"Seems decent enough, but maybe I'm missing something..."
I've tried both setups myself, and honestly, dedicated LED strips gave me a cleaner, more uniform glow behind the TV. Smart bulbs were fine, but the strips felt less distracting overall. Did you experiment with color temperature much?
I get what you're saying about the LED strips feeling cleaner—I've noticed the same thing in my own setup. Smart bulbs can sometimes cast uneven shadows, especially if your lamps or fixtures aren't positioned just right. But I do think bulbs have their place for general room lighting or setting a mood. Did you find a particular color temperature worked best behind the TV? I've been leaning toward warmer tones lately, but I'm still experimenting...
I've been messing around with warmer tones too, but honestly, I found that cooler whites behind the TV actually reduced eye strain for me. Weird, right? I thought warm would be cozier, but the cooler shades seem to make the screen pop without being harsh. Maybe it's just my eyes though... Have you noticed any difference in eye comfort when switching between warm and cool lighting?
"I thought warm would be cozier, but the cooler shades seem to make the screen pop without being harsh."
That's actually pretty common! Cooler tones tend to enhance contrast, making visuals clearer and easier on the eyes, especially when you're watching TV or gaming. I noticed something similar when setting up my own space—initially went warm for coziness, but ended up switching to cooler whites behind screens. It's not just you; lighting can be surprisingly subjective depending on the activity and personal sensitivity. Glad you found something that works!
I had a similar experience when I first installed smart bulbs in my living room. Initially, I went straight for the warm, cozy glow because that's what felt naturally inviting. It did feel nice at first—especially when just relaxing or reading—but once movie nights and gaming sessions kicked in, it felt off somehow. Something about the warmer tones just made the image on screen feel muted or washed out.
After messing around with settings for a while (and probably annoying my family by repeatedly asking them what they thought looked better...), I finally landed on using cooler shades behind the TV area and warmer ones in the corners of the room. It turned out to be a great combo: clearer visuals where you need them, but still cozy enough overall.
The funny thing is, lighting seems like such a small detail until you notice how much it affects your perception of comfort and visual clarity. My wife thought I was overthinking it at first, but now she admits it actually makes quite a difference. We even ended up setting different "scenes" with the smart bulbs—movie night, reading, dinner—so we could quickly switch between different moods without having to manually adjust each bulb individually.
Now I'm curious if anyone else has experimented with mixing color temperatures like this? I'm wondering if it's common practice or if I stumbled onto something accidentally clever...
