The idea behind Ambilight4PC is to provide information regarding systems/ways which make it possible to experience the well known Philips LCD ambilight effect on a PC. Foremost this website can be seen as an informational website, but in the near future the idea is to evolve Ambilight4PC to a place for discussions about PC-based ambilight systems with user feedback and tips/tricks regarding these kind of systems!
Philips Aurea LCD-TV
As of the beginning of 2007 there are two companies with systems which make Ambilight for PC possible.
These companies are Philips and Ambient Reality Effects (A.R.E.) of which the Philips AmbX system is the most advanced, featuring not only lighting effects but also wind and rumble effects.
Next to the two companies a number of persons have started their own private project in trying to get the Ambilight effect to the PC. The most advanced private project is MoMoLight.
Although all systems rely on the same principle, which is generating lighting effects which mimic/enhance the PC screen content, some clear difference can be found between the systems.
On this website the available systems are described in more detail, giving feedback on positive and negative points of the systems and providing tips and tricks to improve performance.
In the table below a short summary of the capabilities of the different systems is given, for example if a system can provide the Ambilight effect while playing games or showing video content. Detailed information about the systems can be found in the subsections on this website.
(*) Turning of overlay or using a non-standard video player is needed to show ambilight effects! (**) This is the price of the basic system with only the lights! (***) This is the price of the basic system with one LED light!
Although the price of both the Momolight and Atmolight system looks very tempting, one must keep in mind these systems are not readily available and need a lot of work and skill to get them operational. The estimated costs of the two systems are based on the cheapest available components (for example, LED strips from China, etc.). If you are not skilled in soldering and do not want to invest a considerable amount of time it is better to go with either the Philips AmbX or the A-R-E system!
Example of MoMoLight effects with video playback (VLAN-player):
