This Govee TV Backlight Turns My Living Room Into an Entertainment Oasis, and It's Just $60 on Amazon
Watching a good flick in a proper movie theater is pretty darn great, but I never thought to try to recreate that fully immersive experience at home -- until I found a simple TV backlight. After 20 minutes of setup and a quick calibration, I found myself totally drawn into my favorite shows as though I were in the theater, and for far less money than just about any other item I've purchased for my entertainment center. Skip forward a few years; now I own one of these backlights for every TV in my house.
This Govee TV backlight is already relatively budget-friendly. And I'm glad to say it's even cheaper right now, thanks to a sweet deal during Amazon's Memorial Day Sale. The price has dropped to only $60, a solid 15% savings on something that's totally changed the way I enjoy watching and playing at home.
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There are a couple of different kinds of TV backlights out there. Some keep a single color all around your TV, usually a warmer shade of white, which allows the colors on the screen to stand out more to most eyes. Govee's TV Backlight system is more interactive than that, but it works best when the lights in your room are low or off. It uses a special fisheye lens camera pointed straight at your TV to see what colors are currently happening on the edges of your screen. The software relays that information to the LED strips on the back of the television, which then extend that color onto the wall behind your screen. The result, as you can see in the image below, is incredible.
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I've set several of these up over the last couple of years, and it has never once taken more than 30 minutes to complete. These lights can also be turned on and off by an app on your phone, or by connecting the app to Amazon's Alexa voice assistant. It's extremely satisfying to call Alexa and see your TV suddenly pop with color. The settings are very easy to adjust to fit whatever living room situation you have, as long as your TV is near a wall. And if you really want a great experience, make sure your TV has a good soundbar to go with this backlight setup.
Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite specs
Power source : Corded electric, 12 volts (DC)
: Corded electric, 12 volts (DC) Connection types : Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi Controller types : Govee app or voice (requires Alexa or Google Assistant)
: Govee app or voice (requires Alexa or Google Assistant) LED array : RGBICW
: RGBICW Cameras : One, Fisheye
: One, Fisheye LED strip length: 7.8 feet (for TVs 40-50 inches), 11.8 feet (for TVs 55-65 inches), 16.4 feet (for TVs 75-85 inches)
Does this backlight work with your TV?
If you're concerned about whether this kind of backlight setup would work for you, there are a couple of easy things you can check before you try it for yourself. All you really need to know is your TV's size, its position in your room and how much control you have over lighting.
TV size : Govee's TV backlight has three different products based on your TV size. This includes screens that are 40 to 50 inches, 55 to 65 inches and 75 to 85 inches. The larger and smaller sizes are different prices than the one I use, but the difference in price is usually fairly minor unless there's a big sale happening on only one size. If your TV is outside of these sizes, you won't have the same overall experience.
: Govee's TV backlight has three different products based on your TV size. This includes screens that are 40 to 50 inches, 55 to 65 inches and 75 to 85 inches. The larger and smaller sizes are different prices than the one I use, but the difference in price is usually fairly minor unless there's a big sale happening on only one size. If your TV is outside of these sizes, you won't have the same overall experience. TV position : Backlights work best when your TV is close to a wall, and that wall should be free of interruptions for at least 5 inches in every direction. If you have pictures or art hanging behind your television, these will interrupt the light coming from the back of the TV and might deliver a poor overall experience. This is especially true if the surface behind the television is reflective.
: Backlights work best when your TV is close to a wall, and that wall should be free of interruptions for at least 5 inches in every direction. If you have pictures or art hanging behind your television, these will interrupt the light coming from the back of the TV and might deliver a poor overall experience. This is especially true if the surface behind the television is reflective. Room lighting: Your room does not need to be completely dark in order to enjoy this backlight, but the room should generally speaking be dimmer than what would normally be considered good light to read by. If you are hoping to use this backlight during the day, be sure any windows in the room are covered. At night, I would recommend dimming your room lights for the best experience.
There aren't a lot of traditional room layouts where you can't enjoy a backlight like this one, but with the tips above you can quickly go from having a good experience to a great one.
Yes, there are other TV backlights out there
Govee is far from the only company out there making multicolor adaptive backlights for your television, and on a purely technical level the TV Backlight 3 Lite is not the best you could possibly have for your television.
Govee itself offers a more capable Envisual TV Backlight, which uses a pair of cameras to ensure the colors at the corners of your screen are precisely sent to the LED strip on the back. The Hue Play system from Philips reads the color information directly from the HDMI cable so there's the smallest possible delay between what you see on the screen and what you see in the backlights. Those LEDs also cover a wider color spectrum, so the colors behind the TV line up amazingly well.
The TV Backlight 3 Lite from Govee is a fantastic setup for its price, which is why I love it. You can regularly get this kit for around half the price of Govee's more capable system--and for a fraction of the price of the Philips Hue system. But neither are better enough in my opinion to justify the added costs. This is something you can do on your own for relatively cheap, and the end result is loads of fun. And at the end of the day, that's why I'm in front of my TV in the first place.
For more good bargains, we've rounded up all the best deals from Amazon's Memorial Day Sale happening right now. And if you're on the hunt for a gift, check out our roundups of the best gifts for grads and the best Father's Day gifts.
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