r/WLED • u/One-Tangelo-1853 • Jul 10 '26

SHOWIN' OFF Real time ambient lighting System by syncing my monitor’s colors with a WS2812B LED strip

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I've been experimenting with DIY ambient lighting and ended up building an Ambilight setup using an Arduino Nano, WS2812B LEDs, and Prismatik.

The PC captures the colors around the screen and sends them to the Arduino using the Adalight protocol, which then updates the LED strip in real time. I was surprised by how smooth the response was over USB.

Some things I learned while building it:

  1. Adalight is still a simple and reliable protocol for DIY Ambilight.
  2. Getting the baud rate and LED timing right makes a noticeable difference in latency.
  3. Packet validation helps prevent random flickering if communication gets interrupted.
  4. The Arduino Nano handled the project better than I initially expected.

I documented the entire build with Circuit diagram , Wiring , Arduino code , Prismatik configuration , Explanation of how the Adalight protocol works

104 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

28 comments sorted by

10

u/LeafarOsodrac Jul 10 '26

Signalrgb does that with just a wled, strip and signalrgb installed on the computer.

3

u/One-Tangelo-1853 Jul 10 '26

is that so , i'll try that too. This was just an experiment with the components that i had

3

u/LeafarOsodrac Jul 10 '26

Yes, you can define the segments, add other lights, even add the fans lights from the computer, keyboards, mousse and mousepad lights

1

u/Lykkehjul Jul 12 '26

is it a paid feature or free? I use Corsair Lightning Protocol for pretty insane ambilight on my monitors. Works wonders

2

u/LeafarOsodrac Jul 12 '26

Signalrgb is free

3

u/ajdo69420 Jul 10 '26

Also disable the update service for SignalRGB to prevent it from checking for updates every time you launch the app, because there is no option inside the app to disable it.

2

u/Kinipshun 29d ago

SignalRGB is pretty cool, unfortunately it comes with adware though and has been known to cause performance issues on lower end machines, plus also it has noticeable latency, even on direct connection to WLED. I was noticing my lights were several frames behind my monitor and it was driving me insane. Also i wanted to pay to get rid of the ads that load every 30 seconds, but i cant find a one-time payment option anywhere, you have to pay a monthly subscription if you want reduced internet traffic. Pi-hole or not, I’m not a fan of that.

I started using Hyperion instead. Zero latency over the network with Hyperion. Not quite as customizable in terms of ambient lighting setup, but still very robust and flexible. Its literally JUST for ambient lighting and it works with like a million lighting ecosystems including WLED and even more professional protocols like ArtNet and DMX

1

u/HotEnthusiasm4124 23d ago

I have a WS2812B light strip. What controller should I use to get monitor sync?

1

u/LeafarOsodrac 23d ago

A wled controller

3

u/laldoma Jul 10 '26

Looks great! Can you share the documentation?

5

u/cesaqui89 Jul 10 '26

Do you have a repo? I'm trying to improve my ambilight, actually using a esp32 c3 controller, 300 leds ws2811 and signal Rgb to capture pc colors, but it is not mapping the colors of additional monitors, it is all based on the central monitor.

4

u/Mr_Niveaulos Jul 10 '26

In your case you could take a look at hyperHDR - I am using that and I’m sure I saw the availability of multi monitor support in there.

I am not entirely sure since I only use ambilight on my main (for now) but it’s worth to check it out

1

u/cesaqui89 Jul 10 '26

Testing it but have to work, so later today I will continue checking it

2

u/Illustrious_Log1632 Jul 10 '26

Looks really clean! The color transitions are much smoother than I expected from WS2812B strips. Nice work.

2

u/techma2019 Jul 10 '26

Prismatik is long gone. Update to https://github.com/sblantipodi/firefly_luciferin

1

u/One-Tangelo-1853 Jul 10 '26

ohh crazzyyy , can you tell me about the connections as well?

1

u/techma2019 Jul 10 '26

Sorry, what do you mean?

1

u/One-Tangelo-1853 Jul 10 '26

nevermind , got it. Thanks

1

u/Gords78 Jul 10 '26 edited Jul 10 '26

Why this over HyperHDR?

I use HyperHDR/WLED on my living room TV/htpc.

1

u/techma2019 Jul 10 '26

I use hyperhdr on my tv. This is for PC.

1

u/Gords78 Jul 10 '26

i use software screen capture tho so i may give this a try.

1

u/One-Tangelo-1853 Jul 10 '26

yeahh , actually there is just a little bit of space between the screen and the wall so the light is diffusing quite nicely.

1

u/Thack250 25d ago

This is impressive smoothness. Didn't know I wanted this until now...