Digital Bounds Logo

Dreamscreen TV Review – Smart TV lighting

When you’re looking at new TVs, you’re focusing on screen size and picture quality, which are two of the most important things. After a week or two with a new television, the interest and excitement around it fade. It becomes another TV in your house, and while that’s great, sometimes you want a TV to jump continually out at you. There are a few ways to do that by adding a sound system or mounting the TV. However, a recent Kickstarter success has started shipping a set of LED lights that go around the back of the TV and respond to sounds or the videos on the screen. The Kickstarter aptly named Dreamscreen, turns your TV into a dream screen in the course of a few minutes.

The idea of adding LED light strips to a TV isn’t new, and some TV manufacturers have done it with a built-in system. Those TVs are expensive and don’t often come in options that fit what you were looking for. The Dreamscreen setup fits TV’s from 32-inches all the way to 80-inch TVs. The Dreamscreen kit comes with the LED strips that go on the back of the TV, and the HDMI splitters and adapter box which makes the lights work with music or video. The kits sold from Dreamscreen are less expensive than others on the market and have more options than similar products.

I’ve had a chance to use the Dreamscreen kit on my 42-inch LED TV, and it turns my basic run of the mill TV into something a little better. I’ve used the Dreamscreen to watch movies, watch TV, listen to music, and play video games. It’s been a thrilling experience with some let downs but overall a pleasing experience.

In this feature, I’m going to review the Dreamscreen and maybe even recommend the device as a great buy. We’ll have to see!

IMG_20160826_224047-1024x768-2

 

First impressions

While I have my grips with cable management and small issues, I have one or two of the light strips sticking to the rear of my TV. I have seen more positives from the LED strips. I enjoyed listening to music and having the lights flow to the beats, making for a little mood lighting when you’re writing or just relaxing. I often keep the lights on when I’m playing video games, watching a movie, or letting my daughter watching her TV shows. I have found that there are certain movies, TV shows, or other video content that work best on the DreamScreen lights. Action movies, like the newest Star Wars, look amazing while TV shows with more muted colors of the city don’t fully use the lights. My video games work great when I’m playing Rocket League or Battlefield 4, but games like the Goat Simulator or Minecraft are less appealing.

Now don’t get me wrong, I have enjoyed using the Dreamscreen. However, I’ve found a balance when I’m using the lights and when I’m not.

Setup

Setting up the Dreamscreen took me 10 minutes, and I ran into no problems. This is a rarity with any tech, and let alone a startup. The hardest part was moving my TV from the shelf it’s sitting on to clean off the back of dust and attach the light strips around the back of the TV. Once I had the lights attached, and the TV back on the shelf and plugged in. The iOS app automatically recognizes the Dreamscreen and connected without any problems.

All-in-all, I’m highly impressed how smoothly the install and connecting the phone to the Dreamscreen is. I wish more products just worked – I’m looking at smart home products like smart lights that have elaborate setups.

Music playback

I often leave a TV on playing music for background noise, and ambiance. While that was fun to have the music videos playing and the music going, it wasn’t anything special. Then with the Dreamscreen having a music video going and the lights responding to beats made the TV pop and drew a lot more attention.

You’re able to adjust the sides that are playing light, the colors for bass or treble, and even the brightness. You’re in full control of the LED lights on every side, and this allows for custom controls whether you’re letting the TV play music for a party or if you’re just leaving it on for background noise.

Video playback

When I first opened the box, I was excited to have the Dreamscreen always on whether I was watching TV day or night. At first, I was awestruck and amazed how the TV looked, but once the excitement wore off, I realized the Dreamscreen has a particular type of show or movie that it works best with. The Netflix Original XOXO is a great explain with the bright colors on the TV bleeding out and making the movie feel more than it is. Even action movies like Superman VS Batman a great fit for the LED lights. TV shows and some movies with muted colors or darker shots don’t shine with the Dreamscreen. While you’re still able to turn off the sides and control the brightness, the video on the screen controls what colors are displayed.

While I won’t be using the Dreamscreen to watch all my TV shows, I will be turning it on to watch movies that include action or a lot of colors like XOXO from Netflix.

Wrapup

Overall, I’m impressed with the Dreamscreen from it’s smooth set up to its ease of use. I’ve been using the setup whenever I’m watching a movie late at night or just playing music in the background. It’s made movies pop off the screen, and give them another life that extends far beyond the TV screen. It’s turned my run of the mill TV into something I’d like to call a “dream screen.”

Not to mention, the Kickstarter is one of the few that have focused on getting their project to backers quickly and shipped to them before they would send us a unit to review. I not only commend them for this but admire their commitment to the folks who had given money to them before they even had a product to order.

I’ve seen more LED responsive light kits on Kickstarter and going on sale, but they’re still expensive or don’t work well. The Dreamscreen is the best choice out there with its low cost, easy setup, and ability to attach to any TV that’s almost any size. You can buy the Dreamscreen on the site for $139 to $179! They’re a solid deal compared to similar LED light strips and work just as well.

Tell us in the comments below what you think about the Dreamscreen and if you’re going to pick one up for your TV. Also, don’t forget to tell them we sent you their way!

Comments

2 responses to “Dreamscreen TV Review – Smart TV lighting”

  1. I’ve seen the Philips Ambilight TV’s that look awesome (can’t remember how much they cost) but Dreamscreen seems like a great idea so you add that feature to your existing TV.

    The music visualizer feature seems pretty cool and the fact you can control it with an Android/iOS app is awesome. It’s great to see a Kickstarter campaign succeed. I see it’s more affordable than Lightpack so it would be interesting to see how they compare.

    • The app is super helpful! I use it so I don’t have to get off the couch and find the controls on the back of the TV – Laziness for the win!

      The lightpack was announced after this Kickstarter, and is similar but they have those cool little LED light buttons to show notifcations and give more effects. I would say the Dreamscreen is some of the most repsonive LED lights compared to others I’ve tried.

      PS.
      I’m making a video review soon too