Hey all! My real HT is up in my living room, but I'm currently rewiring the basement, so I thought I'd solicit some opinions from you fine folks for lighting the TV zone of my basement.

The basement is a wide open rectangle. Well, it'll be easier to make a picture. Here go my Paint skills...


The red thing is the couch, the yellow is the 32" Sony CRT. I'd guess I'm 7' or so from the couch to TV.

Note it's divided into 4 "zones", with the TV zone at the bottom left. The top two zones are on a single light circuit and switch, as are the bottom two.

So I'm at a loss as to what sort of lighting to use. The ceiling is low, about 7'. I tried recessed lighting, but it was much too harsh, since the light was always in my eyes at that height. I was thinking about a string of track lights on a dimmer, but not sure how much light I'd need, or if they'd be too harsh, being point sources.

Any suggestions are welcome! As well as general discussion about HT lighting that I can use upstairs when I get around to renovating up there.

-Joe

In the mid 1980's the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) conducted human factors research to identify optimum standards for the viewing conditions in professional monitor environments. Their work addressed issues applicable to all forms of electronic displays. These findings, as set forth in their 'Recommended Practices Document #166: Critical Viewing Conditions for Evaluation of Color Television Pictures', can be applied to the consumer's own viewing environment at home to get the highest level of performance and enjoyment from any television. SMPTE’s work focused not just on helping the viewer see the picture correctly but also on making the viewing experience comfortable over a long period of time - minimizing eye strain as an example.

Here; http://www.cinemaquestinc.com/ideal_lume.htm you will find a great deal of usefully pertinent information.


Wayne

Having light in shinning in your eyes is very annoying. It has always been at to top of my list when lighting a room. There are times you can't avoid it without using general lighting with a valance in front of the fixture.

When you tried recessed lighting did you try "Alzak" type cans and trims. An Alzak fixture is one that has the bulb recessed further into the housing and the trim is polished gold or silver. The recessed bulb obviously keep the it from being seen and the polished metal trim reflects the light down better without being seen the way black or white trims will.

There is probably a lighting person here that can explain it better and more accurately than that but this may steer you in another direction.

Brad

How timely. Just yesterday I was reading an article on backlighting your TV and it seemed like a good idea to me. Here's the CNET article .
I have dimmable wall sconces in my home theatre in addition to recessed lighting (also dimmable). My ceiling is just a little over 7'.

Thanks for all the info Upstairs in my living room I do have my TV backlit. Downstairs, I'm really just looking for something unobtrusive that I can dim down. I only have one wall to put lights on (the wall with the couch), and it's cinderblock. So really, my only good option is lights in the ceiling.

I'll look into the "Alzak" cans. My local big-boxes don't carry anything like that, so I'll continue looking around.

Thanks!

-Joe