If you’re searching for a reasonably priced, multi-color bias lighting strip for the again of your TV, the Luminoodle Color Bias Lighting makes for a strong selection. Boasting a variety of 15 colours, three fade modes, and an RF distant, the Luminoodle is simple to put in and helps to spice up the obvious distinction in your TV display screen. Like different colour gentle strips we’ve tried, nonetheless, this specific Luminoodle lacks a “true” (i.e., 6500Ok) white mode that helps to stop colour distortion within the image, whereas just a few extra brightness steps would’ve allowed for extra cautious calibration.
Installation and setup
Like many different bias lighting strips, the Luminoodle arrives wrapped round a plastic reel. Just unspool the strip, peel off the protecting backing, after which stick the strip onto the again of your TV, making certain first that the again of your set is clear and freed from mud. You can snip off any further size with a pair of scissors, as long as you’re cautious to snip alongside one of many protected areas marked by a skinny black line.
The Luminoodle Color Bias Lighting strip comes with an adhesive backing, in-line energy and colour controls, and an built-in USB Type-A connector for energy.
Exactly the place you select to stay the Luminoodle strip is a matter of style. If you desire a daring, vivid swath of bias lighting, you possibly can observe Luminoodle’s lead and stick the strip all the best way across the again of your set, leaving a few inches or so between the strip and the surface fringe of your TV. Because I don’t need my bias lighting overwhelming the image on my TV and “crushing” the black areas of the display screen, I opted for a single horizontal strip a few third of the best way down from the highest.
An built-in USB Type-A connector on one finish of the strip plugs into and attracts energy from the USB port on the again of your TV. If you’re fortunate, your TV’s USB port will energy the strip at any time when your set is turned on, in addition to swap the sunshine strip off while you flip your TV off once more. It’s solely potential that the USB port on your TV behaves in another way, nonetheless; for instance, it is perhaps on on a regular basis, through which case you possibly can manually swap the strip on and off utilizing the built-in energy swap or the included RF distant.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe included RF distant permits you to swap colours, change lighting modes, and regulate the brightness.
Another possibility is to plug the strip right into a USB wall adapter, useful for turning on some colour bias lighting when your TV is off; sadly (and just like different bias TV lighting programs I’ve examined), the Luminoodle doesn’t include a USB wall charger, so that you’ll should spring in your personal. (You can most likely snag one on Amazon for lower than $10.)
Usage
Once you have got the Luminoodle strip positioned on the again of your TV, you should use the distant to tweak its brightness and colour settings. The colour Luminoodle bias strip I examined doesn’t have a “true” white mode within the 6500Ok colour temperature vary, which is most well-liked by videophiles as a result of 6500Ok (or the D65 colour level, to get technical about it) is the usual utilized by the video {industry} to find out what “white” ought to seem like. That stated, of the 15 out there colours within the mid-range Luminoodle strip, I discovered a white that was moderately shut, if a tad on the purple facet. A pricier “Pro” model of the Luminoodle and a less-expensive white-only mannequin (which we haven’t reviewed but) each promote a 6500Ok mode.
Ben Patterson/IDGThe peel-and-stick Luminoodle Color Bias Lighting strip is simple to put in on the again of your TV (seen right here above a few competing bias lighting strips).
Besides permitting you to energy the lights on and off or swap colours, the Luminoodle distant permits you to cycle by a trio of modes that fade by all the varied colours; you possibly can management the velocity of this “color fade” mode utilizing a pair of further buttons. The mode isn’t good for a lot past funkadelic events or plain-old exhibiting off, nevertheless it’s there.
You may also regulate the Luminoodle’s brightness by urgent one more pair of buttons on the distant, however you solely get eight steps to select from (Luminoodle’s Amazon advert copy claims it has 10 steps, however I solely counted eight), which doesn’t permit a lot room for fine-tuning on the subject of calibration. I ended up settling for the Luminoodle’s lowest brightness setting, which was sufficient to assist increase the obvious distinction of my 10-year-old Sony Bravia TV with out crushing the black bars in my calibration take a look at sample. That stated, I might have appreciated slightly extra leeway on the subject of tweaking the brightness.
Performance
Despite the Luminoodle’s barely purple hue at its white setting, and its less-than-stellar brightness controls, the sunshine strip did an ample job given its price ticket. Once I had the lights (kind of) calibrated, they did a good job of giving my ageing TV a wanted increase in distinction. Again, in the event you’re a videophile who’s a stickler for correct colour, you would possibly wish to go along with a bias lighting strip that does a greater job of approximating the industry-standard 6500Ok colour temperature.
The Luminoodle lights additionally helped to alleviate the attention pressure that comes with watching a vivid TV display screen in a darkish room; certainly, I observed myself squinting quite a bit lower than I do with none bias lighting in any respect.
And talking of bias lighting, the Luminoodle’s different colour settings might function a pleasant bias gentle when your TV is off—though once more, you’ll most likely want to provide your individual USB wall wart to make it work in case your TV doesn’t have an always-on USB port.
Bottom line
Budget TV bias lighting strips don’t come with out compromises, and the Luminoodle Color Bias Lighting strip is not any exception. While this model of the Luminoodle brings 15 colours and three lighting modes to the desk, it lacks a real white mode, and it has fewer brightness steps than we’d like. As we talked about earlier, there are a few Luminoodle fashions that (in keeping with the producer, anyway) do supply “true” white modes, whereas our Editors’ Choice, the pricier MediaLight, is tuned for 6500Ok white, however doesn’t supply some other colour modes.