3 ways to level up your gaming with smart light

22 February 2019

Every gaming enthusiast wants to create the ideal battle station that lets them make the most out of their gaming experience, but, unfortunately, many have no idea where to start. Colour-capable LED lights are the perfect way to create a next-level gaming experience without redecorating the entire room.

Use different kinds of lights placed in different areas of the room to amp up the ambiance while you game — or set them to react to your on-screen actions to immerse yourself into your next quest or battle. Use these tips and tricks to fully customise your PC gaming setup and enjoy your characters like never before.

1. Find the right lights

If your gaming space doubles as a functional room, such as a home office, it's nice to have light that can transform the room from a bright and functional workplace to an exciting battle station. Use smaller lights placed around the room that you can turn on and off based on the task at hand: use more lights to increase the brightness for a more focused task and less light to help you relax or set the tone for your next adventure.

Bright idea: The Philips Hue White Ambiance collection, which includes smart fixtures, light bulbs, table lamps, and more, helps you find the best warm-to-cool white light for different tasks. Each White ambiance light comes with preset Light recipes — different shades of white light specially chosen by lighting experts to support you throughout the day. Set the lights to a cool blue daylight for your household tasks and use warmer, dimmer tones while you game.

2. Use colour smart light to decorate

Smart lights let you choose from virtually endless colours to bring an unexpected pop to any room. Get creative in the placement of your lights and skip the paint altogether, washing with wall with light instead. The tactic is especially handy for people who live in homes where they can't paint the walls, such as rental properties.

Bright idea: The Philips Hue Play light bars are perfect for creating a unique look in any room. The light bars come with a special stand that allows you to angle them forward the wall, giving you a beautiful, colourful effect without the hassle of painting the room.

Computer desk with Hue Play bars in the background

3. Get surrounding lighting

For a truly immersive experience, you can use the free Hue Sync desktop app to pair your lights with the content on your computer screen. With Hue Sync, your lights mimic the content on your screen, dimming, brightening, flashing and changing colour based on whatever is going on in your character's world.

Bright idea: Install the Lightstrip plus, a self-adhesive flexible strip light, under the edge of the desk or around your computer screen and pair with Hue Sync to get a subtle yet impressive experience. When you're not gaming, set the Lightstrip to any of 16 million colours to set the perfect mood.

*When a bulb displays "Up to" a certain number of lumens in its specifications, it displays the maximum lumen output of the bulb. It shows how bright the bulb can get at 2700 K (White bulbs) or 4000 K (White ambiance or White and colour ambiance bulbs). Learn more about brightness