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Do it yourself: Building your own Ambilight
by Luca Fontana
Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip: The colour explosion in the living room
12.11.2020
Translation: machine translated
The Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip has been long awaited and is as long as its name. The list of necessary accessories is also long. The Ambilight for retrofitting is only worthwhile if you have a large TV and a large budget.
Before you scroll straight to the comments to write that the Gradient Lightstrip is too expensive and you can make your own ambient light for a fraction of the price, let me tell you: it's true. Of course. You're right. Hue products have never been the cheapest. If you're looking for a new TV anyway, you can buy a model with Ambilight right away. And if you want to tinker, solder and configure like our colleague Luca, you can get a really good Ambilight brand for less money.
Very cool, but time-consuming. Most of us like convenience. Philips Hue is a Starbucks-style temptation. There is cheaper coffee, there is better coffee. Nevertheless, the chain has conquered the world. Because it creates a feel-good ambience for which customers are happy to pay extra. It's a similar story with the market leader for smart lighting systems. Philips Hue has everything, looks high-quality and works without you having to think about it. Once you've acquired a taste for it, suddenly no extension seems too far-fetched. Especially if you've already set up an entertainment area with coloured light sources, the Gradient Lightstrip will fit in perfectly with your preferences.
I recently made a shrine for my TV to integrate three Hue Play Lightbars which are controlled via the Sync Box and pick up the colours of the TV picture. The Gradient Lightstrip is the missing piece of the Hue puzzle if you like "real" Ambilight on your TV. It is the logical addition to the range and is available for TVs from 55 inches upwards.
Fundamentals
To be able to use the Gradient Lightstrip, you need the Hue Bridge as a control centre. It can be controlled via the Hue Sync Desktop App on the computer if this is your video source. As the Lightstrip is intended for the TV, this will not be an option for the vast majority of people. Then the Sync Box is due.
You can use its four HDMI inputs to connect video sources to the TV, which are synchronised with the Gradient Lightstrip and your coloured Hue lights. If you play Netflix & Co. directly on the TV via an app, you'll be left out in the cold. In this case, the colours cannot be synchronised. The signal must pass through the Sync Box. A few of its weaknesses have since been fixed with an update: it now supports Dolby Vision/HDR10+, can be controlled via IR remote control (e.g. Logitech Harmony) and listens to Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri. In the Hue Sync app, you can change the intensity of the effects, adjust the brightness and select modes for films, music or games.
My setup on the TV looks roughly as the manufacturer intended. I'm now adding the Gradient Lightstrip. I want to test whether it outperforms the Hue Play Lightbars and how much added value it offers.
There's just one small problem. "Unfortunately, I could only get hold of the largest version as a sample," writes my colleague Jennifer von Burg. Unfortunately, I don't have a 75-inch TV. The Lightstrip is divided into seven sections that can be controlled by colour. Two on the left, two on the right, three at the top of the screen. The size must therefore be chosen correctly. It cannot be shortened or configured differently in the app. Hue assumes that it is mounted behind your TV and fits. Fortunately, I have a 75-inch piano.
Enlightenment
The beauty of Hue is that you can extend your Ambilight to the whole room. To do this, you create an entertainment area in the app and add up to ten coloured lights, which are then controlled together by the Sync Box. While the position of Lightbars and other lights in the room can be defined, the Lightstrip is always located behind the TV. I stick it behind the piano and simply move the TV in front of it - so I have a direct comparison with the effect of the lightbars.
Installation
The Gradient Lightstrip comes neatly rolled up, with five brackets and a power supply unit. If none of the three available lengths fits your TV, you should opt for the smaller size if in doubt and mount the Lightstrip slightly offset inwards. A distance of five to ten centimetres from the edge is recommended. It shines outwards at a 45-degree angle and, with a maximum of 1100 lumens, is bright enough to bathe your wall in rich colours.
There's not much you can do wrong when attaching: The brackets are attached with 3M adhesives, the light tube is clipped on and the power supply unit is plugged in. The installation also holds bombproof on the rough wooden back of my piano and the length of the light strip fits as if it was made for it.
As soon as electricity flows, it is recognised in the app. The only small pitfall in the process: If the software of your Sync Box is not up to date, it cannot control the different segments individually and the light strip only lights up in one colour. I wonder for a moment and then discover the missing update. The installation instructions in the app are not quite up to date: although they reliably guide you through the individual steps as usual, they recommend inviting a friend to help me. A friend? Invite home? That's so 2019! As long as you don't have to heave your TV against the wall, you can easily do it yourself.
Setting up
The Lightstrip is recommended in the app as ideal for the entertainment area. You can add it there and then forget about it, you have no further options. It is treated like a light source. This has the advantage that it only occupies one of ten places in the entertainment area and one of fifty possible places on the Hue Bridge. The disadvantage is that in light settings such as "sunset" it does not display a colour gradient, but only lights up in one colour. While my three Lightbars bathe the wall in shades of yellow-orange-red, the Lightstrip behind the piano glows blood-red. Another update could change this. At the moment, only a video signal reveals its true potential.
Impressions
All other lights off. Ambilight on. Film off. Once you've enjoyed the effect, there's no going back. If an oil drum explodes on the screen, your living room is on fire. In dark scenes, all that remains is a cold white glow that emphasises the tension and creates atmosphere. In this respect, the lightstrip outshines the lightbars with its power and presence. The stage on the wall belongs to it today. The Lightbars are further into the room and therefore lose some of their impact. Nevertheless, the short video shows the difference quite well: first you see the Lightstrip, which paints a harmonious colour gradient on the wall. Then you see the Lightbars, which act as spotlights to create harsher accents. The brightness is set to around 80 per cent and the intensity to "moderate".
What strikes me is that the Gradient Lightstrip is only based on the colours at the edge of the picture. This is actually a matter of course. Nevertheless, it's worth mentioning because I can see a difference to the lightbars. The Sync Box interprets the entire image and repeatedly picks out dominant colours that are output via the lightbars. You can see an example in the gif below: The scene is dark. While the light strip holds back, the upper light bar picks up the bright colour of the dress and radiates pink light upwards. This also works well as a single effect. And you have a certain amount of influence over it because you can change the position of the light in the app.
Depending on whether you select "Floor", "TV height" or "Ceiling", you get a different colour experience. This allows you to configure different entertainment areas that you can switch between. You don't have to worry about this with the Gradient Lightstrip. It only has one job - and it does it very well.
Restrictions
There are a few users who despair of the Sync Box Depending on the devices and formats used, the experiences can be completely different. For me, everything has been running smoothly for a year. When I switch on the TV, the Sync Box starts up and recognises the correct input. I have also never had any problems with thecopy protection. No matter what I stream via Prime or other apps - so far everything has been synchronised and I have few complaints. I would just like synchronisation to start automatically as soon as the TV is switched on. Pressing start or stop in the app or using the voice control feels superfluous. But that is a point for which the Gradient Lightstrip, which is the subject of this article, can do nothing.
Conclusion
The effect is great cinema. If you're already a Hue user, have a suitably large TV and want to pimp it up with Ambilight, the Gradient Lightstrip is definitely worth considering. Don't forget: The colour magic only works with Bridge, Sync Box and via external video sources, not with the apps on your TV.
The metre-long specialist with its seven light segments wins the direct comparison with the Hue Play Lightbar. It distributes the light on the wall more evenly and strongly. The space on the TV definitely belongs to the Gradient Lightstrip and it fits seamlessly into the Hue world. After the Sync Box came onto the market a year ago, it is only logical that it is now finally available. The fan community has waited long enough for this light strip.
Michael Restin
Senior Editor
Michael.Restin@digitecgalaxus.chSimple writer and dad of two who likes to be on the move, wading through everyday family life. Juggling several balls, I'll occasionally drop one. It could be a ball, or a remark. Or both.
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