Antec Bias Lighting – Hardware Review
Antec recently has sent us this interesting little accessory: Bias Lighting. A very simple product at first glance but according to the manufacturer it can achieve great things. What they say: “Bias lighting is an illumination technique for reducing eye fatigue and increasing perceived image clarity during long gaming sessions and extended periods of computer use”. We put it to the test.
In simple terms, Bias Lighting is a LED-strip, powered by USB. It can be easily attached to the back of your monitor thanks to double-sided tape on the back of the strip. It also has an on-off switch. It’s best used on monitors up to 24”, also larger monitors can of course be outfitted with the strip all be it with a slightly reduced effect (no lighting on the sides of your monitor). The LED’s create a subtle white backlight effect when turned on. That backlight has some interesting effects, besides reducing eye fatigue it also increases the monitor’s perceived contrast ratio which basically means the colours will look more vibrant and blacks will have more depth.
Own Opinion
I think the idea behind the kit is great. While I was sceptic at first, after installing it and using it for a couple of evenings, I really started appreciating it. It’s hard to tell how much the product really helps to reduce eye fatigue, there are a lot of other factors playing there as well, but it does more than that. It lightened up the room in a way that’s pleasant at night. I would’ve liked to see a way to use multiple lighting kits for a multi-monitor setup and larger strips for larger monitors. Also while the on-off switch is a great idea, it feels flimsy and wherever I tried to position it, it was always kinda hard to reach. Maybe some extra length between the strip and the switch, so it could be placed on the desk’s surface, would’ve helped.
Conclusion
The Bias Lighting kit is a great idea and does help you get through longer sessions on the computer at night or in the evening. It’ll also add some nice ambient light to the room. The low-price makes it an easy choice if you haven’t got anything like it already. There’s some improvement to be made though: maybe a modular system to be able to easily add some additional strips or an RGB (multi-color version.
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