Introduction

Not too long ago, a study was performed by the Lighting Research Center. This study's focus was on the eyestrain effects of watching a TV in a dark room. They took a group of subjects and had them watch an hour of an action movie with surrounding wall illumination, take a break, then watch the same movie without illumination. Then another group did the same thing in reverse order. Before and after each viewing session, all subjects were given visual tests. The study concluded that surrounding illumination had a number of beneficial effects. Participants had less eyestrain, eye fatigue, blinked less, and there was a shorter time gap between visual cues and brain responsiveness.

TV manufacturers have taken this study to heart and released many televisions that feature ambient lighting. Some LCD/LED sets have a static ambient color, while others have more dynamic coloring that illuminates the surrounding wall with whatever color dominated the screen. For instance, if you watched a soccer game, the predominant color would be the green field. Sadly, in the world of PCs, this hasn’t become a standard. Many people spend more time in front of the computer than they do watching TV. I know I do.

Antec’s SoundScience division is bringing this same technology to the PC with the Halo 6 LED Bias Lighting kit. The Halo makes it easy to outfit any monitor, up to 24”, with professional back lighting. The Halo Bias Lighting Kit can reduce eye fatigue and increase perceived image clarity with carefully calibrated LED lights. This kit has 6 LED lights total and is USB powered. The light strip measures 14.6” and the USB cable is 4’3” in length. The Halo is installed with double sided tape and applied to the backside of the computer monitor.