Ambilight is a world of color. The backlight can be made in the same shade as on the screen, or have a static white, red, blue or green color. Regardless of which setting is chosen, viewing such a TV will be epic. Ambilight is great for starting a party and can not only follow what's happening on the screen, but also react to music.
It automatically and intelligently adjusts the intensity and displayed colors based on the tempo, intensity and volume of the music. Despite the fact that the system comes with modern TVs, you can make Ambilight t with your own hands. The main advantage of making your own DIY home lighting solution is that you can add many more LEDs for a small price, allowing you to use 100-200 elements or even more.
Light show for Apple TV
Ambient lighting for TV- design improvement of viewing any movie. And if the screen does not support this function, you can easily perform it yourself.
Hardware for DIY Ambilight:
- Raspberry Pi 3 model B.
- USB charger or power supply.
- Micro USB.
- Three HDMI cables.
- SD card for Raspberry Pi.
- LED strip.
- HDMI AC/DC splitter.
- Software.
Before starting, download the latest version of the Raspbian operating system and install it on the SD card. You can download the program on the manufacturer's website, you can also find the installation manual there.
Algorithm for implementing Ambilight with your own hands:
- Connect an audio device. At this point, connect an HDMI multimedia device, such as an Apple TV, to the HDMI splitter and then to the TV. Start by connecting one of the HDMI cables from the output of the multimedia device to the input of the splitter. Then connect a second HDMI cable from the output of the first splitter to the desired port on the TV.
- From the second output of the splitter, connect the third and last HDMI cable to the input port of the HDMI/AV converter. When done, connect an RCA cable from the yellow video output on the splitter to the video input on the capture board.
- Next, do-it-yourself Ambilight lighting continues. Connect the LED strip to the mains and Raspberry Pi. Connect positive (5 V) andnegative (ground) pole to the 5V power supply and turn it on. Check for correct polarity. How to do it? The first indicator on the strip should turn blue.
- To make your own Ambilight, connect the light source to the Raspberry Pi GPIO pins by connecting the following pins: 9 (GND), 21 (DATA) and 23 (Clock). Colors may vary depending on the LED strip. The best way to connect the strip is to use jumper cables, but in principle you can use anything that creates a strong electrical connection - soldering and connectors.
- The software used to create the Ambilight effect is Hyperion, free and open source software. It's pretty easy to set up and even comes with a Java app for easy installation.
- When the program opens, go directly to the SSH tab and connect the Raspberry.
- Before making DIY Ambilight for TV, enter the correct IP address, username and password, then connect to Raspberry Pi.
- After logging in, click "show traffic" to see a full log of what's going on. Then press Inst./Upd. Hyperion to install software and necessary components on the Pi. If the process was successful, the colors will appear on the LED strip when Hyperion starts up.
- A detailed step-by-step guide to setting up the software can be found on the developer's website.
- Create a framework for the Ambilight, such as a few aluminum L-profiles, and cut them to size forTV. Drill holes in the right places and finish corners for strength and aesthetics.
- Finish the DIY Ambilight by attaching the frame to the back of the panel and removing the wires.
Amblone software
Amblone is certainly not the first system to create the Ambilight effect. There are other solutions on the web that more or less achieve the same effect as Amblone. Some of them are finished commercial products, some are DIY projects like Amblone.
In order to DIY Ambilight for TV, you will need the following:
- Amblone software.
- Microcontroller like Arduino Mega.
- USB cable.
- RGB LED strips that can be manually controlled. First you need to make sure that the strip does not automatically color the LEDs.
- 12V adapter.
- Electrical wires.
- Double-sided tape or other LED strip mounting hardware.
Arduino microcontrollers are ideal for beginners because they are affordable, easy to program, and offer many options for a variety of input and output devices. Most often they are used by radio amateurs when installing the Ambilight-backlight of the TV with their own hands. Amblone for PC currently supports up to 4 channels, so the Arduino Mega is a very good choice as it has 14 PWM.
Soldering and assembly of the lighting circuit
Arduino Mega has multiple Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) outputs. For each LED strip, you need to connect the red, green and blue wire to one of these outputs. To make DIY Ambilight for TV use pins 2-4 where pin 2 is red, pin 3 is green and pin 4 is blue. The second line uses pins 5 to 7, where pin 5 is red, pin 6 is green, pin 7 is blue, and so on.
Arduino cannot supply voltage to the LED lines by itself. For this reason, an additional power supply is needed. A 12V, 1A adapter will suffice. You will also need a resistor and a transistor for the red, green, and blue wires. Installation requires three 2200 ohm resistors and three NPN transistors that can switch 200mA at 12V for each channel.
In order to DIY Ambilight ws2812b, connect the Arduino output to a resistor, and the resistor to the base of the transistor. Connect the emitter to Arduino ground and the collector to the appropriate LED strip color for all RGB wires. Connect the common positive of the LED strips to the positive of the 12V adapter and the negative of the positive of the 12V adapter to Arduino ground.
The execution of the circuit is drawn up on a small fragment of the board with pin designations in order to be able to disconnect faulty parts if necessary. You can use an old network modem case to house the Arduino and electronic components. Then apply Ethernet cablesas power for LED strips. The result is a very nice and professional looking case with good parts and wires.
Arduino connection instructions
In order to DIY Ambilight Arduino for TV, download the appropriate software. To download, you need the Arduino environment, which can be found on the developer's website, here you can also find instructions for connecting.
Open the pde file in the environment and select the correct model by going to "Tools> Panel" and Arduino Mega. Also select the correct port in "Tools>" (serial). Then click the "Download" button. Once the code has been uploaded, the Arduino should automatically start up and open every time it receives power from either the USB cable or the power adapter.
Software when installing Ambilight-backlight TV do-it-yourself can be done on the Windows OS. For this, download Amblone for Windows. You can either download the binaries or the source codes and compile them yourself. After launching Amblone, an icon will appear in the system tray. Right-click the icon and select "Configure Amblone".
Next, you need to set important parameters. First of all, choose the monitor from which to get the average color, and indicate the RGB channels and the part of the screen that they represent. For example, if there is an RGB LED strip located at the top of the TV screen that is selected as a second monitor, and an LEDtape is connected to output pins 2-4, you need to select "Auxiliary Monitor" under "Source Monitor" and the part of the screen that the strip will represent in channel 1. This will probably be "top half" or "full screen". Stripes may emit non-standard static color. To do this, choose the "static" option.
The next important setting is the COM port. Select the Arduino COM port on the PC. Once the correct one is selected, the Ambione should automatically start communicating with the Arduino. The small LED will flash when receiving data. By connecting the LED strip adapter, you can make sure that they emit the desired colors.
Performance Tuning Tips
Once the Arduino is up and running, tune the software for maximum performance. Multiple options available.
The first is the accuracy of the color calculation. This option determines how many pixels will be used to calculate the average screen color. If the slider is turned to the right, the algorithm will run faster, but the color will be less accurate, which may cause flickering. Setting it to the left will give the best results, but it can slow down the process, causing the LED strips to change colors more slowly or interfere with other processes running on the PC.
The second option is the color darkness threshold. This option sets a threshold for pixels that is above the average value. It is very useful if the video that is playing does not take up the whole screen, but leaves part of the monitor black. It partially brightens the colors. However, the installation is tooa high threshold may cause some flickering.
Next comes the highlight color option. This feature causes the LEDs to move away from gray and white towards a more attractive hue. Setting the slider to the "Off" position slightly speed up the algorithm. If the colors that are emitted suit you, then the next option is not used.
If they seem completely different than the colors on the screen, you can try checking the checkbox to change red and blue values. Bitmaps are handled differently on some systems due to the fact that they are stored in RGB instead of BGR format. Setting this option will fix this and the correct colors will be sent to the Arduino.
Next comes the calibration. On most RGB LED strips and other light sources, red, green, and blue light do not have the same light intensity at the same currents. Because of this, mixed colors will not display correctly and become, for example, a little blue. If this is the case, you will have to move the slider for that color back to reduce its dominance.
You will also need to perform this calibration if the wall that the light is projecting onto is not completely white. In any case, a good way to calibrate Ambione is to select a white static color for all channels (255, 255, 255) and move the sliders until white light is projected onto the wall.
There is also a brightness slider. With this slider, you can reduce the entire light intensity of the Amblone installation. The last thing to change is some performance settings,for example, process priority. If you have problems launching Amblone next to a media player or video game, try changing this setting.
Technology lack lzh
Gorgeous DIY Ambilight Arduino LED lighting can be made using software and Processing for any plasma device. Such an Ambilight system is cheap, easy to modify, does not have a pass-through device and is suitable for TVs or monitors of different sizes. It provides diffused light around the flat panel, reflecting the colors seen on the screen. Experts call this project Ozilight. It will certainly make any TV much more interesting. This is a DIY option for Ambilight for PC.
The system works with the computer. Since a computer program will be used to capture and analyze the colors, this means that the TV or monitor will only input data from the PC and not from any other media source such as a DVD player or TV channel.
Equipment required:
- Computer.
- Arduino Uno, Nano or Mega, any microcontroller that supports SPI will also work.
- Ws2812b Digital LED Strip.
- DC power supply for 5V/2A LEDs, depending on how much ribbon will be used.
When buying RGB strips, it is better to choose "digital" RGB strips, such as WS2811 or WS2801. Some cheap tapes cannot change the color of each individual LED. You can also purchase single LEDs and connect themto the schema. Although it will be very bulky because of the cables, since there are 4 cables, resistors and other elements for each LED.
Arduino Uno can only handle 4 RGB LEDs, in most cases uses PWM without any other external devices. When using WS2811 LED strips, Arduino will be able to drive all LEDs with only one wire connection, excluding Vcc and GND.
WS2801 RGB LED strip provides cutting-edge technology with very fast response time, so the user does not notice any visible delay between the TV screen and the light. When you do your own Ambilight TV backlighting, Raspberry controls the operation of the LEDs. The cost of the tape is about 12 US dollars per meter. In order to determine how many meters will be required, check the dimensions of the TV or monitor. For example, for a 47-inch TV, approximately 3 meters will be required.
The choice of power source will depend on the length. Recommended LEDs require 8.64 watts per meter. Therefore, the recommended 5V, 6A power supply can provide up to 3.4m. For more than 3.5m, it is recommended to use a 10A power supply, which can support up to 5.7m of LEDs.
Screen capture color recommendations
Very easy and efficient to take screenshots and analyze colors with some JAVA libraries.
Advantages of processing as a programming environment:
- Cross-platform software can run on Windows, Mac andLinux.
- Uses C++ syntax.
- Has the same IDE programming convention as the Arduino. In fact, the Arduino IDE was founded to be a processing IDE.
- Supports some very powerful and handy Java libraries.
- Free.
For high-quality color reproduction, colors are analyzed at the edges of the screen. After capturing, the pixel frequency is reduced in one particular area to obtain an average color. Perform this simultaneously in several areas along the edge of the screen. Ultimately, you can use the color of each area to control the RGB LEDs. The LED marking system in the code follows the pattern. If, for example, there are 25 LEDs, the edges of the screen are divided into 25 small rectangles.
You can build a DIY Camera Gimbal robotic remote control. This is a very easy project.
The first part of the program code.
Preparing a 25 piece RGB LED strip. RGB LEDs are usually supplied as a strip, but it is better that they are separated and soldered together. To do this, use hot glue to strengthen the solder points.
The second part of the code looks like this.
Next, install the tape on the TV. Select the exact positioning of the diodes. They should be directed outward at an angle so they will be seen brighter from the front.
The third part of the program code is shown in the photo.
Connect Arduino, Power to transfer data. Use an external power supply - power adapter 5V 2A. The GND of the power supply must be connected to the Arduino GND.
The fourth part of the program code is on the photo.
Next, I use the software on the computer, prescribe all parts of the program code.
The fifth part of it looks like this.
LED strip control
With the Arduino, you can interact with the Processing app to integrate the system. In this case, it is quite possible to make DIY Ambilight for a TV without a computer.
You can use WS2811 RGB LED strip, it is not controlled by RGB PWM signals, but by another protocol which requires only one wire connection. It's pretty hard to do from scratch on your own. Fortunately, the Adafruit team has developed a library for this type of LED strip - NeoPixel.
25 LEDs will require at least 75 data to be sent each time a screenshot is taken. When sent, constant values are added, such as the characters O and Z. This is an identifier for the Arduino, so it knows that this is the start of new data. After receiving them, the application will receive the message "I'm ready, the next data packet, please." After that, a small adjustment of the position of the LEDs is performed.
Best ExperiencePhilips lights
Philips Ambilight is an exciting lighting system built into select TVs. Around the latter, there are LEDs that display the colors of the screen on the walls behind it in real time. This product is not available in all countries and can be quite expensive. But, fortunately, there is a DIY version of it that you can install yourself. An Ambilight clone made possible by using a Raspberry Pi, some LEDs and free software.
Equipment and supplies:
- Any HDMI source.
- Double-sided tape for attaching parts to the TV, 3 m.
- Raspberry Pi 2/3.
- At least 8GB Micro SD memory card and 2.5A power supply.
- LED strip (5m for 40" TV).
- 5V 10A LED power supply.
- HDMI splitter.
- HDMI to AV adapter.
- Video grabber.
- HDMI cable.
- Soldering iron.
First, measure the tapes around the screen you plan to use. Once the strips have been cut to size, gently solder the strips together, making sure they are connected to each other in the correct direction with the arrow that points down the side.
When power is applied to LED strips without software, some LEDs may not light up. This doesn't mean they don't work. You need to wait until the software is installed before concluding that theyout of order.
Set up the raspberry pi and install the OpenELEC operating system. At this point, run the Hyperion application on the computer and ssh into the Raspberry Pi. The settings you need to select for the Hyperion app will vary depending on the brand of TV. Following someone else's settings may not always give great results on a particular device.
There is a handy Hyperion Remote phone app that allows the user to easily connect to the system and fine-tune the lighting effects to their liking, as well as use preset modes, such as DIY Embilight for Samsung TV.
Lightberry HD background lighting effect
In order to have the effect of Philips Ambilight, it is not necessary to buy a new panel, you can get it on any plasma screen. The distribution network sells software kits that create much more exciting projects and are applicable to existing TVs. One of the best known is Lightberry, a company that has enhanced the viewing and gaming experience by using colored LEDs similar to the Philips Ambilight system.
Theoretically, the system is quite simple - using a Raspberry Pi as a processor in a do-it-yourself Ambilight runtime scheme for a TV via HDMI. The cable runs from the splitter to the Lightberry HD kit, which analyzes the outside edges of the picture being output to the TV. Then he recreatescolor and brightness with an almost instantaneous effect. The lights displayed at the edges of the TV create the illusion of an image extending beyond the edges of the TV and enhance the overall viewing experience.
Installing the system image on the Raspberry Pi when doing DIY Embilight for TV:
- Download the system image from the Lightberry HD website. This is a modified version of the popular Raspberry Pi KODI system designed to work with Lightberry HD.
- Download the software to install the system image on the microSD card. Mac users can use ApplePi Baker and Windows users can use Win32DiskImager, it's free and will do the job exactly.
- Insert a microSD card into a PC or Mac. This can be done through the SD card slot or through a USB SD card reader.
- Install the system image on the microSD card.
- In the section find the downloaded system image by clicking the three dots in the IMG Recipe section and "Restore Backup" to install.
- Windows users need to run Win32DiskImager as an administrator by right-clicking the utility and selecting "Run as administrator".
- Then view the image of the system booted earlier, select the letter of the SD card driver on the computer.
- Next, the program assistant will help you configure the software.
Ambilight is also the perfect accompaniment for gaming. When entering game mode, the speed at which colors can change is increased to better simulate actionon the screen. If the gamer loves first-person shooters or racing games, Ambilight is guaranteed to make them feel more involved in the action, with the added benefit of being able to DIY Ambilight without a computer.
