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For the past 6 years with my old plasma, I always watched with the lights on. It was more enjoyable and I tended to get headaches if I had the screen on with the lights off. Last month I replaced my old plasma with one of the new kuro models from Pioneer. The most dramatic improvement is the black level, and now I prefer to watch with the lights off. I'm wondering if this is unique...do most people with plasmas or LCDs that don't have true blacks prefer to watch with plenty of ambient light?
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Follow Ups:
Question: When the house lights go out in a theater, do they go completely dark or is there some spot lighting remaining? Think about it.
I use an Ideal Lume 18", 6500K fluorescent behind the screen and VERY dimmed incandescent lights just behind our viewing sectional. Much less eye strain, and the light behind my plasma helps make blacks even blacker and colors "pop."
Just my 2 cents, but you can check out the attached link for more information.
I keep a 15-watt incandescent lamp on behind the couch (low, below the top edge of the couch) and two 7-Watt incandescent (bare-bulb) nitelites behind the TV and rest of equipment. Overall, the color temp of my room and this lite is quite warm, but the overall lite level is rather low...gloomy in fact...maybe JUST a little brighter than a typical movie theater. If I read while watching, I turn on a 75-Watt incandescent behind me and to my left. Because it's somewhat high and I tilt the top of the TV toward me to reduce reflections, the picture is still QUITE good enough.
I have a 67" Samsung DLP-type RPTV that is often too bright even tho I've turned the normal white level/contrast control to zero and the maintenance WL/C control to its lowest setting.
I found that adding the little lites behind the TV reduced glare and eyestrain and hence headaches when I watch for more than a few hours.
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Tin-eared audiofool and 1000-yard benchrest shootist.
http://community.webshots.com/user/jeffreybehr
The disc input is self-calibrated with digital video essentials and looks its best with the lights off. For HD and standard def TV brightness and contrast are optimized for viewing with some ambient light. Most of the time I just have on the 2 light sconces with 40w bulbs I have in the rear corners of the room.
My day job is spent entirely on a computer which is another issue and I have been watching lots of movies in hi def lately. I decided to try a pair and they have avoided some headaches. I watch movies with the lights completely off now and I couldn't do that before.
While a "dedicated A/V room" or "lights off" environment is preferable, watching during the day or with limited lighting at night is also OK -- provided the distractions are as close to zero as possible. The phone ringing, kids playing games, dishwasher running or other activities going on in the house that impact the "theater immmersion factor" don't lend themselves to an enjoyable movie watching experience.
Oh yeah, the light question. When I had a dedicated A/V room, music listening and movie watching was done with the lights off. And all viewable equipment was "modified" for zero light output and the rest were enclosed in a hand-made equipment rack specifically designed for zero light leakage. Black curtains all around the room and both windows were sealed to block all light transmission.
I've got a 32" LCD. I'm retired and often watch a rented movie during the day when there's a lot of ambient light in the room. At night I tend to have the lights on if I'm watching the news or something similar on TV while having dinner or doing other things but if I'm settling in to watch a show I really like or watch a DVD at night I turn off the lights and keep one very small nightlight on behind me to provide some illumination so I don't fall over something if I get up.
Overall I think things do look better with the lights out but they also look pretty good with the lights on or with ambient light during the day.
David Aiken
nt
daylight balanced fluorescent tubes behind the DLP.
Certainly off, except for a couple of 40 watt incandescents as ambiance– pointed away from the display! Currently with a Panasonic TH-50PZ700U.I kinda don't understand the angst over the whole issue of lights on or off, since we all go to the cinema, and the lights are generally off (^_^)
Even when the picture is absolute black, plasmas and LCDs emit some light. The new generation models do a much better job with black levels which makes watching in the dark much more enjoyable.
-------------"I have found that if you love life, life will love you back." -Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Off, with a very small light on in the corner so I can see my munchies. SXRDs have good blacks, and benefit from the dark.
\Jack
I use an Infocus X1 PJ, and prefer my ceiling flood lights on. I built a full wrap sconce around the ceiling for this purpose, with rope lighting inside. You can just barely see the sconce in the lower right area of this old picture (while I was still installing stuff).
Off with a bias light behind the monitor.
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