Best TV Backlights in 2024

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Adding ambient lighting behind your TV can instantly transform your viewing experience and help reduce eye strain and fatigue when watching TV at night. The best TV backlight kits take it a step further, matching the colors on your TV screen for a truly dynamic and immersive atmosphere. Vibrant hues and lighting effects dance in sync with the action, pulling you deeper into your favorite movies, shows, and games. This guide explores the top LED backlights for TVs, from budget to premium options with instant and accurate color matching.

Smart lights are easy to control and add lots of fun to any living or gaming room. With so many options, which lights should you purchase first?

While Govee and Nanoleaf continue to offer the best RGB lighting on the market, they each also have vast lines of various product types. From string lights to light ropes to entire mirroring kits, the answer is not as simple as you might think when you first start to consider adding a backlight to your screen.

The Govee Envisual TV Backlight T2 checks all the right boxes for a TV backlight kit that changes color with the picture on TV. It works with all TV content, boasts vivid and accurate dynamic lighting with its improved dual-camera design, and costs much less than Philips Hue.

Govee is way ahead of the curve as far as smart lights and TV backlights go, and the Envisual TV Backlight T2 is their finest offering yet, featuring a dual camera design and RGBIC light strip to deliver beautiful and immersive adaptive background lighting. Unlike HDMI sync boxes that only work with devices plugged directly into them, the T2's camera technology seamlessly adapts to any on-screen content. This means you can enjoy the immersive lighting experience with your favorite streaming apps, built-in smart TV apps, gaming consoles, and even content cast from your phone or laptop.

The Envisual TV Backlight T2 is the first to feature a dual-camera design, offering better color-matching accuracy than the original model. When we reviewed the Envisual TV Backlight T2, the camera effectively captured all the quadrants of the TV accurately and quickly reacted to scene changes with only minor delays in fast-paced scenes. With 60 LEDs per meter, the light strip produced vivid effects with smooth transitions between scenes, creating an immersive experience without distracting the eyes.

With an increasing number of TV backlighting systems on the market, discover if recent updates make the Govee Envisual T2 the one to buy.

Govee includes everything you need to install the light strip on the back of your TV or monitor. Once installed, you can easily control the lights via the Govee Home app, the included control model, or voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. You can choose between dynamic and static lighting modes in the app, or adjust settings like brightness and color saturation for a personalized and captivating experience. While the Envisual TV Backlight T2 might seem expensive, compared to similar Philips Hue kits, it offers excellent value for anyone looking for a reactive TV backlight kit.

The Lytmi Fantasy 3 TV Backlight Kit is the best sync lighting for gamers and movie buffs looking for a highly accurate TV backlight kit with zero lag and delays, even in fast-paced scenes and bright rooms. It only works for devices connected to the TV via HDMI, but it delivers a truly unrivaled viewing experience and immersion once set up, along with support for 4K/120Hz gaming.

While camera-based TV backlights offer excellent features, they can introduce slight delays in response to fast-paced scenes and don't work well during the day. The Lytmi Fantasy 3 TV Backlight Kit addresses this by syncing the lights digitally through a sync box, providing incredible accuracy and instant response to changing scenes even in bright environments. It can respond to fast scenes more quickly and accurately than cameras, providing a more immersive experience, whether watching action movies or playing FPS games.

The Fantasy 3 TV Backlight Kit is simpler to set up and boasts a cleaner aesthetic with no distracting cameras in sight. With four HDMI ports, users can connect multiple devices like gaming consoles, PCs, and streaming boxes. Unlike other sync boxes from Govee and Philips Hue, the Lytmi supports HDMI 2.1 bandwidth, making it an ideal choice for gamers and Apple TV 4K users. It can pass through a 4K/120Hz from your PS5 or Xbox Series X and handle Dolby Vision movies in Apple TV 4K all while enhancing immersion with instant bias lighting.

Controlling the lights is easy via the Lytmi Home App or hands-free with Alexa, Google Assistant, and Samsung SmartThings. In addition to video sync, you can synchronize the lights with music or choose from the multiple static modes and scenes. The light strip is available in different sizes to fit TVs ranging from 27 to 120 inches. However, unlike camera-based systems that offer wider compatibility, the Fantasy 3 TV Backlight Kit (and similar sync box lighting) only works with HDMI sources and won't sync lights with the smart TV's built-in apps.

While Nexillumi LED Lights for TV lack the advanced features of Govee and Lytmi, they provide a budget-friendly option for beautiful bias lighting. It can react to music and offers multiple dynamic and static color presets to turn your living room into a home theater without breaking the bank.

The best TV backlight kits can cost a pretty penny, but you don't need an expensive backlight kit to transform your living room. The Nexillumi LED Lights for TV delivers vibrant bias lighting for under $15. While it doesn't directly respond to on-screen content like the premium offerings, it offers sound reactivity and various scene modes for a more immersive and comfortable viewing experience, especially at night.

The Nexillumi LED Lights are available in multiple lengths to fit different TVs up to 75 inches. They come pre-applied with adhesive for easy installation on the back of your TV and plug into one of the TV's USB ports for power. You can control the lights using the included remote or download the Illumi Home app to unlock a wider color palette and advanced controls like dynamic lighting modes and color saturation. While not the most high-tech option, Nexillumi delivers effective bias lighting at a fraction of the cost.

The Philips Hue Play Gradient Lightstrip 55-inch with Bridge is the best LED backlight kit for Samsung TV owners. It costs more than the competition but offers unmatched color-matching accuracy and responsiveness when paired with the Hue Sync TV app for Samsung TVs. It works with all TV content and delivers Philip Hue's vibrant colors and immersive, dynamic scenes.

The Philips Hue smart lights are on the higher side of the pricing scale than other brands, but they are absolutely worth it. The Play Gradient Lightstrip 55-inch with Bridge bundle offers excellent surround lighting for TVs with multiple color-changing modes, dimmable brightness, and voice assistant support. The light strip can also synchronize the colors with the TV, but you'll need the $250 Hue Play HDMI Sync Box to unlock the feature. However, if you have a 2022 or newer Samsung TV, you can skip the sync box and sync the lights directly using the Hue Sync TV app for Samsung TVs.

Samsung has many top-notch TV models with varying capabilities. This guide helps narrow the search for the right one.

The app combines the best camera and sync box backlight systems, delivering highly accurate and instant color changing. It also supports both smart TV apps and external devices like the PS5 and Apple TV 4K. You can unlock more features and customizations in the Hue mobile app to take total control of your ambient lighting and even link other Philips Hue lights. However, the Samsung Hue app costs an additional $130 (or a $3 monthly subscription), but it's still cheaper than the sync box and provides more features and a more immersive experience.

If you don't want to stick adhesives and stickers to your new shiny TV, the Govee RGBIC TV Light Bars offer a perfect alternative. These light bars can be mounted at the back of your TV or the top of a desk and instantly upgrade your setup with beautiful, immersive lighting that can dance to the beat of your music.

The Govee RGBIC TV Light Bars are a perfect alternative if you don't want to go through the hassle of lining up light strips or attaching adhesives to your TV. They are simpler to set up and offer flexible placement options while still offering the same level of immersion as the best light strips. Stand them next to the TV or mount them at the back of the TV for a more permanent setup, and they instantly upgrade your entertainment center with vibrant, pleasing backgrounds to make your movies more immersive and enjoyable.

Setting up the light bars is pretty straightforward in the Govee Home App. You can adjust the brightness, change colors, connect to Alexa or Google Assistant, and choose from the multiple color modes and preset scenes to set the mood for a gaming or movie night. However, while they can't sync the colors with what's displayed on the TV, they can react to the sound of music, so it's not entirely a deal-breaker, especially considering the price. You can also link the light bars to existing Govee smart lights, transforming your home into a vibrant atmosphere.

The Nanoleaf Essentials Matter Lightstrip is a perfect option if you're looking for a TV LED backlight that supports Matter and Thread. It is easy to set up and offers a collection of color-changing modes and animations to transform your living room. Solid Apple Home support also makes it ideal for Apple users.

Nanoleaf is known for its smart light panels, but they also make beautiful color-changing light strips that can add pleasing backgrounds to your TV. Their Essentials Lightstrip stands out with its support for Matter and Thread, the open-source standard that promises compatibility between different smart home devices and ecosystems. As a result, these light strips work with all major smart home ecosystems, including Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Home, and even Razer Chroma for gamers.

Nanoleaf Essentials ushers in a new era of smart home lighting. Find out how Matter and Thread can change your gaming room lighting for the better.

Game Rant was very impressed with the light strip's ability to output highly tunable white light during a hands-on review, as well as with the Circadian Lighting feature that lets the lights circle from the brightest to the warmest whites, depending on the time of the day. You still have the option to choose from 16 million playful colors and dynamic color palettes to set the mood for any occasion. The Nanoleaf App unlocks even more customizations, and if you're in the Apple ecosystem, the Apple Home app works like a charm too.

However, the light strip only displays one color at a time, unlike other strips that can show a blend of different colors. If this limitation isn't a deal-breaker, you're getting a brighter TV backlight kit with full compatibility with all major smart home platforms. Even better, it can match the colors to what's displayed on the screen when connected to the Nanoleaf desktop app on PC.

Govee's TV Backlight 3 Lite is an entry-level TV sync lights kit, offering beautiful ambient lighting and accurate color matching at a budget-friendly price. While it lacks the advanced dual-camera design of the premium Envisual TV Backlight T2, it's ideal for those looking for an affordable LED backlight that changes with the picture on their TV.

Aimed at budget-conscious users, Govee's TV Backlight 3 Lite is a great choice for those who want an LED backlight kit that can sync colors with the image displayed on their TV. This kit features Govee's brilliant RGBIC light strip and upgraded camera with fish-eye correction technology to ensure accurate color matching, even for the far edges of the TV. While it handles fast-moving scenes admirably, it can't quite match the precision of the dual-camera Envisual TV Backlight T2. However, most users will hardly notice the difference, unless they're watching movies with fast-paced scenes or playing racing games.

Despite its price, the Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite has many features. Game Rant found out how the latest release changes the backlighting scene.

Unlike HDMI sync boxes, the TV Backlight 3 Lite works with all TV content, including built-in smart TV apps and external devices like gaming consoles. You can connect the light strip to other Govee smart lights and sync them together with your TV for the ultimate ambient lighting. The Govee Home App unlocks the full capabilities of the light strips, including dynamic scenes and color palettes inspired by the Dune movie. However, the installation process requires some patience, but once you get it to work, the Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite can transform your space for a truly immersive experience, all at an affordable price.

When choosing a TV LED backlight, consider the following factors:

The best TV backlights can sync colors with the TV picture for a more immersive experience. TV sync lights use a camera or sync box to synchronize the colors. Camera systems work with all TV content but may struggle with very fast scenes and bright environments. Sync box systems are accurate even in fast-paced scenes and bright rooms, but they only sync lights from external devices like gaming consoles.

If you want to add lights to your smart home, ensure they support the appropriate smart home platform standard. Check for Google Assistant, Amazon Alexa, Apple Homekit, and more. This will allow you to control the lights using voice controls and setup routines. Newer TV backlights with Matter support offer seamless compatibility and interoperability between all popular smart home standards.

Lighting is one quick way to make your stream look so much more professional while also adding a bit of flair to your setup.

TV backlights add a new dynamic to your viewing experience, pulling you deeper into your movies and games and making you feel like a part of them. Additionally, TV backlights help reduce eye strain when watching TV at night, making them a worthwhile addition for movie buffs and gamers.

An RGBIC TV backlight refers to light strips equipped with advanced IC (Independent Control) chips. This allows them to display multiple colors simultaneously on one light strip. RGBIC technology is used by Govee in their light strips and TV backlights.

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