PERFECT ambient lighting for your RPTV (and others) (1 Viewer)

[JamesCB]

I got this idea from the Video Essentials DVD.

I attached (duct taped) an extension cord to the back of the TV, near the middle, and plugged in a night light (small 7 watt size, you know what I mean), and voila'. The perfect lighting. Turn off all other lights and enjoy. This totally releives the fatigue of watching in the dark, without adding any light to the screen. I am not kidding here, this works GREAT.

 

[MichaelDDD]

Pics? Don't know about having a heat source (light bulb) attached directly to flammable tape....

 

[JamesCB]

Sorry, I don't have a digital camera yet. But it is afixed in such a way that the bulb is uncovered. I taped the receptacle at the end of the extension cord to the tv, with the plug facing up and out (the back of my tv has a slope to it), and plugged a small night light.
Watching movies with all the lights off and just that little light on seems natural. Besides it kind of looks really cool. Crap, wish I had a camera.

 

[JamesCB]

"bump"

What do others use for ambient lighting while movie watching? Do you watch completely in the dark? Is this a dead subject?

 

[MatthewC]

I am using an 18" flourescent fixture with an F15T8 daylight bulb behind the RPTV pointing straight up about halfway up the wall.

 

[HienD]

I'm also using an 18" florescent light that is sitting behind the TV on a old entertainment unit. Light is facing up. The TV and audio system has it own separate stands. The old entertainment unit is housing a VCR and used as a storage unit.

 

[John Garcia]

I used a flexible necked 15w clip on desk lamp originally, so I could point it wherever I wanted. Now just for working on the back of the system.

I now use green rope lights behind my system. It looks cool shining through the frosted glass of my Salamander. Total cost for ropelight: $10

 

[JamesCB]

I thought I would see many more responses than this. It seems to me this would be a VERY important consideration in any home theater. Too much light on the screen would have a huge impact on picture quality, especially with highly refective RPTV screens, and no ambient light in the room (all lights off) seems to add some "viewers fatigue" (kind of like fatigue from speakers that are too bright).
A light source behind the screen seems to make the most sense to me. I was just looking for others thoughts on this subject and hear how others have their lighting for movie viewing.
Many of us here have our system in a living area (living room, bed room, etc.). How do those of you with dedicated HT rooms handle the lighting situation?

 

[Cliff Olson]

I have a couple of Sconces mounted on the wall behind my RPTV. They're on a dimmer, so light intensity is easily controllable. I really like the way they look, but they're also quite effective in emitting ambient lighting.

 

[MichaelDDD]

I guess I should've given my info in my first reply. :b

I have a 150w halogen trochiere (sp?) lamp that's controlled by a wall-mounted dimmer knob. I can turn it all the way down, and it's about a 15w nightlight brightness. When I need bright light, I just crank the knob up.

I'm a big fan of dimmers and have them in every room of the apt except the bathroom.

 

[Tim K]

I have an 18" flourescent light from an aquarium. I bought a 6500K "Spectramax bulb" for it at Petsmart. Cost was about $20 for the fixture and $6 for the bulb. Works great too.

If you want to be more "official" you can get an Ideal-Lume setup at http://www.cinemaquestinc.com for about $55...or go halfway and get the cheap flourescent fixture and just buy the 6500K bulb from cinemaquest for $16.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

I run a pair of spider lamps (each lamp has 5 heads that
extend up and arc out across the celing) hooked up to a pair
of X-10 Lamp Modules and an X-10 IR543. I can brighten or
dim both lamps to any level I choose. One lamp is in the
corner by the RPTV and Component rack and I have a macro set
up on my Phillips Pronto Pro for "Watch a DVD" that goes
through and turns everything on and switches everything to
the right inputs then it turns off all the lights and turns
on the 2 spider lamps and dims them to a level that I pre
set in the macro.

Works for me!

 

[Andy Goldstein]

i picked up a light fixture the other day that has two 10 watt halogen bulbs in it, about 10 inches apart. it has a 2-level switch, and i mounted it with foam tape to the sloped back of the rptv. lights up the wall behind the tv very nicely. my wife says it lets her watch the tv in a dark room now. she has always disliked watching tv in a totally dark room. said it hurt her head. all better now!

ag.