Setting up backlighting and need lamp suggestions...

[T-Rage]

First, here is a link to an article on backlighting...

http://www.keohi.com/keohihdtv/accessories/backlighting.html

I'm still a little confused though.

I know I need to get a 6500 Degrees K temperature and I know I have to get as high a CRI (color rating index) as possible (the closer to 100 the better at duplicating daylight).

I don't know what size to get. Should I get an 18" flourescent tube that can plug directly into an outlet behind my tv? Home depot has these.

What have ya all done regarding backlighting?

[T-Rage]

Well, I ended up finding the information I needed and thought I would post it to help out others.

From what I have learned backlighting is essential and has many benefits.

Watching tv in the dark is hard on the iris of your eyes and can cause headaches (I am already experiencing this). By using backlighting your eyes are more well adjusted and the iris doesn't have to open/close drastically during dark/bright screens (this physically hurts my eyes and my brightness/contrast are pretty low).

We need light in the flavor of 6500K to use as a reference in order to see color properly. This will make the colors on our tv's come to life. A perfect example is pictures taken inside in the evening versus pictures taken outside on a bright sunny day.

When you use backlighting it will make your tv seem brighter. Hence you can turn down the brightness and contrast even further. We all know that with lower levels of brightness and contrast we get a sharper picture. Also we get longer CRT life as we are running them at lower levels.

When you use backlighting you are ensuring that you are going to get the best skin color representation (something that is currently driving me crazy).

Ok. If for some reason you run your tv's color at something other than 6500K then I believe you would want to use a light that matches that temperature. Although, based on NTSC everyone should be using 6500K.

The light output from the backlighting should be 10% of the total light output of the display device. But I'm not about to get that technical with my light. Based on everything I have found the following setup will probably work pretty well. Obviously bigger rooms may require more wattage or multiple bulbs, etc.

Bulb Requirements
18", 24", or even 48" flourescent bulbs
Must be 6500 Degrees Kelvin
Should have a CRI (color rating index) as close to 100 as possible where 100 is as close to daylight as the lamp can get.
Should probably be around 15 - 25 watts depending on application (this is what manufacturers of lights specifically for home theater backlighting purposes are using)

Phillips makes a F20T12/D that is 6500K and has a CRI of 98 (sweet) at 20 watts
Westinghouse makes an F15T8 that is 6500K and has a CRI of 94 (still good) at 15 watts

I'm hoping I can get the fixtures and lamps at home depot (I'm going right after work tonight). I did see the bulbs and fixtures on their website.

Some people get the ones that plug right into an outlet behind their sets although this makes it tuff to turn on and off.

Other people get fixtures that can plug in with a cord and they mount the fixture to the back of the tv and this would make turning it on and off easier (just reach over the top and feel for the switch).

I'll post my results once I have it up and running!

[57U]

The correct term is bias lighting. See the following thread.

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2390&highlight=lighting

[T-Rage]

Well all I can say is wow! I picked up an 18" under the cabinet fixture and a plant and aquarium light (they didn't have 6500K so I had no choice but to go with this one which is 7500K and 15W). I simply sat it on top of my tv shining towards the wall. I temporarily blocked it with the box it came in so that no light hit me directly. The difference in color in the picture is night and day. I tested with the spiderman trailer. First I watched with the backlighting and I was blown away by color, clarity, etc. Then I watched in the dark and then with just a regular incadescent 40 watt lamp and both times was unimpressed. HD is also so much better! I told my buddy and he thinks I'm full of it. All I can say is that I just spent $8 on the fixture and $6 on the floursescent tube and I would have spent $100 for the end result. Before colors seemed flat and now they are so rich. Small price to pay for such an improvement. Anyone else shocked once they setup backlighting?

[FullBandwidth]

T-Rage thanks for sharing the details of all your research. If I'm understanding correctly, it looks like a (very) few dollars spent has really improved your watching experience. I have a huge lighting problem but you've given me some simple ideas to try out.

Cheers