Ambilight Video Game Demo - Recording 

Thanks again! In case you're curious, I have a full list of the brightness and exposure settings here: www.partsnotincluded.com/ambilight/videos-and-gifs/

Thx!

Thanks!

The leds he used are chinese (and cheap), probably used a cheap chinese nano clone, etc. This is a fairly easy project to do and even if you're new to electronics, this would be a great starter project. I highly recommend you try building this yourself. The total will come to around 30 dollars. :D

@@azzogathor Thanks, Already bought some stuff on Aliexspress and I'll give it a try :)

Thanks! I don't use the sound visualizer myself, but I've tried it out before and it works fine for me. From what I remember it's a little finicky, and it takes a few seconds to calibrate the audio range before the lights start moving.

Thanks! I think you'll be fine at 30 leds / m. At 50% brightness my setup still looks good, and I doubt you'd have any issues with coverage.

Not noticeably. Usually uses between 2 - 3% of my CPU when it's active.

1. Probably, but if it's working then you don't have to. Some microcontrollers need the baud rate set, and some (like the Arduino Leonardo) will auto-negotiate. 2. No, you don't need to touch that setting.

Thanks a lot Dave! You're awesome!

I know it's a little confusing with all of the different software. Currently the blog posts are still up to date on that. You need the main repo of the FastLED library, my Adalight fork that contains the modifications so the Arduino ambilight works with the FastLED library, and then the Prismatik software from Psieg's fork.

@@dave.madison Damn that was fast ! Thanks again !

No problem. Good luck!

@@dave.madison Thank you.

I'm using a 10A power supply I bought off of Amazon. I linked the build details in the description, and you can see everything I used there. You can use many more than 94 LEDs without running into issues, but for longer strips you'll need to tie power in at multiple points to avoid voltage drop. If you're using my code, make sure you have the latest version - there was previously a bug that prevented LED lengths longer than 85 from working.

Thanks for the prompt reply, David! I have looked at the power supply you mentioned, and unfortunately I am not in the USA, therefore am unable to ship it to my location at a cheap cost. I have ordered a Switching Bench Power Supply instead that provides 5V output at a max of 40A, so hopefully this would solve my problems. Previously, I was using a separate unused computer Power Supply Unit (PSU) for powering my LEDs, do you think there might've been any issues with power draw or output? I have tried several different methods, by plugging in 5V and Ground from one end of the LED strip into the accompanying Black and Red wires on the PSU. My second try was with the LED strip connecting to power on both ends, with their inputs connecting to two separate sets of black and red on the PSU as I couldn't fit 2 wires into one pin-hole. Does this sound about right? As for the software side of things, I was using an Adalight fork by Wifsimster recommended by a different tutorial and it was working up to a total of 77 LEDs. I will try out your fork of Adalight just in case his fork may have the bug that you had previously! For tying in the LEDs at multiple points, would you recommend having the connection at the end of both strips as illustrated in your written tutorial? I also noticed that you mentioned the JSTs provided with your set of LED strips can only handle a total of 3Amps, could this be a limiting factor? For my power input, I had the wire for the 5V and Ground leading directly without any JST in between. I apologize for bombarding you with so many questions, I am really frustrated after having spent two days trying to get this setup working right! I realise I didn't mention this in my previous post, but your setup looks really clean and amazing. Definitely one of the better ones I've seen thus far! :)

There shouldn't have been any power issues with the PC supply. Most desktop PC power supplies have a ton of power on the 5V rail, and your connections sound right. Tying the power wires (both power and ground) at multiple points is best. I did the start / end because it was convenient and my strip isn't very long. If you're not using JST connectors, you don't have to worry about the JST connector limits :). You can check for voltage drop with a basic multimeter. I would start by using a FastLED test sketch to make sure all of the LEDs light up properly before incorporating the ambilight code. Make sure the data direction on the strips is going the right way, that your connections are solid, and that you have enough power for each LED (estimate at 60 mA per LED). If the hardware all checks out, then I would try using my Arduino code. You might also try swapping out your USB cable, or trying a different port. I had issues with interference using a poorly shielded cable. I hope that helps, and thanks for the compliments :D. Best of luck!

Thanks again, will try to troubleshoot again with your fork of Adalight and see how that goes! :)

David, just a quick update, I tried out your fork of Adalight, and it is working GREAT. Thanks heaps for providing so much assistance to me personally. Looking forward to more of your future projects!

They are various tracks from the game Ori and the Blind Forest. My personal favorite game. ^^

It works. Just search for "Raspberry Pi Ambilight tutorial"

Set the "scene luminosity threshold" setting to zero. If that's not enough, play with the gamma settings.

Thanks I will try it out

The scene luminosity threshold was on 3 so I've put it on 0 and now it's completely off when something is black

@@saenea5249 Good! Glad you got it sorted. That setting adds a bit of backlighting in dark scenes to help with eye strain, but it's not for everyone.

Oh thanks well I don't like it because when something is black I think the leds should turn off but it's my personal preference so I get it if someone wants a bit of backlight all the time.

That's because Prismatik doesn't send additional frames in mood lamp mode once the color is set. You'll have to disable the serial timeout in the Arduino software to use the mood lamp mode, and turn off the lights manually every time.

David Madison thx david that solved my problem. You are a genius

Thanks! I love it, especially when playing games. It provides just the right amount of ambiance without being distracting.

@@dave.madison Hello. Will this work with multiple HDMI inputs? Thanks

It looks very close to real life. Although normally you're sitting much closer to the monitor and focusing on what's onscreen, so the additional light is more ambiance than anything else.

@@dave.madison Does it matter much if the monitor is a bit far from the wall, as my monitor sits 6-7 inches away from the wall

@@NibblyBitz Not at all, the LEDs are plenty bright that the light spreads out. This video was filmed with the monitor about 6 inches from the wall.

@@dave.madison Oh thanks, thats great to here :D

It's a 24" Dell S2415H.

If you're using psieg's Prismatik fork, my only suggestion is to use desktop duplication (Windows 8+) in place of DirectX hooking.

David Madison Iam already using it but it takes so many ingame fps away... is there another program that works better?

Prismatik is the best program that I have found, and it doesn't take away any FPS for me. That sounds like an issue with your computer. Sorry, I don't have any other advice.

really? What can it be on my computer. My friend has the same probem. We used an arduino Nano. And I have 75 leds on my TV.

PS my Grap Intervall is set to 24 and I have about 30 fps

Various tracks from Ori and the Blind Forest.

They're set to 70% brightness, although that doesn't tell you much because they're exposure-matched to the monitor and camera. Full list of settings here: www.partsnotincluded.com/ambilight/videos-and-gifs/

Thx! Btw check this link out: www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/80o601/someone_created_a_custom_nerf_mccree_controller/ I hope you don't mind I posted your video to reddit!

Not at all. Thanks for sharing it!

Hi again David! I already ordered the most parts for this project but I don't understand the most part of your detailed build. Is there a fast way when using your provided github releases?

I'm not sure what you mean. You will need to install Prismatik and you need to upload the firmware (sketch) to the Arduino. Both can be downloaded from their GitHub release pages.