Bias lighting

[hmmmm]

I was curious if many of you use bias lighting behind your t.v. An interior designer said I should have it behind mine(she does). I've read a little about it but still know very little. I just ordered a 56 inch Samsung DLP and it will be sitting in front of a red velvety theater curtain. I read that this lighting works best with a grey wall behind it. My room is usually pitch black when I watch movies. Any input?
Thanks

[kfalls]

Having your room "pitch black" is not ideal for viewing. Bias lighting is used to reduce eye strain caused by having too much contrast between the viewing screen and the background. The dramatic change causes the eye to dialate constantly as the brightness of the screen changes. Bias lighting should be approximately 10% of the brightness of your TV.

I've read flourescent lighting provides the best temperature match for television screens, but I've used the GE Reveal bulbs with a dimmer with acceptable results. Dimmers work by allowing only a portion of the AC sine wave to go to the load. If you use flourescent bulbs and want dimming capabilities, you'll want to get a special dimmer which won't "hum" as the voltage to the bulb changes. I use a standard X-10 dimmer on my Reveal bulbs, but buy lower wattage (40W) so voltage changes are small and you don't get humming from the bulbs. My lights are swags, but you can also use "can" type fixtures and place them on the floor behind the TV pointed upward so you don't have uneven "hot spots".

[hmmmm]

[QUOTE=kfalls]Having your room "pitch black" is not ideal for viewing. Bias lighting is used to reduce eye strain caused by having too much contrast between the viewing screen and the background. The dramatic change causes the eye to dialate constantly as the brightness of the screen changes. Bias lighting should be approximately 10% of the brightness of your TV.

Thanks for the ideas. I actually did get an e-mail from a specialist in this area and he said the red curtain may affect the perceived colors even if we use the correct lighting behind the t.v. He recommended having a screen placed behind the t.v. that could be lifted up or pulled down when watching movies. I'm not sure If I want to do that though.