I am looking for one of those "Bias Lights" i see in home theater magazines. I want one preferably with colored gels (at least a blue one) and i want the bulb to be that "daylight" color. I'm not looking to spend more than 30 bucks. Thanks.

I'm not sure, but I hope someone does. I would *think* that you would need some sort of incandescent light bulb to simulate natural light (as opposed to flourescent). I know you can buy lights like this (tube lights you plug in) at Target and such, but I doubt they are incandescent (do thet make tuebs incandescent?). Anyone else help out?

Try http://www.cinemaquestinc.com/ideal_lume.htm

You can build your own using a small flourescent light fixture available at any store, but the bulb is the tricky part. I believe you need a 6500 K bulb, and I'm not sure how easy or difficult they are to find. A search of the Internet should bring up some specific manufacturers and model numbers. I also believe that Home Theater Mag had instructions about 2 years ago, maybe archived on their website?

If your falling asleep during a movie you have one of several other problems..
1. Your over tired and should just go to bed
2. Your watching a chick flick.
3. Your watching a boring movie.
4. Your TV is not loud enough.

I agree with Andre but just in case you'd like some useful information I wanted to let you know that 6500k lights are very common in the aquarium industry. Most pet stores should sell them.

-Gonnosuke

Aquaria lover...

quote:<HR>Originally posted by ANDREMIKE:
If your falling asleep during a movie you have one of several other problems..
1. Your over tired and should just go to bed
2. Your watching a chick flick.
3. Your watching a boring movie.
4. Your TV is not loud enough.<HR>

You forgot the most obvious problem..
5. You were extrememly high and are starting to come down from it.

You should be able to pick one up in Home Depot. Look under lighting for a flouroscent lamp rated for 5000K.

Buy a low enough wattage of the lamp so that the light is not too distracting.

Personally, I prefer total darkness when I am watching movies at home (I have tuned my TV for that condition).

-The EDIT KINK
[This message has been edited to commemorate the Ru Paul day (edited January 12, 2001).]

Actually there is a reason to having your tv backlit. And no, it's not too keep you awake
It has to do with eyestrain and the effects of watching a movie in total darkness is not good for you.
Check out this link (as DigIt posted before me) http://www.cinemaquestinc.com/ideal_lume.htm

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you can also get 6500k bulb's at any photo store, though they may not be low enough in wattage for your purpose. I just use a "tube" light fixture with a 40W bulb behind the TV. Works fine for me. I have it plugged into the switched outlet on my receiver so it comes on whenever I power up the HT.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by audrey:
you can also get 6500k bulb's at any photo store, though they may not be low enough in wattage for your purpose. I just use a "tube" light fixture with a 40W bulb behind the TV. Works fine for me. I have it plugged into the switched outlet on my receiver so it comes on whenever I power up the HT.<HR>

That's a pretty good idea. I have a problem with the flourescent light though. Doesn't it look unnatural? Incandescent lights are much better I think because they do not have such a hard edge to the lighting, more of a soft natural light.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by DigIt:
I also believe that Home Theater Mag had instructions about 2 years ago, maybe archived on their website?<HR>

Yep, here is is...

http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?49

The problem with 6500k light is that it appears unnaturally blue. Since my only experience with it is in aquaria I have a feeling that the lights I'm used to are much more powerful than what you'd use for a home theatre. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at really low wattages.

-Gonnosuke

SirPablo, yeah, I don't like flourescent light either; the flicker bothers me, the light seems a bit green, and they can impact the sound reproduction. That's why I use a low watt incandescent .

[This message has been edited by audrey (edited January 15, 2001).]

quote:<HR>Originally posted by Gonnosuke:
Since my only experience with it is in aquaria I have a feeling that the lights I'm used to are much more powerful than what you'd use for a home theatre. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad at really low wattages.<HR>

I believe that you are supposed to buy gels/filters to attenuate the brightness, but again, I don't know the specific shades that are appropriate.
There are also 'full spectrum' light bulbs which may come in lower wattages but more closely represent natural white light.

ADD: Here's the link to the article I mentioned: http://www.hometheatermag.com/showarchives.cgi?49


[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 15, 2001).]

Does anyone know of any place that sells these gels? Anyone tried contacting someone at HT mag and ask them? I'll search around a bit and see if I can find anything.

EDIT...

Ok, I looked around some more and it seems like these are readily available light bulbs in an aquatics dept (as previously mentioned). The light bulbs are metal halide, and the 6500k bulbs are 175 watts. They seem to be rather expensive though, aproaching $90 at most places. Here is one site to check out...

http://www.worldwidepetsupply.com/wo...al-halide.html

Hope this helps you guys out. I think the price will scare me away for right now (a college student has better things to do with $90).

[This message has been edited by SirPablo (edited January 15, 2001).]

I just got a cheap 3.99 can light from lowe's and stuck it behind the tv shining up the back wall. It's basically a soup can with a socket in it for a light bulb. It works well, especially dimmed with x10 stuff. Might not be what your looking for though

Dave

FYI, I just searched a bit and it seems that full-spectrum bulbs are approximately 6000K and cost about $8 for a 60-W bulb.

ADD: I just came across this site with a list of various bulb manufacturers and their color temp. Looks like they're all aquarium lights, should be easy to find...

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/H...7/spectra.html

[This message has been edited by DigIt (edited January 15, 2001).]

Wow - went to that CinemaQuest site, but $45 is a lot of money for an 18" fluorescent tube in a case. Check out this thread for a less expensive alternative and some interesting discussion:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/uub/...ML/029535.html