Latest news with #WizHDMISyncBox
Tom's Guide
2 days ago
- Tom's Guide
I just gave my home the ultimate smart light upgrade — and I can control it all with my phone
Smart light bulbs just don't do it for me anymore. Yeah, it's cool that they can change colors, save me on my electricity bill, and can be controlled with voice commands, but they're so boring now. That's why some of the best smart lights nowadays come in different varieties besides light bulbs, and the one I just installed works perfectly with my TV. What makes the Wiz HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight different from other smart lights I've used is that they make the movie watching experience at home much more immersive. They're considered bias lighting due to how they add ambient light around my TV, matching up the colors and actions sequences I'm watching on screen. Not only were they a breeze to install, but I really love how they can be programmed to complement the ambiance of the room. Here's why it's the ultimate smart light upgrade. Enhance the way you watch movies at home with the Wiz HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight, which perfectly adds the right amount of ambient light to whatever you're watching. Best of all, you can pair it with your smart home for even more functionality, such as voice commands and other automations. I've installed other TV backlights, but the Wiz HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight differs from them because the LED light strips are all connected to one another — so there's no connectors to install myself to join two sets together. Plus, it's also super helpful that these strip lights already have an adhesive surface on them. After I strung the strip lights around the edge of my TV, I connected the entire set to the HDMI Sync Box — which I then connected my cable box to the input HDMI port, while another cable went to my TV. I downloaded the Wiz app, which guided me to connecting the TV backlights to my home's Wi-Fi network. All in all, the setup took me less than 10 minutes from start to finish. Again, what makes this a better set of TV backlights than others I've tested is that it uses the HDMI sync box to detect the feed and produce the accompanying color effects — whereas camera based TV backlights can often be inaccurate. Through the Wiz app, I can control the lights to better suit my preference. For example, I can set the brightness, saturation, and even the intensity of the light strips so they're just right on the eyes. Oftentimes, they can be too reactive and change colors too frequently — so having this option to tone it down makes it much more suitable. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. If that's not enough, I also like how I can manually set the colors of the TV backlights to match the ambiance of the room. Since I installed them on my bedroom TV, I like setting it to a warmer color temperature at night to match the lamps I have by my bedside. The argument over which one of you is getting out of bed to turn off the light is about to end. These easy-to-set-up LED bulbs can be controlled via the Hubspace smart home app, with color options across the entire spectrum. They're energy efficient, simple to use and programmable, so you can create the perfect lighting schedule for your home. Even though there's an automation feature within the Wiz app, I actually connected it to my Google Home to work better with the rest of my smart home. Not only can I control it through the Google Home app as well, but I really like how I can use voice commands to interact with the lights. So, instead of going through the steps of opening the Wiz app to select a color, I can just tell my Google Nest smart display (and speakers) to do it for me with simple voice commands — and yes, it does this with my phone too. On top of that, I've set an automation through the Google Home app to turn it on and off at specific times each day, while also selecting its color to match all the rest of the lights in the room. Once you start watching TV with them, you can't go back to anything else because of the immersive experience. The colors that radiate from the sides of my TV paint the surrounding walls, which amplifies the experience. I know I can't go back to anything else except this setup.
Forbes
30-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Wiz Takes On Hue With Cheaper Way To Sync Your TV Smart Lights
The new Wiz HDMI Sync box provides a real-time light show for your TV action Signify's Wiz, the more wallet-friendly sibling of Philips Hue, has officially entered the HDMI TV syncing arena, with the new Wiz HDMI Sync Box with TV Backlight; and it's an attractive option for anyone chasing immersive lighting who have been put off by Hue's high price tags. Launching globally in May, the Wiz setup offers much of the same core magic as Hue's more expensive Play HDMI Sync Boxes, albeit with a few caveats, but without the eye-watering price-tags. Like the Hue top-dogs - of which the 4K model went live in 2020, followed by an 8K version in 2024 - Wiz's box reads the HDMI signal directly from your device (like a console, set-top box, or streaming stick), analyzes what's happening on-screen in real-time, and pushes that color data to your lights. No calibration, no camera… just plug, stick, and go. You get a three-sided RGBIC LED strip in the box, with two size options available: one for TVs between 55–65 inches, and another for larger 75–85 inch sets. The system supports 4K at 60Hz and plays nice with HDR10+ and Dolby Vision. There's only one HDMI input and you shouldn't expect HDMI 2.1 or 120Hz passthrough; that's firmly Hue's territory. The sync experience isn't limited to the backlight that comes in the box. You can link other compatible Wiz lights via Wi-Fi. Out of the box, there are four sync modes to choose from - Cinematic, Vibrant, Relaxation, and Rhythmic - or you can tinker with brightness, saturation, and color intensity to fine-tune the vibe. There's also a built-in mic for syncing lights to music, making it equally handy for parties. At $89.99 for the standard model and $109.99 for the larger one (which will be available in September), it's a fraction of the cost of Hue's HDMI Sync Boxes, which can push $350 before you even add lights. Of course, there are trade-offs: the Wiz box has just that solitary HDMI input, so you'll need an external switch if you want to bounce between devices. Gamers chasing high frame rates will also miss HDMI 2.1 support. But for movie nights, streaming marathons, and casual gaming, it nails the essentials at a much more approachable price. The new Wiz HDMI Sync box provides a real-time light show for your TV action Wiz is also rolling out two new gradient lighting options with the Sync Box in mind: a slimline Gradient Floor Light ($89.99), designed to splash multicolor lighting into corners, and the Gradient Light Bars ($59.99), which can be mounted horizontally or vertically and offer the same vivid segmented color control. Both support video and music syncing when paired with the HDMI Sync Box, and both are Matter-compatible, meaning they'll slot right into Alexa, Google Home, or Apple HomeKit setups. Wiz, despite being playing 2nd-fiddle to Hue in the Signify hierarchy, is fast emerging as a top smart light contender. Aside from these new TV syncing options, the brand has also introduced features like SpaceSense, which uses Wi-Fi to detect presence; and RGBIC Matter-enabled lightstrips with music syncing.
