Philips Ambilight Clone for your TV or Monitor Workshop

nacho · August 30, 2018, 12:50am

Classes on 9/8 (5-8pm), and 9/15 (6:30-9:30pm). You only need to attend one.

Ever seen the Philips Ambilight TV?

Now you can have it on any screen!

At the conclusion of this workshop, you should succesfully modified your televison or monitor to display dynamic LED lights behind your screen. These lights will change colors in corresponding parts of your screen based on what’s being displayed on the screen itself.

These lights have a few benefits:

Eases the strain on your eyes from looking at a screen for too long
Makes your TV look much larger than it is
Looks freakin’ cool!
And who doesn’t love more LEDs?

See this YouTube video for a similiar project: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvcR2td1Cso

This workshop will provide all the parts necessary for you to complete this project, including:

HDMI splitter
USB video grabber
HDMI to AV scaler
5 meter WS2801 LED strip (about 160 LEDs)
2x HDMI cables (one short, one long)
Female wire terminals
Power adapter
Power connecter
A few other miscellaneous parts

Optional (included, if you prefer a solderless route):

Corner connecters
Ribbon cable connecter

What you’ll need to bring:

TV or Monitor (up to 75" diagonal) Please message me directly if you would like to mod a larger TV. It’s possible, but I’ll need to do a little micromanagement.
A basic power strip
Raspberry Pi (any should do)
SD card that fits the Pi
Laptop (preferably Windows. Linux should work too, you’ll need to use Homebrew for Macs, I think)
Mounting tape (either 3M command strips or regular)
Cable ties

I’ll have most of this stuff available to use if you don’t have any, but please try to bring your own. I won’t have enough for everyone.

I have Raspberry Pi Zero Ws available for sale in class for $10, with unsoldered headers). 32GB SD cards available for $10 each, also. Please let me know if you plan to purchase either or both of these beforehand so that I can make sure to have enough.

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The preferred method for this project requires simple soldering of the LED strips. If you have no soldering experience at all, this project is a great first step. It’s very difficult to mess up, and if you do, it’s easy to manage and repair.

If you do have soldering experience, this should be a breeze.

If you prefer NOT to solder, I can supply ribbon connectors to use. Although the solderless route may seem simpler, I do not guarantee how well they connect. If you choose to go this route, I can try to help, but if the connectors aren’t touching perfectly, you will have problems. Soldering is the best way to go.

I’ll bring a couple basic soldering irons to get started. The Electronics room has plenty and much better quality tools than mine.

Lampy · August 30, 2018, 2:18pm

Are these on the calendar yet?

nacho · August 30, 2018, 3:34pm

I submitted the event but the system says it takes 48 hours to post.

Lampy · August 30, 2018, 3:53pm

Ahhh I see, it is an event instead of a class. coolio!

nacho · August 30, 2018, 3:58pm

It’s a class! But I’m not sure why it’s marked as event.

Lampy · August 30, 2018, 4:08pm

Hmmmm, it is listed under events:

But if i click on it to edit it it does show as a class:

I’ll page another event moderator (@Bill) that knows the calendar system better than I do.

nacho · August 30, 2018, 4:22pm

Great, thanks @Lampy!

LukeStrickland · August 30, 2018, 4:24pm

Non-honorarium classes go to the event queue.

Honorarium classes go to the honorarium queue.

indytruks138 · August 30, 2018, 4:24pm

This sounds awesome. My only hesitation is bringing my TV up to DMS. The transportation and movement scares me that I will break it.

Lampy · August 30, 2018, 4:48pm

Well, that just makes perfect sense!

nacho · August 30, 2018, 5:56pm

Understood! I’ll be bringing mine as a demonstration. I plan to place it in the back seat of my truck with seatbelts buckled and wrapped in a couple towels. That should be all that’s necessary for vehicle transportation. Once upon arrival at the Space, it’d just merely be the need to get someone to hold the door for you. Most flat screen TVs are most suited for one person carry.

bpamplin · August 30, 2018, 6:46pm

This sounds like a great class and I will be signing up. Its interesting that I do not recall a class featuring these strips and now we have two! Mine is very different and involves controlling the strips from an Arduino but not related to video. Its great that you will be furnishing parts. I provide 24" strips, a Nano,… for each student to use.

https://calendar.dallasmakerspace.org/events/view/7325

rbox80 · August 30, 2018, 7:05pm

Could probably just use a cardboard template and leave the tv at home.

Lampy · August 30, 2018, 7:08pm

The class this Saturday Sept. 1 is now live.

nacho · August 31, 2018, 2:41pm

That’s actually a really good idea. It would be good to have a picture of the back of your TV for reference, too.

nacho · August 31, 2018, 2:44pm

Hey, that’s a really cool class you got there. I’ve been wanting to learn more about how to use these LED strips in other ways. I’ll be attending yours as well.

HoarseHorace · September 23, 2018, 4:02am

Do you have to bring your TV? Hauling one in would be a bit of a pain.

What video do you have looping on the tvs @ DMS?

nacho · September 23, 2018, 7:40am

No, you do not need to bring your TV.

I would suggest a few things to have handy if you do not bring your TV.

A picture of the back of your TV
Dimensions of TV
Fullsized template, such as a piece of cardboard is probably best, as mentioned above. This template should have the layout of the back of your TV.

Another option:

We could get the hardware setup so that the software interacts with the hardware accordingly. Once we’ve ensured that everything works accordingly, you are free to take the parts home and assemble the rest of the hardware configuration yourself.

The only reason I suggest bringing your TV is because then I can help with some hardware layout or issues that may occur, but if you’re perfectly fine with assembling the system once it’s installed, I have no problem with taking the parts home unassembled.

A member did this succesfully so I know it will not be an issue. We got the lights to coordinate with his laptop as the source. Then, he completed the setup at home with the soldering, mounting, and calibrating. I will show you how to do everything in class.