Watching TV is a favorite way for many of us to relax and unwind, but did you know that the lighting in your room can greatly impact your viewing experience? While you might think watching in total darkness enhances the viewing experience, this practice can actually cause eye strain because you have to constantly adjust between the bright screen and your dark surroundings.
Thankfully, you can easily avoid this with some simple lighting adjustments — and your local electronics experts at Comanche Appliance Co Inc. are ready to dish on what those are! Let’s take a look!
Backlight Brilliance: Bias Lighting Explained
Have you ever seen homes with a strip of LED lights behind the TV? That's bias lighting! Believe it or not, this type of lighting, where a strip of lights is added behind your screen, can benefit your TV viewing experience!
- Reduces Eye Strain: Bias lighting helps to lessen the strain on your eyes by providing a soft light that balances the brightness of the TV with the surrounding darkness.
- Improves Picture Quality: The soft backlight increases your TV's perceived contrast, making colors more vibrant and blacks deeper.
- Easy Installation: Place the LED strip directly behind your TV. Ensure it provides an even glow that isn’t too bright or dim to avoid creating a distraction from the screen.
- Choose the Right Color: Stick with white or neutral-colored lights to maintain the true colors of your television display.
- Set Appropriate Brightness: The brightness should be enough to subtly illuminate the wall behind the TV without shining brightly into the room or causing glare on the screen.
Pro Tip:
You can also include adjustable LEDs in your bias lighting to sync the colors with the content you are viewing and create a more immersive experience!
Ambient Masters: Wall Sconces and Floor Lamps
While bias lighting works wonders directly behind your TV, wall sconces and floor lamps play a pivotal role in shaping the ambient lighting of your room for optimal TV viewing. These lighting fixtures are not just decorative; they help control the light in your environment to complement the glow of your TV without overpowering it!
- Strategic Placement: Position wall sconces to the sides of your TV, ensuring they illuminate the room gently without casting direct light on the screen, which could cause glare. Floor lamps should similarly be placed slightly behind and to the side of the viewing area or in corners where their light can diffuse evenly.
- Control Intensity: It’s essential to have the ability to adjust the brightness of these lamps. Dimmable lights are extra helpful!
- Choosing the Right Bulbs: Use bulbs that emit soft white light or warm bulbs to enhance viewing pleasure by providing a cozy, inviting glow that complements the TV light without skewing color perceptions (bright white or blue may interfere with the colors of your screen!)
- Avoid Shadows: Ensure that the placement of your lamps does not cast shadows on the screen or create distracting light patterns in the viewing area.
Perfect Harmony: Balancing Screen Brightness with Room Lighting
Getting the lighting right in your TV room isn't just about adjusting the lights around you — it also involves fine-tuning your TV screen brightness to work in tandem with your ambient lighting.
- Match Screen Brightness to Room Lighting: Avoid setting your TV brightness too high in a dim room or too low in a brightly lit room to reduce eye strain!
- Use Light Dimmers: If you have adjustable room lighting, use dimmers to fine-tune the ambient light to match your TV viewing need and help make colors pop and blacks deeper on your screen.
- Adjust TV Settings: Modern TVs offer various viewing modes — standard, cinema, sports, etc. — that optimize different aspects of the picture according to what you are watching; try experimenting with them!
- Consider the Use of Task Lighting: If you need additional light, consider using task lighting that can focus light away from the TV and onto specific areas that require illumination.
- Minimize Direct Light Sources: Position lamps and other direct light sources so they do not cast light directly onto the screen. This helps minimize reflections and glare that can detract from your viewing experience.
Clear View Ahead: Practical Tips to Combat Glare
Glare on your TV screen can turn an enjoyable viewing session into a frustrating ordeal. To ensure that reflections and glare don’t spoil your experience, consider these practical strategies to optimize TV placement, enhance screen technology, and adjust room lighting effectively.
- Strategic TV Placement: Position your TV to avoid direct light sources such as windows and room lights. If direct placement isn't possible, use adjustable mounts to fine-tune the angle, avoiding direct reflections.
- Utilize Anti-Glare Technology: Opt for TVs with built-in anti-glare technology. These screens feature a matte finish that reduces light reflections, making them ideal for brightly lit rooms.
- Optimal Lighting Setup: Arrange lighting to minimize direct exposure to the TV screen. Use soft, diffused lights like wall sconces or floor lamps with shades positioned to bounce light off walls and ceilings, not the screen.
Pro Tip:
Avoid placing lamps directly opposite mirrors or other reflective surfaces that could redirect light back onto the TV screen — use shades or positioning to diffuse the light instead!
Light Up Your Viewing Experience
As you can see, with the proper lighting, TV settings, and anti-glare tech, you can make every binge-watch session all the more comfortable! But if your current TV setup isn't bright enough or the colors are dull, it sounds like you're in the perfect position to upgrade at Comanche Appliance Co Inc.! We carry top brand TVs in the big sizes you need to make your TV-watching all the better.
And if you have any questions about which TV to upgrade to, reach out to our team — we're always happy to help!