Key Takeaways
- The Nanoleaf 4D is an immersive TV LED backlight system that syncs onscreen visuals to a light strip attached to the back of your TV, providing an enhanced viewing experience.
- The system offers four mirror modes with varying levels of immersion to suit different types of content, and it can be controlled through the Nanoleaf app and works with major smart home platforms.
- Installation can be tricky depending on the space behind your TV and the shape of the TV itself, but with careful installation, the Nanoleaf 4D can improve your TV experience without breaking the bank.
One of the pioneers in the smart lighting space, Nanoleaf offers a wide variety of different products along with its classic light panels. And the company is continuing to reach out in new directions with its latest addition.
The Nanoleaf 4D is a lighting system that syncs the onscreen visuals to a light strip attached to the back of your TV, providing a more immersive experience. But is it a worthy addition to your home theater?
Nanoleaf 4D
The Nanoleaf 4D is an immersive TV LED backlight system. A camera points toward the TV to view what’s happening on the screen and then will mirror the colors to a light strip that attaches to the rear of your TV. There are four mirror modes to choose from, with varying amounts of immersion to fit what you’re watching on TV. Along with being controllable through the Nanoleaf app, the system works with all major smart home platforms.
- Brand
- Nanoleaf
- Integrations
- Apple HomeKit, Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, Samsung SmartThings
- Protocol
- Wi-Fi
- Music Reactive
- Yes
- Multicolor Capable
- Yes
- Color Range
- More than 16 million colors
- Service Life
- 25,000 hours
- Outdoor
- No
- Immersive lighting experience for your TV
- A varied number of lighting effects to choose from
- Compatible with all major smart home platforms
- Lightstrip can be cut to fit your TV
- Two placement options for the camera
- Installation can be difficult depending on your TV
- Some lighting effects can be overwhelming
Nanoleaf 4D Installation
The complete Nanoleaf 4D package is a smart light strip, controller box, mount, and camera that syncs what’s happening on the screen with the lights.
Before considering the system, the biggest question you need to ask is if you have the available space behind your TV to install the lights. That can become a substantial problem, especially if your TV set is mounted on a wall like mine is.
While my TV mount can pivot up and down, I have around 6 inches of space between the back of the TV and the wall. So installation was tricky to say the least.
Thankfully, Nanoleaf does make the process just bit easier. To help make it around corners, you can use four corner brackets. Even if you don’t think brackets would be useful, I’d definitely recommend using them. They helped to correctly turn light strip and helped keep it as straight as possible around the TV.
Each bracket is attached to the TV with an included two-sided adhesive pad. The light strip itself comes in a reel that’s easy to slowly unreel when installing it. First, remove the tape from the back, then slowly place the light strip on your TV.
I was disappointed in the strength of the adhesive on the strip itself. While I made sure to clean the back of the TV thoroughly, small sections kept separating from the TV. I used an addition bit of adhesive tape to remedy the issue.
Another issue to consider is the shape of the back of your TV. While my Hisense set is thin, there is a larger bulge in the center of the set that tapers off near the bottom. Because of that, small parts of the strip didn’t adhere to the TV at all.
Despite those issues, I was eventually able to get the LEDs attached to the rear of the TV.
Nanoleaf offers two kits—one for TVs up to 65 inches and one for sets up to 85 inches. With my smaller set (55 inches), I needed to cut off about 6 inches That was quick and easy—just look for the scissors icon on the strip.
So even if you have a more straightforward setup with a TV further away from the wall, you will need to spend a bit of time making sure everything attaches well.
Setting Up the Nanoleaf 4D
After getting the LEDs attached, there are a few more steps. Plug the LEDs cable to the controller box that can also be stuck to the back of the TV. Next, it’s time to set up the camera to monitor what’s on the screen and tell the lights how to react. Nanoleaf provides two options for maximum flexibility.
First, you can place the camera under the TV and rotate it for the best view of the screen. Alternatively, you can try out the included mount, set on top of the TV. Just place the camera inside of it and center it. Since my TV is mounted on a wall, I used the mount, with the camera facing down.
No matter which way you choose, you can then attach the camera cord to the control box.
For added privacy, you can also use the included magnetic camera cover.
The light strip and camera are connected to the control box that can also be attached to the rear of the TV, if needed.
After getting the hardware ready to go on your TV, you’ll need to set up the Nanoleaf 4D using the companion Nanoleaf app, available for either iOS or Android. I used my iPhone and first added the lights to my HomeKit setup. It’s also compatible with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, SmartThings, IFTTT, and Razer Chroma.
To make the most of the screen mirroring, you will tell the app where the camera is located and then manually drag points to outline your TV. I was able to do that easily and didn’t have to redo the process. The camera seemed to capture what was on screen accurately.
If you have other Nanoleaf lighting installed in the same room as your TV, you can use Sync+ technology to extend the lighting effects. I didn’t have any other lights in my room to use the feature, but it would be fun to add additional lights behind the TV like the unique Nanoleaf Lines.
Improves the Experience for Games, Movies, and More
There are four modes to choose from in the Nanoleaf app—1D, 2D, 3D, and 4D. Each mode ramps up the intensity of the lighting. To begin, 1D provides a cool white light no matter what’s on the screen. A single color from what’s predominant on the screen is shown in 2D. Those modes were great when watching a regular sitcom or a football game.
The 3D and 4D modes both show the real power of the system. Both modes will quickly change the intensity and color of the lights to closely match the on-screen action.
You can also further customize the lighting effects with a custom vibrancy setting or choose from two presets—cinematic and vivid. I enjoyed the cinematic the most as it toned down some of the brightest colors.
I tried watching various content using all four modes, and 3D ended up being my favorite. That provided the best mirroring effect without being overwhelming for intense movies and shows with a lot of action. Especially in 4D, the colors change with such frequency that I found the effect jarring and distracting from what you're supposed to be watching.
With fast-moving action films like Fast X or Guardian of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the colors were correctly mirrored by the lights and changed quickly. That’s something I was very interested in seeing. Other more expensive options take the color information directly from the HDMI signal for no possibility of lag.
With the camera system, I didn’t notice any lag from what was on the screen and the lighting colors, even in action-packed scenes.
The color change speed is great, and the reproduction was good. I didn’t notice any significant discrepancies between the color on the screen and what was shown by the lighting, other than that during dark scenes, the lights reproduced a mostly red color. This is typical of camera-based systems. But that still allowed me to see clearly what was happening.
I also enjoyed the lighting system while gaming. Colorful and fast-moving games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe looked even better with the Nanoleaf 4D.
You'll also find a fun Rhythm mode that will allow the lights to pulse and react to music and sounds. The effect was jarring while watching the TV, but perfect for playing music.
Nanoleaf 4D: Improve Your TV Experience Without Breaking the Bank
Whether it’s movie night at my house, or if I’m just ready for a quick gaming session, the Nanoleaf 4D has been a great addition to my smart home.
With its inexpensive price tag, even for larger TVs, you can easily add the Nanoleaf 4D to more than one TV in your home. Thanks to its great color reproduction and compatibility with all major smart home platforms, it’s well worth the price. Just make sure that your TV setup will work with the kit before purchase.
Nanoleaf 4D
The Nanoleaf 4D is an immersive TV LED backlight system. A camera points toward the TV to view what’s happening on the screen and then will mirror the colors to a light strip that attaches to the rear of your TV. There are four mirror modes to choose from, with varying amounts of immersion to fit what you’re watching on TV. Along with being controllable through the Nanoleaf app, the system works with all major smart home platforms.