to do with the TV and everything to do with our eyes and visual cortex). For the most part, if you own an LG TV, the USB port will turn on and off with the TV. There are a few things to look out for, however:
LG OLEDs periodically run a “pixel refresher” mode to preserve the life of the OLED display and prevent burn-in. When this happens, it will appear that the TV is turned off, but the USB port will remain powered on for a few minutes (as long as 10 minutes, depending on how much TV you’ve been bingeing). We recommend letting this happen and trusting that the lights will eventually turn off. Use the extra few minutes of illumination to exit the viewing room without bumping into furniture.
If you allow the lights to turn off when Pixel Refresher mode is done, they will turn on when the TV is turned back on. If you don't wait for the lights to turn off with the LG OLED's USB port and turn off via the dimmer, you will need to turn the lights on when the TV is turned back on.
Our "set & forget" dimmer recommendation: Use the included MediaLight Remote controlled dimmer that comes with your MediaLight, or add a free 30 Khz Flicker-Free button dimmer to your order. If buying an LX1, add the standard button dimmer.
It's hard not to love Vizio. They've been around for years, mostly in the North American market, and they were a value brand with good quality long before some newcomers like Hisense and TCL.
In the last few years, they've also become a player in OLED technology. However, the old maxim is still true. "When you own a Vizio TV, every remote control is a unversal remote." By this, I mean that their remotes still interfere with other devices.
However, the big saving grace with Vizio TVs is that they almost always allow you to set the USB port to turn off with the TV. It usually does this by default. Otherwise, you can look under the TV settings and change it to "USB off with power off."
Our "set & forget" dimmer recommendation: Request a free 30 Khz Flicker-Free Dimmer with your MediaLight and use it instead of the remote controlled dimmer, which will probably interfere. If you do want an infrared dimmer, you can request an alternative dimmer that won’t interfere with some Vizio TVs, (but will interfere with M-Series). If you are buying an LX1, add the standard button dimmer or the 30Khz Flicker-Free dimmer, which can be found under the accessories section of our site.
Sony TVs are chock-full of internet features. So many, in fact, that the Sony Bravia line does not ever truly turn off. Sure, you can turn off the screen, but the TV is constantly connecting to the internet and working in the background. In fact, the USB ports don't turn off with the Sony and they don't stay on either. If you own a Sony Bravia and attach bias lights, you will quickly learn that the lights turn on and off every 10 seconds or so when the TV is turned off.
1) Recommended dimmer for North America: Use the standard MediaLight IR dimmer to turn your lights on and off. If you have a universal remote, like Harmony, program the remote codes into the universal remote. To avoid some stray flashing even when the dimmer is set to the "off" position, set the TV's RS232C mode to "via serial." This will change the default behavior of the USB port to "always on" (for the most part).
However, this setting is not available outside of North America, where Sony Bravia TVs lack an RS232C port.
2) Recommended dimmer outside of North America: Request an alternative infrared dimmer, which behaves a bit better on TVs without the RS232C setting. It is not (yet) in the Harmony database, but you can add it via learning mode (you really only need to add the on/off commands).
If you own a Samsung television, there is about 50% chance that the lights will turn on and off with the TV. On some newer QLED displays, the USB port stays on permanently. This seems to mostly be TVs with a One Connect box, but we need more information.
Recommended dimmers for Samsung: You can use the included remote and dimmer with MediaLight or add any WiFi or IR dimmer.
Philips offers a solid line of TVs worldwide, including some popular OLEDs, mostly outside of the USA. Sure, they responsible for introducing the abomination that is Ambilight into TV market but their TVs are quite good. USB ports and, therefore, bias lights will turn on and off with the display.
Recommended dimmers for Philips: You can use the included remote and dimmer with MediaLight or add any WiFi or button dimmer that you want. The lights will turn on and off with the TV. For LX1, we recommend the standard button dimmer.
Special note about Philips OLED: The Philips OLED range lacks USB 3.0 ports and will quite-literally throw an error code on the screen if you are even a hair above 500mA, the specification for USB 2.0. If you are using your MediaLight or LX1 with a Philips OLED and the lights are 4 meters long or longer, we recommend requesting a USB power enhancer with your order.
Attentive readers will notice that this is different than the recommendation for LG OLED (which calls for the power enhancer only for 5 meters or longer). This is because a 4m strip at maximum luminance will use exactly 500mA, and the WiFi dimmer that we offer tends to fluctuate just enough to trigger the error codes on 4m strips.
Once again, the enhancer is free with all 5m-6m MediaLights, and can be added for $5 to any LX1 order. It is also free with 4m MediaLights if you own a Philips TV and are also purchasing a WiFi dimmer. In this case, we will need you to email us with your order ID so we can include it.
Hisense seems to have stolen some of the thunder from Vizio, which was once the leading value brand in North America. Most customers contact us to tell us that their Hisense TV lacks USB 3.0 ports, so if you are using MediaLight or LX1 bias lights with your Hisense TV, we recommend adding a USB power enhancer for lights that are 5 or 6 meters long.
The other variable with Hisense is that some of their TVs use a similar Google operating system to the one found on Bravia sets. Some people report that the USB ports don't always turn off with the TV. We don't own a Hisense TV so we haven't been able to test this across multiple models, but the best way to be prepared is to use a remote control. There are no known IR interference issues with Hisense TVs.
Recommended dimmer for Hisense: We recommend using the included infrared dimmer with your MediaLight or adding an infrared remote to your bias lighting for Hisense TVs.
This is the budget house-brand of Best Buy. If you don't have Best Buy where you live, you probably never saw an Insignia TV. If you own an Insignia TV, your bias lights will simply turn on and off with the TV.
Recommended dimmers for Insignia: You can use the included remote and dimmer with MediaLight or add any WiFi or button dimmer that you want. The lights will turn on and off with the TV. For LX1, we recommend the standard button dimmer.
TCL TVs, according to reports, DO NOT turn the USB ports off when the TV is turned off. This means that you will need to use a remote if you don't want the lights on 24/7 or don't want to walk up to the TV to turn them off.
MediaLight includes a good one and LX1 has two options. We'd go with the "Standard MediaLight" infrared remote option.
Our only concern is that some customers have reported infrared interference, but it appears that that interference might be related to other devices, such as Roku devices with universal remote capability. What might be happening is that the IR codes are “close enough” to potentially cause cross talk with other IR devices and the added step of adding them to Roku makes them even closer (sort of like a loss of resolution when you make a photocopy of a photocopy).
Recommended dimmers for TCL: We recommend one of our infrared dimmers. The IR included remote with the MediaLight may also be used, but if you experience any IR interference (volume button on the TV changing brightness of your lights, please let us know. There are so many different models that sometimes it's a challenge to stomp out IR interference on the first go.
You might notice that I haven't recommended our WiFi dimmer once. That’s not because they aren’t good, but because this article is focused on creating a “set and forget” experience. We offer a hub-free WiFi dimmer (no extra hub hardware is required) and it is very popular, but it is only recommended if you are highly-invested in smart home devices. It's very luxurious to tell "Alexa or OK Google, set the bias lights to 32% brightness," but it goes beyond the "set and forget" ethos of this article. (You can also use the wifi dimmer with HomeKit, but will need to use HomeBridge, at least for now).
This is not an exhaustive list, but these are the most popular brands that we get questions about. We will add to it as new TVs are released or customers report discrepancies with our listed information. Did we leave your TV out? Probably! Let us know!
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We are excited to announce that we now offer a brand new dimming option. The new MediaLight Flicker-Free Dimmer provides the smoothest and most comfortable dimming experience for those who are sensitive to PWM (pulse-width modulation). If you have ever suffered from eyestrain, migraines or fatigue as a result of using a dimmer, then this is the product for you.
It's estimated that up to ten percent of the population is sensitive to PWM, so we are confident that this new product will help many people. If you have been looking for a flicker-free dimmer, then look no further - the MediaLight 30Khz Flicker-Free Dimmer is the perfect solution.
We are always looking for ways to improve our products and offer the best possible experience to our customers. We know that this new 30Khz flicker-free dimmer will provide a soothing dimming experience for those who are sensitive to PWM. If you have any questions or feedback, please don't hesitate to contact us - we would love to hear from you. Thank you for your continued support!
With MediaLight, you can finally enjoy the perfect dimming experience without worrying about PWM sensitivity or flicker. At the present time, the flicker-free dimmer is not available with a remote control (we're working on that!). However it can be coupled with a remote dimmer as long as the other dimmer is only being used for ON/OFF with the brightness set at 100%, which bypasses the remote's dimming function (It's not possible to run two dimmers in a series). If you wish to combine a flicker-free dimmer with another remote dimmer, as described, be sure to add a female USB to female DC adapter to your order.
]]>You will notice that we do not sell MediaLight on Amazon.com. We personally buy a lot of products on Amazon, like printer cartridges and books, but a lot of the things that work for commodity products aren't compatible with a niche product like The MediaLight.
We don't take decisions, such as not listing our products the world's largest retailer, lightly. However, Amazon was recommending incompatible accessories that could damage our bias lights and allowing our listings to be hijacked by sellers of other products.
Assuming you were actually able to buy a genuine MediaLight on Amazon. If you connected the Amazon-recommended 12v power supply (below) to an LX1 or MediaLight, you wold have immediately damaged the bias light because our lights run on USB power and the LX1 and MediaLight are rated for 5v.
Of course, we covered any damage from incorrect Amazon recommendations under the MediaLight Warranty, but it was a serious problem. We tried to work with seller support to remove the very ilogical recommendations, but were unsuccessful.
There were other serious issues, but these were the most damaging.
These are the kinds of problems that keep managers awake at night, so we brought sales and fulfillment in-house. All of the products and accessories on this site are guaranteed to work with your bias light and are shipped daily from our warehouse in NJ. All of our listings are accurate and you will receive what you ordered. And our website includes a lot of useful information about MediaLight, LX1 and bias lighting in general, none of which we were able to include on Amazon.
You can still pay with Amazon Pay on our website and enjoy some of the same protections that you get when you order on Amazon, but we don't sell our MediaLight products on the Amazon website, and we hope that this helps to explain our reasons why.
Listings and recommendations vary by country. If you find an international dealer selling on an international Amazon marketplace and want to verify that they are authorized, you can contact us.
With VHB, this doesn't happen anymore (the adhesive tape is so strong that it's used to attach windows and steel cladding to the Burj Khalifa in Dubai). However, this leads to a lot of questions such as:
"How can I remove bias lights from my TV?
"How can I temporarily install bias lights?"
"How do I move bias lights to another TV?"
"How do I remove bias lighting residue?"
Some people use painter's tape to apply the lights. Others would use electrical tape. We realized that a lot of our professional users were using gaffer tape, which, admittedly, a lot of users at home don't have sitting around.
Until now.
In keeping with our goal of constantly evolving our product range, we are now offering free mini rolls of gaffer tape with any MediaLight or LX1 purchase. All that you need to do is add it to an order and the usual $3.50 charge (which includes shipping for standalone orders -- the charge is less than the cost of postage) is waived.
Click here to get some free gaffer tape with your lights!
We think that gaffer tape is super handy for home theater use, whether it's used to apply bias lights or to help tame out-of-control cables. And for professional users, we think that our mini-rolls are perfect for your backpack, camera bag or laptop bag. At about the size of a roll of electrical tape, it is much more convenient than lugging around a huge roll of gaffer tape.
]]>You can use this calculator! It works for both MediaLight and LX1, and is based on our recommendation of placing the lights 2 inches from the edge on all sides.
If you are “in-between sizes,” (i.e. 3.11 meters), you can round down in most situations. (3.4 meters is not in-between sizes).
Generally speaking, for every .25 meters above the next lowest size, you’d want to place the lights approximately another inch from the edge. Our recommendations are based on placement 2 inches from the edge of the display.
You will notice that the following chart shows a 3rd option for “displays on a stand.” When the TV is further from the wall (say 6-36 inches), you don’t need to have the lights very close to the edge and can get away with a shorter strip.
You can still use this recommendation with MediaLight, but we don’t recommend it with the LX1. The reason is that The MediaLight includes some additional hardware, like an included extension cord that might be needed to properly place the dimmer IR receiver near the edge of the display.
Still not sure whether to place lights on 3 or 4 sides?
Generally speaking, you should put lights on only 3 sides when you have any of the following:
Obstructions - like a TV on a stand when there is nowhere for the light to pass below the TV. Another example is a sound bar or center channel speaker directly below the TV (directly means virtually touching all the way up to a few inches below).
Distractions - like a mess of wires or a bunch of stuff under the TV (set-top boxes, vases, framed photos, etc). Out of sight, out of mind!
Reflections - If the TV is on a glass tabletop or directly above (within 4-5 inches) a glossy soundbar or center channel speaker, it's probably going to cause glare. Better to omit lights.
4 sides are best when the TV is on a wall mount, but you can't really go wrong with 3 sides. If none of the above apply, you can probably put lights on 4 sides. In the worst case, detach the bottom.
Now, here’s some additional nitpicky information about why we don’t recommend the “display on a stand” column for some people:
The third column in the sizing chart above causes some confusion, and I'm on the fence about discontinuing the third column for the sake of simplicity, even though it's workable in many situations where a TV or monitor is on a stand versus a wall mount.
One place where the "display on a stand" installation works really well is on most smaller computer monitors up to 32", although I've used a 1 meter eclipse on a 55" Sony Bravia and was able to set reference levels against a light gray wall.
So, the Mk2 Eclipse 1 meter remains the recommendation for computer displays even though it is typically not long enough to go around 3 sides if it was placed at the edge. If you are wondering why, feel free to email me. There are a bunch of reasons and they might be a bit too detailed for this post.
However, as you can see, the MediaLight Mk2 Eclipse is usually not long enough to go around 3 sides and it looks great, with a soft and even surround.
In the "display on a stand" inverted-U installation, we are placing the lights further from the edge and we don't have enough length to go around 3 sides of the display if we were at the recommended 3 inches form the edge.
For example, perhaps we are placing a 2 meter strip on a 65" display. To go around the edges, we'd need 2.8 meters. So, how do we go around 3 sides with only 2 meters? we place the MediaLight much further from the edge of the display.
Some people prefer this because it results in a looser and more diffuse halo, which is more consistent with what you might have seen with the older MediaLight Single Strip back in the day (a single horizontal strip across the back of the TV), or the older Ideal-Lume luminaires. In those situations, the lights are further from the edge, so you are running them at a higher brightness level to account for luminance falloff from the center of the TV. Think of how the light looks dimmer the further you get from the center of the reflection. If it's dead-center, there's going to be a lot of falloff before the reaches the edge.
Some people also preferred this method because it can cost a lot less. Now that we offer a lower cost option, LX1, and the price difference between 1m and 2m is only $5 versus $20, I feel that this method isn't as helpful.
Also, the LX1 does not include a .5m extension cord, so there are some situations where you might not be able to attach a shorter strip to the TV's USB port (the cord might not reach the edge of the TV where most, but not all, manufacturers place the USB).
If you are in-between sizes you might be able to use a slightly smaller strip. 3.11 is in-between 3 and 4. 3.33 is not. When in doubt, round up because you can always cut off any excess MediaLight or LX1.
For *computer monitors not on a wall mount*, you can use a 1 meter strip. The chart shows you what that would look like.
**Sometimes TVs have a pronounced "hump" on the bottom. This is common with a lot of ultra-thin OLED displays to house the electronics and speakers. You can still run lights on the bottom unless the lights would be touching the wall. Ideally, you want about 1-2" away from the wall. The thicker bottom would not look as bright and the "halo" would be narrower at the bottom, but it doesn't look bad.
We have more information about installing lights over these humps on our installation page.
]]>Think of a night club or party with colored lights. There is a huge difference between being in a white room with red light and a red-painted room with white light. The walls may appear to look a similar color, but everything else in the room looks drastically different.
Simply put, under red lights, everything in the room will appear to be red. Your skin will look red, your clothing will look red, and everything else under the red lights will look red.
On the other hand, if we are in a room with red paint and a white light source, this will not be the case (unless the walls have a very high specular reflectance - think a red-tinted mirror or even glossy red paint, like a sports car).
You can even stand right next to the red wall and have the white light bounce onto you and you will still not look red (unless you have a really bad sunburn).
I'm going to discuss two different things. The first is called chromatic adaptation and the second is opponent-process color theory.
We adapt to the color of light around us pretty quickly through a process called chromatic adaptation and that's a different process from opponent-process color (color wheel) theory. Both of these things are going on, but chromatic adaptation has outsized role when watching a transmissive display, like a TV or monitor.If you're a professional colorist or video editor, you know that eye strain can be even worse with OLED than with other display technologies. But if you're just an avid TV watcher, there's a good chance that it's never occurred to you. The reason for this is because eye strain is caused by the contrast between dark scenes and bright scenes on your screen- this means that when viewing content on an OLED screen, your pupils constantly dilate and constrict in order to cope with both the very dark blacks and the very light whites. This constant back-and-forth creates more stress on our eyes than what happens when watching content on traditional displays.
Infinite contrast might not cause infinite eye strain, but it can be significantly worse than LED panels.
Then there's not just the capability of the display, but also what it displays. Most existing content was not graded for OLED displays, so blacks can still be improved in situations where the black level in the content are above zero.
The colorists grading on professional OLED monitors use bias lighting too. It's not about picture quality of the display but rather our ability to see that picture quality--it is how (non-prescription) sunglasses can improve our vision when driving a car because it enhances our ability to see the pictures, which appears more vivid and sharper due to increased depth of field from narrowed pupils.
As you know by now, OLED isn't a very bright technology. So, how do bias lights make OLEDs appear brighter? Let's show an example.
Which white square looks brighter? The one with a simulated dim surround on the left or the one on the right?
They are both the same brightness level but our brain perceives the square on the left as being brighter.
Nobody knows what the future holds, but it's safe to say that our current home theaters will be outdated in 10 years. Remember when we said we couldn't even see the pixels on 1080p? Remember 1080i? We obviously all know that the picture can get better because it always does, as does our ability to pick it apart.
For example, following close behind the other popular searches that bring visitors to our site, "OLED image retention" and "OLED shadow banding" are not far behind. These are limitations of current OLED technology that are also mitigated by proper bias lighting. And even without those limitations, a lot of content was not color graded for OLED displays, and this content benefits from bias lighting as well.
Joel Silver from ISF likes to say that everyone has opinions about how to set up a TV, but there are defined standards that are accepted internationally. We're all entitled to our preferences too. When I'm working on my computer for non color-critical work, I set my bias lighting much higher than the standards. Because bias lights work on the viewer and not on the TV, it's ok to experiment to find your ideal brightness settings.
If you suffer from OLED eye stain, we recommended lowering the brightness of your display after installing bias lighting. It sounds counter-intuitive, but a dim surround of bias lighting makes the display look brighter, so you don't need to run the TV at such a high brightness level.
Bias Lighting: How it works
Before we can explain why accurate bias lighting is important, we should explain a bit about what bias lighting is. Most of us watch TV's in pitch black rooms, or in a brightly lit environment. Neither one of these is ideal.
In a pitch black room with nothing but the tv as a source of light, your pupils will dilate and constrict with the constant changing between dark and light scenes. This can cause eye strain and lead to headache and fatigue.
On the other hand, if you watch TV in a brightly lit room, you are introducing glare and other environment factors that negatively impact the contrast and color perception of what you see on screen.
So, if dark is out of the question, and a brightly lit room is problematic, what's the right way to light a home theatre? Light the area immediately behind the TV. This is commonly known as 'Bias lighting'. This isn't some smoke and mirrors either. All major studios use some form of bias lighting. Imaging scientists such as Joe Kane helped to popularise it when he headed the SMPTE working group on the subject.
Preventing eyestrain isn’t the only benefit that accurate bias lighting can achieve. You will have....
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What does bias lighting do?
Proper bias lighting brings three key improvements to your viewing environment:
The MediaLight is a collection of industry-leading ColorGrade™ LED lights on an adhesive strip, that offers a simple and powerful bias lighting solution for any application. It is easily installed within minutes and, in most cases, powered via your television’s USB port, meaning the MediaLight will turn on and off alongside your television automatically. This makes the MediaLight a “set and forget” installation and, when you consider that all MediaLight bias light strips are backed by a five year warranty, means they are easily the best value upgrade you can make to your home entertainment environment.
But it’s not just for home theater applications - the MediaLight is used in professional color grading environments too. In fact, the MediaLight family now includes simulated D65 desk lamps and bulbs that all feature the same 98 CRI and 99 TLCI ColorGrade™ Mk2 LED chip as the MediaLight strips, and are backed by a three-year warranty.
You might think that OLED doesn't benefit from bias lights, but you'd be incorrect. Because of the better black levels and extremely high contrast ratios of OLED and Micro LED displays, eye strain is a bigger concern.
You say you don't experience eye strain? The perceived brightness or darkness of a display can still be enhanced and the contrast is still boosted, regardless of the capabilities of the display.
In the following image, we present two white squares in the center of of a black plus sign. Which one looks brighter?
They are both the same, and both are limited by the maximum luminance of your display.
However, if you said that the white square on the left looks brighter, you've just experienced how bias lights boost contrast. Many people mistakenly believe that bias lights only improve shadow details. Now you can prove them wrong. Bias lights enhance perceived contrast through the entire dynamic range -– not just shadows!
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