TV Backlight -usb powered-

<<Please vote for me, thank you!>>

This project came about because I have a decent amount of LED projects around my house and my friend asked me if I could turn one of those into a light he could put behind his TV!  But he has his TV hung on the wall and didn't want to have any wires hanging down or anything that required being plugged in.  I took a look at his TV, and it, along with most new flat panels, have a couple USB sockets on the side.  And I thought PERFECT I can just use the 5 volt power out of the USB port!

This is a really simple project that looks great!  You can use the idea of this project for many different ideas and areas-- not just for behind the TV!

Step 1 Parts and Tools needed

To start off, grab the materials and the tools for the project.


Materials Needed:

USB cable (cannibalize it off of any old or broken electronics)

Container (any container that you like, choose one that fits your project!)

Solder

Wire Black/Red

Resistors (correct resistance for a 5-volt power supply and your LED's. If you are not sure check out the LED calculator)

LED's  (any color you desire)

Spray Paint  (whatever color or texture you want!)

Hot Glue


Tools Needed:

Soldering Iron

Wire cutters

Drill

Drill Bits

Hot Glue Gun

Paper

Pencil

Comments

[PugOfChunk]

Hey this is an amazing idea and im gonna do it for my Gameroom during the summer. Quick question though....is there a way to power it through the wall outlet? causeeee i dont have many computers or usb outlets :( and i want to me able to wire it easier

Thanks in advance and sorry if i sound stupid haha (Im new to LED's and electrical projects)

[RobWar]

You can get hold of usb plug sockets, I work in a hotel and people are always leaving them.. just go to reception and say you left one ages ago and they'll probably give you one

[TattooMickey]

I have finished a project like this one a couple years ago when Phillips first came out with the idea for the back of their TV's. My TV at the time didn't have USB on it, so I used an old phone charger that plugs into the wall...

Just cut the end off it that would attach to the phone and use it as above. Most phone charges are around 5- 5.5V and work perfectly for LED setups!

GO for it!

[PugOfChunk]

Yea! i was thinking of using a iphone charger than converts usb to the outlet! just put some resistors and ill be good! Thanks a bunch ill post pics soon

[rhobere]

I've been planning to a do a project similar to this for a while and I have one piece of advice that could improve the appearance. If you use a pair of wire cutters, you can actually cut the dome of the LED's off. Since this is the part of the "bulb" that focuses the light, removing it will allow a much more even splay of light. It would look a little more "washed" with color rather than just having spotlights coming out of the back.

[seligtobiason]

Thank you for your advice, but for this project I actually wanted the star-burst look. If you take a look at my other instructables I have a couple other ways to disperse the light too.

[khazgoroth]

it would be awesome if the leds blinked syncronised with sound ! :D

[swarnavo.datta]

This was the first instructable i tried and it WORKED!!! my tv is looking great with the backlight...thanks a hell lot for it!!!

[seligtobiason]

Awesome! Glad you like it, and happy you made it!

[scooter2013]

How about 5mm leds with 200ma resistors? Can it be done or will it fail?

[seligtobiason]

Well, what you should do is go to a LED calculator and plug in all the info to get your result! Unfortunately I can not tell you if that would work since it is the more what the LED is requiring in voltage, and not the size that determines what resistor is needed. Example: my Blue LEDs require 3.3 volts at 20 Ohms, so I would use a 100 Ohm 1/4 watt resistor.

Here is the link to the LED calculator

http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

[Moofish]

I think this a very cool project to undertake. Great idea and it's very simple to do. Well done seligtobiason!

[Wally_Z]

I've seen people put RGB LED's on the back of their TV's and have it change color depending on the colors displayed on the TV. How would I do this? Or if someone could provide a link I would be grateful.

[jibbyjammin]

THANK YOU, WORKED GREAT AND LOOKS EVEN BETTER.

[Aaqib1]

Amazing Project. I made one and for my 46" Samsung D8000 3D Smart TV and the end result was fantastic. I used 10000mcd ultrabright LEDs which I bought off of eBay. Delivery time was 2.5 days.They arrived Quick!

[bch1]

Im looking forward to do this instructable! it looks simple enough so that i cant mess anything up too badly ...
i have a question though... how does the LED calculator work? i dont know the diode forward voltage or diode forward current... can you help me out?

[seligtobiason]

Well you should really check the specs of the LED, but if you don't have any, there are some very general rules to go by with LED's. On the LED Calculator click on the little "?" next to the "diode forward voltage" and "diode forward current (mA)" and it will give you a little reference to work off of.

Let me know if you need anything else!

[pcurrell]

Love the instructable... def has me inspired to do my first one... I'm planning on using some 90mm storm water pipe with end caps... prob a couple of $$ at most! (and not conductive)... going to use warm white leds 24000mcd http://www.altronics.com.au/index.asp?area=item&id=Z0877A

[JesseJames92x]

well I gave it go, using 8 LEDs. I couldn't tell you the last time I soldered anything, but I only burned out 4 of them! LOL As a complete amateur pretty proud that at least works! Thanks for the post, it was fun. I'll definitely be trying again once I've fine tuned my skills.

Cheers

- James

[souptech]

New to this and would just like to know what about circuit protection? Hope that doesn't seem like a dumb question, just thinking about any damage to the device that I may plug it into if something goes wrong:) Thanks in advance.

[seligtobiason]

Well, I am sure there are many ways to add circuit protection, the way I can think of is simply adding a fuse to the circuit. I do believe that the USB port already has protection on it. But to make sure take a look at the specs of whatever USB port you are plugging it into! Sorry I don't have a more specific answer, hope that helps.

[mizzle88]

First off, great instructable. I was just wondering how people are hanging them behind the tv. I was thinking of just using velcro, is that what others did?

[seligtobiason]

You can really use whatever you want as long as it supports the weight of the container. Velcro would work great for this, I used "Poster Tak", its a blue sticky goo that keeps things in place, but doesn't leave any marks when removed. I bought it at Micheal's arts and crafts store. But I am sure any office supply store would have it also. Hope that helps!

[madbirdone10]

Hey there! Tremendous and really easy to make Project....

I've used 10 leds, and a value of 300 ohm resistors.. I guess I could get more light without all the things around the TV.. ;)

It`s my first instructable done, and I got to say that I love it, now I can´t watch tv without it..!

Thanks man!

[seligtobiason]

So glad you like it. Looks great, thanks for sharing your pictures!

[jtony2009]

Wow dude, this is the FIRST instructable I have actually done, and let me tell you that you have inspired me to work with LED's -- and not just from usb but from other power sources. Its quite fun to see everything we can do with them.

Great project. My 55 inch tv looks even "awesomer" now. :P THANKS!

[seligtobiason]

That's awesome! So glad you have fallen for the love of LED's! They are a great addition to any and all projects!

[Jeremyherr]

I love your instructable and I was wanting to remake the same thing. The only problem that I am having is all the LED's I buy are not even close to how bright your LED's are. Every where I go it says use LED's with the color of your choice but no specifications on how bright cause the standard ones I buy don't even light up my wall... Could you please help?

[seligtobiason]

Thank you! And I am sorry that you are having some issues finding some bright LED's, I buy mine from ebay mostly. I believe these LED's are 12,000mcd, I hope that helps!

[ShawnM]

Hey I want to do this but my tv doesnt have a USB port can you use another type of cable for this?

[soundgod06]

It would probably be a good idea to tie a simple overhand knot in the USB cable inside the container in addition to the hot glue. That way it can't lose it's bond and pull out if, for example, it gets to hot and softens the glue.

[seligtobiason]

That is not a bad idea, but one of the great things about LED's is that they draw such little electricity that they don't heat up! So I am not really worried about the container heating up to melt the glue.

But if you use this somewhere where the cable can be pulled it would be useful to add that knot as a precaution.

[soundgod06]

While the LEDs might not produce heat, the TV you place it behind very well could. Actually just about everything in an entertainment center spits out heat, and the space behind the TV can act like a chimney. Put a thermometer back there some time, you might be surprised.

[hreddy]

nice project

[Meijer01]

You can actually solder all the negative leads to the container itself, as is the case with many electronics. Saves you some work and it'll look pretty decent as well. Extra care should be taken though to protect against any possible shorting.

[skrubol]

Soldering to a large steel or tin case like that is not all that easy. Takes a lot more power to heat up than just to heat up little wires and leads.

[Meijer01]

True. After posting that, not only did I realize that but I also came to the conclusion that the heat will kill the paint on the outside of the tin... :/

[MaXoR]

lets not forget that having an open ground near all your nice equipment could possibly spell disaster, especially since it's headed back into the TV for power. I'd be concerned about frying something internally in the case of a short circuit.

[ccowden]

instead of the power supply, hook the positive negative leads to an external sub woofer, the LEDs will flash to bass drops and grenades in COD and such :D

[MaXoR]

The problem is varying voltage in that situation.... if you go over a certain point.... POOF!

LED are not like those 120 volt fuese people used to use as lights on their speaker sets, maybe my voltage is wrong on that last part, but either way.... LED's are very picky about their voltages, and even more so in how much current goes through them.

I think it would be very difficult to the average person to accomplish that mod, however yeah, it would add some extra effect to getting nade'd.