Lighting the room for HDTV

PHILLIPS AMBILIGHT
This comfort illumination approach actually works, but you need to attend to placement carefully, since backlighting the display will express every imperfection of a poor wall paintjob. Symmetry for this type of treatment matters, properly done there is proportional open wall space on all sides. I like the approach and its well suited for those that do not desire the HD screen to be so large as to take over the look of the room when its not in use, and conversely, totally invest its presence in the room when its in use. For a room with white/offwhite larger uncluttered walls, this is ideal.




AUREA
http://www.aurea.philips.com/
See this and you will get the idea that generation 2 has some new ambient lighting features, with a full spectrum variable lighting capability. Make big seem bigger is the thinking , but when you see a movie with this, the difference between dark scenes and bright explosive high action scenes is furiously dramatic. This display should probably be installed by a professional with experience and the ability to hide all wiring for maximum value of wall mounting. For a freshly designed living space with a new wall paintjob, this Phillips product has the makings of a distinctive must-see option to consider. ( read: we do not own one, but we want one )

SIZE
If your room has that clean scandanavian look like one of mine does, ( White/ Teak ) then this kind of display is stunning to consider, thinking that the HD screen is the source of nearly all light in the room when its on.

For a 1080p owner with an HD-DVD or Blu-ray player its really common to see people putting chairs at about 10 feet or less to the screen, its more detail immersive, and for us, its the ideal distance for game playing with the Wii. However many people have unmovable couches or room layouts that do not have chair placement fexibility. Hence a 42" screen is not as big of a feel to the room when its in use. Ambient lighting does make it seem larger, but at this time, its my opinion that 25-30 foot rooms can contain a 50-70" display without having a big black square occupy much attention when not in use. The Aurea is likely a perfect canditate for apartment dwelling people who desire their space to feel totally different during movie and tv watching experiences. It is designed for that, and when its on it will own the room, make you forget where you are.

Note: that Big is Good, and the 50" market is very strong. You can get an SXRD 50" for $1999 at 1080p and a very very strong picture intensity that suits all lighting conditions.

DAY NIGHT
There are a couple different ways in general for a flat panel system to present itself in a room, split to Day and Night basically. Since most TV and Movie viewing is an evening light condition, the lighting in the room is under your control. lighting the wallspace to the left and right is good for keeping the room usable, a dimmer is a good idea for that if you have std incandescent. We dont, since our Green Thinking pushes the flourescent bulb that doesnt do dimming. For such a situation, lighting behind a planter that indirectly illuminates is quite good.