Day lamps as background for LCD tv in the dark?

Question

I have been doing some reading on improving LCD television watching experience in the dark and I came across an advice to use a 6500 degrees kelvin daylamp behind the television to reduce eye strain.

I was hoping to get further advice on this.

Also, I was hoping to get advice on which lamp stand would be best for this purpose? Is it a desk lamp, etc? Will I burn my tv?

Well priced models/brands and links for shopping will be appreciated.

Answer 1

The reason that the television itself even causes eye strain in the first place is because the manufacturers have them set in dynamic mode, often called "torch mode."

The reason that they put the television set in this mode is to attract attention to their sets.  Most television sets are generally produced with the same brightness overall (500 millicandles).  However, people in general associate the best set with the brightest set.  This mentality by the consumer is a major detriment to them and major cinephiles as the television industry adjusts for this, actually making their sets worse out of the box.

The way the manufacturers adjust for this is by altering color temperature.  Complete white lies at a color temperature of 6500 Kelvin.  However the companies are able to set the television set to higher color temperatures rather than setting them to absolute white.  The end result is that they tweak the screen to display white at a temperature anywhere from 9500 to 15000 Kelvin.  They do this because the hotter color temperatures hit the eye at a faster frequency making them appear brighter when in all actuality they are at the same brightness.

This is bad for the consumer for numerous reason.  First, it's bad just plain bad for you.  It's what gives you the sore eyes and the headache after watching too much television.  The second reason is it alters the appearance of color.  By changing white balance, greens become more bluish-green, brown becomes more orange, blue becomes extreme, and white becomes bluish or purplish white.  The third reason is it shortens the life of the set.  The hotter the color temperature, the lesser life you'll receive on the set.  The forth is the result that you saw in a H.I.D. lit store doesn't show up the same in your home and often is too extreme for the viewer.

The best way to reduce eye strain would be to get the set calibrated.  The easiest way to do this is to go to any home theater retailer and purchase optimization from them.  It is a service performed by C.E.D.I.A.-1 certified individual and sets your television set to the standards set by the Image Science Foundation.  This will get you the optimal results and will result in the least eye strain.  The downside is that the cost is around $300.

Another way to deal with it is through an optimization disk.  These are generally anywhere from ten to 50 dollars.

Here is one place to get the optimization from:

http://accucalhd.com/pricing.htm

Or you could always go with a major retailer.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?...

Hope this helps.

Answer 2

LCD, PLASMA  always read before you buy on LCD is ideal for brighter rooms and the PLASMA is great for darker rooms.    

Answer 3

Subdued lighting has always been the key for watching colour TV. The easy way is to get a Philips TV with the incorporated backlighting.  

Answer 4

The lamp is not expressed in intensity rather color temperature. 6500 would be close to incandescent, however you would not want more than a few watts at best. You want it behind the TV so that the lamp would not contaminate the image.