The connected LED strips, or LED strips, are more and more common because they are really versatile. Flexible, they can be placed on uneven surfaces, follow the curvatures of the walls, put themselves in height, on the ceiling… In short, we can do what we want with them according to their length and their power. One of the nicest uses is to put them behind a television to have indirect lighting or to create a bright atmosphere according to the changing colors of your screen. And if on top of that, he's ZigBee, that's even better! And it's GLEDOPT which makes us discover the rare pearl: an LED TV ribbon.
We have therefore tested the Starter Kit RGB + CCT LED Strip Light 5W (or multi-color 5W LED strip starter kit) which features a 2m 5W LED strip and a mini ZigBee controller. As for his Starter Kit 12W more, GLEDOPTO relies on quality : 90 LEDs / m, 16 million colors and variable white heat, ZigBee compatible with hubs such as Philips Hue, Lightify, Echo Plus, Echo Studio and Show 2, and many more, although there may be limitations. There is a standard version and a version "Water proof" from around € 22. You can also buy 2m ribbons alone.
Do not hesitate to contact them from us if necessary:
- WeChat \ WhatsApp: + 86-13421806653
- https://www.facebook.com/gledopto.official
GLEDOPTO LED TV tape: unboxing and presentation
The packaging of our tape uses the brand's codes: the lower half in black and the upper half in white with the GLEDOPTO logo highlighted. Moreover, the meaning of the latter is interesting. In China, red is the color of good fortune and joy. If you look closely, a G is styled with a light bulb that cuts out in a red circle. The circle is also the symbol of movement. Anyway, I'm rambling, but it's always interesting.
On this packaging, therefore, no visual but simply the name of the product and its characteristics. It's a shame, but it ultimately remains sober. It is also relatively small for 13,5 cm side (it's a square) and a little more than 2 cm thick.
We find in this mini cardboard our LED TV tape wrapped around a support reminiscent of a movie reel. A little nod to its television use? Moreover, we have 3 stickers stuck on it: one red / green / blue, one white and one white yellow. We will come back to this later.
We also have the ZigBee mini-controller with its USB plug only. Indeed, as this ribbon is 5W, there is no transformer. It will connect to your TV or to a cell phone adapter. There is also a small user guide, in English, but quite comprehensive.
Attention, as for 12W plus bulbs, there is no hub in this pack, this band that works with most bridges on the market (Philips Hue, Lightify, etc.) but also the integrated hubs of appliances Amazon Echo and other ZigBee gateways, with limitations.
The support of the tape is directly the printed circuit on which the SMD LED are welded. The underside is covered with a good quality double-sided 3M which holds well in place, but can also be repositioned easily if necessary. There is no sheath in the tested version because it is an IP20. It exists in IP65, for a few euros more. The band width is 1,3cm for the IP 20 version. You will find a cutout area every 3,33 cm.
The mini-controller is relatively small and very light : 4cm long, 2,5cm wide and a little over 1cm thick. Even if the whole is not very design and does not come out of the ordinary, we are talking about LED strips to be placed in general behind a TV, therefore invisible.
LED TV tape: the technical characteristics of the Gledopto Starter Kit
We are going to go into detail, doing a little popularization because otherwise it is boring.
LEDs:
Those are SMD LED, square and flattened, directly mounted on the printed circuit board (SMD). We have 3 different types of LED, which makes it possible to have 90 LED / m in the end, which is very good for this type of product.
- SMD5050: these are 5 mm side LEDs rather reserved for color but also for whites to a lesser extent. It is therefore to them that we owe them RGB (Red Green Blue). Hence the sticker seen earlier.
- SMD2835: they are 2,8 x 3,5 mm side LEDs for white people. There are two types on our product: CW and WW. The CW, for Cold white, will handle the cold whites while the WW, Warm White, will produce warm whites. This explains the other two stickers.
It is the fact of playing with these 3 types of LEDs that the warmth of the whites is variable and the colors will have more depths.
See for example this "standard" white:
This cold white:
This warm white:
The technical characteristics:
- Power : 5 W
- Color: RGB + CCT. CCT stands for "color control temperature", controlling the temperature of colors, especially whites.
- Voltage: 5V DC, 2A maximum
- White temperature: from 2700 to 6500, that is to say from the luminous heat of a tungsten lamp (yellow light in champagne cellars for example) to that of a flash.
- 16 millions of colors, just that.
- Luminous flow : 75 to 105 Lm / W. So a max of 525 lm. It's still quite interesting even if it remains an auxiliary light and in no case a main lighting.
- 50.000 hour lifespan. In general, the connected LEDs are given for 20 to 30.000 hours. It is therefore a flagrant guarantee of quality.
- 5 year warranty! Another guarantee of quality.
- Lighting angle: 120 °
- Color Rendering Index over 80 and over 90 depending on the LEDs used, which corresponds to very good color rendering. The light does not interfere with the natural light of objects.
- Energy class A +
- ZigBee 3.0 compatible
- Range of use: from -20 to 45 ° C and 40 to 70% RH
Compatibility with Bridges and third-party applications:
The accounting is relatively well explained in the installation guide and here it is, concerning our product:
- Philips Hue Bridge : Yes. And even more than that, the banner is totally integrable with the Dutch application. It goes even further with the support of add-ons Hueparty, Hue Disco, IConnect Hue, Hue Widget, Light DJ… With Hue Play HDMI Sync Box, this is not the case, Philips does not give the possibility of integrating third-party products on their box. But we will soon have some good news for you!
- Amazon Echo Plus, Echo Studio et Echo Show 2 : Yes. This is the connection mode we have chosen for this test.
- Osram Lightyfy Hub : Yes.
- IKEA Trådfi Hub : no
- Homee Box : Yes, but that RGB.
- Box SmartThings : Yes
- Home Assistant : Yes, in full.
- HomeKit : Yes, but not directly. You can find examples of connectivity on the Internet.
- Google Assistant / Home : Yes, via the Hue Hub.
- SreenBloom : Yes. If you do not know, it's free software that allows you to do away with the Hue Play Sync Box by only needing the Hue Hub. Thus, your LED strip will synchronize with the dominant color of your TV screen.
Installation and use of the LED strip
As we have seen just above, for those who follow, it is possible to associate our tape with different bridges or boxes of various brands. We tested on a Zemi generic mini Tuya Hubsmart in order to see the possibilities offered.
To do so, open your app Tuya / Smart Life, find your bridge and add the banner to it by pressing "Add a sub-device". Bring the LED TV strip into pairing mode by plugging it in and unplugging it 5 times. It will turn color and flash. Then start the search then 5 seconds later, it is recognized and added. It appears on the app under a generic name that you can change.
From there, you have access to everything the app allows Smart Life :
- Management of blanks: heat and intensity,
- Color management: saturation and intensity.
The tape responds quite well, although we did see some small delays, but nothing bad. However, it does not go back in the app Alexa… As explained several times during our various tests, it happens that products come back (rarely) while others do not. You should know that it has been a short time since Tuya integrated the ZigBee bridges and there are therefore still often misses. Which means you can do a lot of cool stuff, but not by voice.
We will therefore go to plan B, the ZigBee Hub integrated into Echo Show 2. To recognize the LED strip, you must reset it by turning it on and off several times until it flashes as previously announced, then ask: « Alexa, search for my devices ». After about a minute, your ribbon will be found. Change the name. We called it " Movie theater ".
The problem, if any, will be that piloting possibilities will be limited. For example, the scenes are impossible to implement, the color palette is a little more restricted (but there are 5 different whites and 15 colors ranging from turquoise to magenta)…
"The use remains very simple and very fluid ..." The Alexians
But apart from that, the use is very simple and very fluid. The ribbon will be piloted like a light bulb. For the start of our test, we plugged the LED strip into a power strip with USB port more than 15m from our Echo Show 2 and this did not present a problem.
Look at the luminous rendering, it is superb, we are on a very high quality product as GLEDOPTO announces. The light arrives fairly quickly and rises to maximum intensity in a small second. Ditto, it is gradually extinguished. The different white temperatures are clear, the colors are deep considering the size of the product. We are really stuck. No defect found on close colors, no overlap or wavelengths less present than others.
"Look at the luminous rendering, it is superb" The Alexians
We then went on to place the tape behind the TV. There are two possibilities for this.
- Glue the back by making angles as best as you can.
- Buy the version with connectors for a few cents more. These "L" shaped connectors allow you to cut the strip and form it cleanly to make 90 ° angles.
You also have two possibilities to plug in your strip. Either on the USB socket of the TV or on the mains with a phone adapter 5V / 2A max. During our filmed test, we opted for a connection directly to the TV in order to save space on the mains sockets. However, it turns out that with this hookup, the port was going into overload with very light and / or high intensity colors, as this used the most power. For it to work properly, it was necessary to stay on a low enough intensity (20 to 30% max) so that it does not go into safety. This is a problem resulting from our TV and not from the product which works very well on USB sockets integrated into power strips, on a box and on the sector via a plug (we have carried out various tests to find the cause) . Therefore, prefer this type of connection if your TV shows signs of weakness. In addition, going through the USB of the TV, we noticed a little latency, more than through the sector, which can be explained if the power supply is not optimal.
Other than that (and a pin system that comes off easily), there is only positive. With a background color for the TV makes it possible to fight against blue light, which is harmful in the evening, or to have a cinema atmosphere to really immerse yourself in a film. The colors are superb and the rendering is magnificent as you can see from the video and its photos.
"The colors are superb and the rendering is magnificent" The Alexians
Also note that this LED strip with its mini ZigBee controller can be put outside in its version "Water proof" or hidden under or behind the TV cabinet for example.
GLEDOPTO zigbee mini controller smart LED TV light strip
from 22 €
Most
- Very easy to install
- Works in ZigBee
- Stunning colors
- USB TV operation
The lessers
- Attention, not suitable for all TVs only USB mode
- Connectors to the controller are easily detached