Ladyada is showing off a new project called Adalight, which uses an Arduino board and a strip of RGB LEDs around the back of your display to create an ambient color backdrop for your computer monitor. The system automatically detects the average colors around the perimeter of your display, and immediately responds with the appropriate LED color in the proper section of the LED strip. Since it works as a high-speed screen capture utility in the background, it works with pretty much any application on your computer.

Open source software using the Processing library runs on your PC, Mac or Linux and interfaces with the Arduino over USB, and sends the correct light colors to each of the LEDs pixels. See the Adalight in action in the video below:

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Pretty cool, no? I suppose it could get to be a little annoying after a while, but it still might be pretty cool for 3D games and action movies. While you can build the Adalight from scratch, you can also purchase a project kit over at the MakerSHED for $49.95 (USD) to help you get started. The kit includes a strand of 25 RGB LED pixels and a 5VDC power adapter, but you will still need to purchase the Arduino and USB cable, and follow the rest of the build instructions to finish the project.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

For the first time, you can really see the cool color-shifting effects of the Aurea’s semi-transparent border. What’s much more interesting than I thought it would be is that different colors flow all the way around the screen, matching the adjacent screen area, rather than a single color for the entire screen.

While I’m not sure if it would annoy me after 10 minutes of viewing, I have to admit the effect is really striking. If I owned a cool bar or nightclub, I’d definitely put one of these in there. My living room – I doubt it.

If you’d like to see more,check out the full-length, full-screen version of the short film, entitled “There’s Only One Sun” over on the Aurea website.

The company is now getting set to release a new line of LED backlit televisions called the Aurea series. The new sets up the ante in the design department by letting the LED illumination show around the border of the television screen. The LCD televisions also do an excellent job hiding their internal speakers and subwoofer from view by using 26 tiny drivers instead of individual larger speakers. The first model in the line will be the 42-inch Philips 42PFL9900D (shown below).

The sets will offer native 1080p resolution, a 2x refresh LCD panel to reduce motion blur, and 8000 to 1 dynamic contrast ratio. With specs like those, it looks like Philips intends on not just making a good looking set, but one that performs well too. I’ve heard through the grapevine that this will be Philips new top of the line set, with retail prices as high as €5000 (about $6895 USD.) Let’s hope that Philips finds a way to bring the price a little more down to earth, since you can pick up a 46-inch 1080p set these days for around $1299.

While the sets certainly make a dramatic visual statement, I’m not sure of the practical value of the color border. Regardless, the new sets sure look cool, and stand out from the crowd. You can sign up to be notified about the sets release on Philips Seductionbylight teaser website.

[via TuExperto via Xataka]

It’s said to be compatible with most Windows applications, and provides a highly configurable software interface which allows you to either set colors manually or to let the application automatically decide the best colors to output.

The standard model includes a single bar of LEDs, the USB controller, software and power supply for 165 EUR (appx. $211 USD.) Additional LED bars run 55 EUR (appx. $70 USD.) A single controller can handle up to 4 LED bars.

Can you say patent infringement?

[via Gizmodo]

For those not already familiar with Ambilight, it provides an array of colored LEDs as a backlight source behind the set. The LEDs change colors in accordance with the subject matter on the screen, providing a viewing experience that is said to be easier on the eyes. Plus, it just looks really cool, too. The latest version, “Full Surround,” provides backlighting on all four sides of the picture, rather than just two sides as was the case in earlier Ambilight devices.

It’s not clear if the massive 100-incher will ever see the light of day for consumers, but it’s likely to show up at some point for limited commercial applications.

[via HDBeat]