{"id":16747,"date":"2018-10-29T15:33:44","date_gmt":"2018-10-29T22:33:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/?p=16747"},"modified":"2018-10-29T15:36:50","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T22:36:50","slug":"tcl-monitor-bias-lighting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/tcl-monitor-bias-lighting\/","title":{"rendered":"TCL Monitor and Bias Lighting &#8211; by George from Tulsa"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Guest Post by George from Tulsa<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><iframe style=\"width:120px;height:240px; float:right\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" src=\"\/\/ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com\/widgets\/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&#038;OneJS=1&#038;Operation=GetAdHtml&#038;MarketPlace=US&#038;source=ss&#038;ref=as_ss_li_til&#038;ad_type=product_link&#038;tracking_id=httppodfeecom-20&#038;language=en_US&#038;marketplace=amazon&#038;region=US&#038;placement=B01MYGISTO&#038;asins=B01MYGISTO&#038;linkId=884422b371ef593aea03fddb820217af&#038;show_border=true&#038;link_opens_in_new_window=true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>I recently re-configured my home computer desk which enabled me to replace a 27\u201d WQHD monitor with a 49\u201d 4K TCL ROKU \u201cSmart\u201d TV purchased for $320 at the nearby Best Buy.  Running the 4K TV at 1920 x 1080, I\u2019m able to scale both Mac and Linux UI to compensate for my increasing visual challenges.  Don\u2019t have vision issues?  The native 4K resolution would enable putting a lot of spreadsheets or Garage Band tracks on screen at one time.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d been listening to Leo Laporte and his \u201cHome Theater Geek\u201d Scott Wilkinson discussing 4K TVs on the \u201cTech Guy\u201d Podcast, and they both speak favorably of TCL sets.  My now three week experience verifies their accolades.  The image is better than good.  $320.  What\u2019s holding anyone back?<\/p>\n<p><!--more-->Over the last several weeks Scott has been fielding listener questions about \u201cbias lighting,\u201d a fancy way of referring to lights placed behind TVs to create an aura around the set that reduces the contrast differential of a bright set in a dim room.  It\u2019s supposed to ease eyestrain.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/2018-10-17-Bias-Light-Collage.png\" alt=\"2018 10 17 Bias Light Collage\" title=\"2018-10-17 Bias Light Collage.png\" border=\"0\" width=\"\" height=\"\" style=\"float:right;\" \/>I decided to test it out by putting a couple of LED lamps behind my new TCL, and was pleased with the effect.  The lamps weren\u2019t shaped right to stay there. The Goog showed that \u201cbias lighting\u201d kits are strips of LEDs on adhesive tape stuck to the back of a TV and aimed at a wall.  Some plug into the powered USB port on many new TVs and turn on and off when the set does.  More elaborate kits plug into AC power  and have dimming remotes that can also, like the Phillips Hue system, set color palettes.  I\u2019ve read that the most expensive ones will adjust the color palette to what\u2019s onscreen.<\/p>\n<p>Even after my test with LED Lamps, I wasn\u2019t sure I wanted to spend money on what might turn out to be a gimmick.  Best Buy sells a variety of bias lighting kits; the one with dimming and color control costs $60.  A big percent of my $320 TV!  Amazon has a wide variety, but there\u2019s that problem on Amazon of third party sellers offering junque and buying favorable reviews.<\/p>\n<p>Which led me, pun acknowledged, to Home Depot seeking LED lights that would work behind the TV, and for less than $60.  Nope.  And what was there was more expensive than Best Buy\u2019s bespoken offerings.<\/p>\n<p>On my dejected path toward Home Depot\u2019s parking lot, I noticed the Christmas Lighting display. A rope of white LED lights for $7?  Experimenting is fun, right?  I splurged on a 14\u2019 string for $12, knowing if the LEDs didn\u2019t work out behind the TV, it\u2019s about time to string them on the holly bushes to guide St. Nick to my stocking.<\/p>\n<p>What I learned from my Christmas light test is that Bias Lighting really is a good idea, and that while the Christmas lights work, they\u2019ll work best as Christmas lights.  I\u2019m going to upgrade, either to the Best Buy with remote, or possibly some alternative from Amazon.<\/p>\n<p>You\u2019ll find some pics of my home workstation in the show notes.  They give at least a hint how Bias Lighting can enhance both computing and TV viewing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guest Post by George from Tulsa I recently re-configured my home computer desk which enabled me to replace a 27\u201d WQHD monitor with a 49\u201d 4K TCL ROKU \u201cSmart\u201d TV purchased for $320 at the nearby Best Buy. Running the 4K TV at 1920 x 1080, I\u2019m able to scale both Mac and Linux UI [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16749,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[2839,1669,2161,2837,2838,580,2836],"class_list":["post-16747","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog-posts","tag-bias-lighting","tag-hd","tag-led","tag-roku","tag-smart-tv","tag-tv","tag-uhd"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/TCL-2922-tv.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16747"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16750,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16747\/revisions\/16750"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16749"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16747"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16747"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.podfeet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16747"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}