This camera-based lighting kit punches far above its weight in performance and color intensity. It's also relatively simple to set up and easy to operate.

The Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite is the entry-level model I would recommend to anyone (especially if you don't already have hundreds of dollars invested in colored smart-home lighting, like, you know, some tech writers). The kit includes a camera that samples what is on your TV screen, an LED light strip, and a small controller box. (Bonus: If you aren't watching your screen but want your room to have a pop of color, you can use the app to turn on and tune the lights for a little ambiance.)

Camera-based systems aren't as elegant as more expensive options like HDMI sync boxes (more on those below), but they offer a great compromise, balancing affordability, performance, and acceptable latency -- and once calibrated, they pretty much just work, which we can't always say of more complicated options.

The Govee TV Backlight 3 Lite's LED light strip attaches to the rear side of your TV via a strong-enough but non-permanent adhesive. The camera mounts on the top of your TV's bezel without adhesive, and both components plug into the small breakout box via USB-C. You have to calibrate the system by placing stick-on orange squares on your screen temporarily and using Govee's smarthome app. Thankfully the process is pretty painless.

The best thing about a camera-based system is that it just works, with whatever you're watching, and it doesn't depend on exotic tech hurdles -- no wonky cabling or HDMI troubleshooting required. So whether you are streaming from an app, or your Apple TV, or your Nintendo Switch 2, they all work just as well as any other. This is because the camera is pointed at your screen and sends a constant stream to the controller, which instantly processes that info and tells the LED strip what colors to emit. This doesn't happen instantly; there's a bit of perceptible latency between what's on your screen and the lights behind it. But the delay is minimal, and it's probably distracting only if you're really looking for it.

This Govee lighting kit certainly isn't as comprehensive or as sleek as non-camera based kits, which rely on easier-to-hide cables -- if you're particular about the look of your home theater setup, you may consider having a camera mounted on top of your TV to be an instant dealbreaker. And adhering the lights, which come in linked strips with adhesive along their back edges, is a little tedious, especially if you haven't done it before. But if you're not already all-in on, say, a Philips Hue smart-lighting system, Govee's option is a great entry-level introduction to TV backlighting.

I Knew TV Backlighting Was Cool. I Didn't Expect It to Be Such a Powerful Upgrade.