Power Practical LED Light Strip | $36 | Amazon | Clip Coupon
Okay, so I said I learned a lot about bias lighting, so I should probably back it up, right? If you want to read the explainer I did, it’s here, but here’s a quick summary to whet your whistle: the gist is that watching TV without a white point reference causes your pupils not to dilate to the proper amount, which can lead to eye strain, and can actually make the image you’re viewing look worse. That’s because without that reference point, your brain doesn’t process the contrast properly. Adding a light behind the TV can help this, but although the promo pictures for these Power Practical LED Lights show cool colors behind the TV, what you really want is just some lighting that sits around 6,500K, or the reference point used by the industry. This light strip will get you there. It’s self-adhesive, and being designed for this purpose, they have flexible corners. The strip is USB-powered, so you can plug it right into your TV’s USB port.
Now, these aren’t smart strips, which for some will be a bonus, as you don’t have to futz with connecting it to the network (or getting it to reconnect if you have a power outage, which can be a terrible pain sometimes), and the remote control is in many ways more elegant than having to go to an app, pick the light, and use the often terrible manufacturer app or the limited controls of your chosen smart home platform’s app. They’re also not usually made specifically for this purpose, and the ones that are typically cost quite a bit more. These, on the other hand, serve a very specific, niche purpose, and, if the Amazon reviews are to be believed (which is not always reliable, but Fakespot gives reviews for this product an A, which is rare), do it quite well.