# DIY lightscreen project



## NiteshAquascaper (2 Mar 2021)

Here is my DIY lightscreen similar to Ada one. 
My Tank dimensions is regular 60P aquarium.


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## dcurzon (3 Mar 2021)

How does it look with water in?  You might need to diffuse the light some more to reduce the 'hotspots', perhaps some frosted film, or a denser frosted film if you're already using (hard to tell from pics)


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

Yesb, i have add one more layer of diffuser now.


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## dcurzon (3 Mar 2021)

that looks good! What have you used as diffuser?  Interesting that you've gone all the way around withe the led's... what spec are they? (12v, 5v? ) What depth have you made the foam board, and how far in is the led strip?  Is there foam board panel on the back also to deflect the light?
Thanks

Here is mine: Link


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

The foam depth is around 2.5inch. Also i already have used frosted glass, i added one more layer of frost and put the led light back close to background foam. Yes i have pasted vinyl sticker on foam board to reflect light.


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

dcurzon said:


> that looks good! What have you used as diffuser?  Interesting that you've gone all the way around withe the led's... what spec are they? (12v, 5v? ) What depth have you made the foam board, and how far in is the led strip?  Is there foam board panel on the back also to deflect the light?
> Thanks
> 
> Here is mine: Link


Yours is also looking great, 😊👍


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

@dcurzon mine led is 12v


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## Wookii (3 Mar 2021)

Nice work. You'd possibly eliminate the dimmer area in the centre if you made the rear of the light box solid white rather than open?


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

@Wookii the background is solid amd covered all around. I think once i have top light in place, taking photo with both the lights it will look different


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## Wookii (3 Mar 2021)

NiteshAquascaper said:


> @Wookii the background is solid amd covered all around. I think once i have top light in place, taking photo with both the lights it will look different



Ah okay, sorry I thought from the construction images, it was just an angle surround at the rear.


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## NiteshAquascaper (3 Mar 2021)

Wookii said:


> Ah okay, sorry I thought from the construction images, it was just an angle surround at the rear.


Oh no worries.. I m happy u liked the build 😊👍


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## Dogtemple (3 Mar 2021)

if you get a busted flat screen tv, you will find a fresnel lens and diffusion layers which will totally eliminate any hotspots, you'll just get a nice clean even sheet of light.  it should also act somewhat like daylight too


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## Wookii (3 Mar 2021)

Dogtemple said:


> if you get a busted flat screen tv, you will find a fresnel lens and diffusion layers which will totally eliminate any hotspots, you'll just get a nice clean even sheet of light.  it should also act somewhat like daylight too



I've been meaning for some time to try and get hold of an old screen and tear it apart to see if I could get one of those.


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## CJayT (14 Apr 2021)

Wookii said:


> I've been meaning for some time to try and get hold of an old screen and tear it apart to see if I could get one of those.


have you tried searching for 'light panel'/'led panel'/'ceiling light panel' and your tanks back glass dimensions into google e.g. '120cm x60cm' led panel? They are actually pretty common i've found and fair few places, in the UK anyways, makes custom sizes too. Amazon even had some Amazon product


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## Wookii (14 Apr 2021)

CJayT said:


> have you tried searching for 'light panel'/'led panel'/'ceiling light panel' and your tanks back glass dimensions into google e.g. '120cm x60cm' led panel? They are actually pretty common i've found and fair few places, in the UK anyways, makes custom sizes too. Amazon even had some Amazon product




I have yes, but I haven't been able to find one at 600 x 400 and was frameless (or at least with a frame of less than 8mm), and I was never sure that were all the edge lit type with the diffusion layers, rather than being directly back lit - though those Amazon ones certainly look like it.

I didn't manage to find anywhere that did one off custom ones though - do you have any links to those suppliers?

Edit: I've also not been successful in finding a supplier of the appropriate coloured films.


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## The grumpy one (14 Apr 2021)

For coloured films try looking at Stage lighting colour filters.






						Colour Effect Lighting Filters
					

High-quality lighting filters in a vast range of colours. Always consistent from batch to batch, long-lasting, and dependable.




					www.leefilters.com
				








						Diffusion Lighting Filters
					

Diffusion filters: Polyester, (flexi)frosts, perforated, grid cloths, and spun materials for softening or spreading a light beam, and reducing contrast ratios.




					www.leefilters.com
				








						Technical Filters
					

Our range of high-quality cinematic lens filters have been developed to convert and manipulate light sources with the highest possible degree of accuracy.




					www.leefilters.com
				




A reasonable supplier that I use is Colour Filter & Gel - Lighting - Sales - Stage Electrics


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## Wookii (14 Apr 2021)

The grumpy one said:


> For coloured films try looking at Stage lighting colour filters.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Thanks for those links - but I can't see any gradient/graduated films that run from, say, blue to clear like those typically sold with branded aquarium back lights.


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## jamila169 (15 Apr 2021)

I'd be looking at one of the many places that custom print opaque window cling vinyl, like Bubble-free Window Decals Opaque | Signs & Decals at Bannerbuzz   you can upload your own gradient artwork


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## Wookii (14 May 2021)

Took delivery of a Lightground backlight recently after giving up on a DIY effort, so I had to check how is was made. For future DIY'ers, the layer are as follows:

Rear panel: Solid reflective matt finish white perspex - about 3mm thick
Middle panel: Clear perspex with small (approx 1mm) dots etched into the surface of the rear (about 5mm spacing) - about 6mm thick
Front panel: Opaque/frosted perspex - about 3mm thick

LED: 5mm wide rigid strip of 12v high output LEDs to the top and bottom of the panel connected in series via a two core cable down one side.


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## jamila169 (14 May 2021)

what's the frame made of @Wookii ? the dots are a great idea to force the light to go through the perspex rather than straight from top to bottom


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## Wookii (14 May 2021)

jamila169 said:


> what's the frame made of @Wookii ? the dots are a great idea to force the light to go through the perspex rather than straight from top to bottom



The frame is an aluminium channel with a T-slot channel in the back to take little corner plates and sliding nuts. I’ll post up an image in a min.


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## bushaaayyy (14 Jul 2021)

Hi wooki, did you manage to get any pics of the insides of the lightscreen?

did the etched dots go completely though the middle sheet, or more like dimples on the rear side?


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## Wookii (14 Jul 2021)

Apologies, I completely forgot to come back on this one. This is the channel pictures from the rear:






I also found it available online, basically as aluminium picture frame channel type stuff:









						7mm 'Aluminium' M11 Frame Moulding | Yorks Framing
					

• Satin & textured painted finishes Matt Silver - Matt Black - Gloss Gold - Matt Gold - Bright Silver




					www.yorksframing.co.uk


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## Wookii (14 Jul 2021)

bushaaayyy said:


> Hi wooki, did you manage to get any pics of the insides of the lightscreen?
> 
> did the etched dots go completely though the middle sheet, or more like dimples on the rear side?



Posted the channel above.

On the dots, no, they were just etched on the surface of the Perspex, maybe a fraction of a millimetre deep, presumably formed by a CNC router tool just lightly touching the surface to make the dots.


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## bushaaayyy (15 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> I also found it available online, basically as aluminium picture frame channel type stuff


Very interesting, so in your opinion does it look like something that could be DIY’d? If one were able to get ahold of some the framing.

I’m thinking the etching could possibly be achieved with a light touch with a dremmel bit


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## Wookii (15 Jul 2021)

bushaaayyy said:


> Very interesting, so in your opinion does it look like something that could be DIY’d? If one were able to get ahold of some the framing.
> 
> I’m thinking the etching could possibly be achieved with a light touch with a dremmel bit



Yes, it would be a fairly easy DIY job if you can get the materials. That framing that I linked might not be quite the right size, you just need the internal gap to be around 1mm larger than the sum of the sheets you are inserting in it.

So for example, I think the Lightscreen one might be around 12mm inside, and that takes the 3mm solid white rear sheet, the 5mm clear/etched sheet, and a 3mm diffuser sheet.

You could certainly do it with a Dremmel if you wanted, but it would take a looooong time - at a rough guess there's a dot every 5mm, so on a 600mm x 400mm panel that like 9600 or so dots!! I'd probably be more inclined to order it from a CNC shop, or find somewhere that actually make these etched sheets for light boxes already.

All that said though, by the time you've bought the three types of perspex cut to size, had the CNC work done on the clear panel, bought the framing and fixings, sourced the gradient window film, bought the high output LED strips, cable, connectors and power supply, and had some clips made up to hang on the tank - you're probably not that far off the price of buying a Lightscreen off the shelf.


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## bushaaayyy (15 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> 9600 or so dots!!


Christ yeah that’s a lot, I think I had 5cm spacings in my head, so seemed achievable.



Wookii said:


> you're probably not that far off the price of buying a Lightscreen off the shelf.


And yeah I lost enthusiasm for the idea when I started looking up costs of the raw materials last night. For my tank at 80x45 was looking like ~£20 for the framework and ~£60 for the acrylic sheets.  

Thanks for the info though mate, may revisit the idea some day.


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## Dogtemple (15 Jul 2021)

bushaaayyy said:


> Christ yeah that’s a lot, I think I had 5cm spacings in my head, so seemed achievable.
> 
> 
> And yeah I lost enthusiasm for the idea when I started looking up costs of the raw materials last night. For my tank at 80x45 was looking like ~£20 for the framework and ~£60 for the acrylic sheets.
> ...



check this video out, you can get all the parts you need from an old telly, and luckily this guy tells you how to put it all together to make a light screen


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## Wookii (15 Jul 2021)

Dogtemple said:


> check this video out, you can get all the parts you need from an old telly, and luckily this guy tells you how to put it all together to make a light screen




That's a great video. Might try and get hold of an old TV to see if I can grab the parts for future experimentation, particularly that fresnel layer.


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## bushaaayyy (15 Jul 2021)

Yeah great tip thanks dogtemple. I’m off to the tip Saturday morning might have a snoop around see if I can find an old tv


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## Dogtemple (15 Jul 2021)

Be great to see what you guys come up with.  I don’t even need one but feel compelled to make one too!


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## bushaaayyy (19 Jul 2021)

Managed to get hold of an panasonic TV, took it all apart and....





different method of backlighting unfortunately, no fresnel lens, just a frosted layer of acrylic and about 3 frosted diffusion layers. Seemed like a slightly newer tv than the one he used in the video.


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## Wookii (20 Jul 2021)

bushaaayyy said:


> Managed to get hold of an panasonic TV, took it all apart and....
> 
> View attachment 172049
> 
> different method of backlighting unfortunately, no fresnel lens, just a frosted layer of acrylic and about 3 frosted diffusion layers. Seemed like a slightly newer tv than the one he used in the video.



Yeah, that's a more modern TV with zone based LED lighting, you specifically want to look for an 'edge lit' LED TV.


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## bushaaayyy (20 Jul 2021)

Wookii said:


> Yeah, that's a more modern TV with zone based LED lighting, you specifically want to look for an 'edge lit' LED TV.



Is there any way to discern which TVs are edge lit? Is it generally the older chunkier flat screens?


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## Wookii (20 Jul 2021)

bushaaayyy said:


> Is there any way to discern which TVs are edge lit? Is it generally the older chunkier flat screens?



No, they won't necessarily be chunky. I'd just google the make and model number when you see a potential set - you can usually find numerous reviews online of most TV's and they should detail whether the screen is edge lit or not.


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## Wolf6 (14 Oct 2021)

Looking into this subject for my new tank, I found this as a possibility for light diffusion. Found it on a forum for photographers who also make DYI lightscreens, be it for different purposes, but they want light diffusion all the same:
Amazon product - this stuff is easy enough to find it seems, and cheap.
I'm thinking of trying around a bit with some IKEA LEDBERG strips (5 or 6 strips of 25 cm), 2 layers of frosted acryl glass covered on the inside/between the layers with that clear mesh, maybe with a layer of parchment (also used by the photographer), fitted inside a box measuring painted mat/chalky white inside. Costs would be under 80 euro. The price of the lightscreen (non-ADA one) for the tank I'm looking at is 300 euro. If I fail, I'll still have some led strips for use elsewhere  Might add a controller later to control the colours more easily via an app, but lets first see if the diffusion results using this are sufficient before adding more costs. Its going to be some time before I have time for this experiment though.


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## Moss.uk (10 Jan 2022)

I managed to make one.
I used: 
lenses from an old tv as above.
Govee controllable led strip lights from Amazon. (Although I think I got the wrong ones for what I wanted, so not sure if I can do a gradient.)
90° aluminium corner trim for the surround.
L shaped corner plates to fasten.
Total cost was around £30


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## ChrisK1993 (7 Oct 2022)

Wookii said:


> Took delivery of a Lightground backlight recently after giving up on a DIY effort, so I had to check how is was made. For future DIY'ers, the layer are as follows:
> 
> Rear panel: Solid reflective matt finish white perspex - about 3mm thick
> Middle panel: Clear perspex with small (approx 1mm) dots etched into the surface of the rear (about 5mm spacing) - about 6mm thick
> ...


Just to clear this up, the middle layer that has "dots" is 3 pieces of perspex molded together. It has dots on the outer 2 pieces and lines on the center piece. The 2 outer are also polarised and are directional. It's actually a very simple setup, the parts on the other hand, for bigger tanks are very hard to get 😂


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