Nanoleaf 4D Camera - Review

We have reviewed a number of Nanoleaf lights over the years and for the most part, they are all the same, panels of varying shapes that provide light in a rainbow of colours. But now Nanoleaf have something that is new, the Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror, a camera that sees what is on your screen and then uses either your existing Nanoleaf lights or the led strip, to extend the colours off your display. So does this work as advertised, or does it leave you stranded in the same dimension?

Before we get into the does it work question, we need to talk about the setup as this is a very crucial part of making sure that it works. In the box you get the camera, the control box and if you've purchased the one with the lights an LED strip. Setting things up isn't that complicated around the back of your TV or computer monitor, you simply need to peel the backing from the LED strip and slowly shape it around the display. In order to make the corners much easier inside the box are a series of raised corner pieces, which let you turn the strip around without having to try and make a 90 degree turn from a spongy strip. Thankfully the sticky side isn't an instant stick, so you can take a few runs at putting things in line perfectly, before you apply a lot of pressure to force it down, but once you have it done you just need to then plug it into the box.

The second aspect of the setup is the camera now there are two ways that you can set the camera up, the first is via the included mount which hangs from above the display and the second being positioned on a surface pointing up from the bottom. When I initially set it up I had the camera placed at the bottom looking up at my TV, but I found with other items on the stand namely controllers it kept picking those up and not really working correctly. Moving the camera to the above screen position removed that issue, but the camera mounts doesn't actually stick to anything so it's kind of just sitting there which is a little worrying. Regardless of the position you choose, once the camera is in place you simply need to plug it into the box and word of caution here you need to make sure you force the cable in because it can be a little stubborn.

The final part of this setup process is the configuration, syncing the lights to the Nanoleaf app and then ensuring that everything is set up correctly. This is where I encountered the first problem namely the fact that the setup process completely missed a step and it wasn't until days later when I was reconfiguring things after moving the camera that it decided to work. When you go through the process the first thing it asks is the position of the camera, above or below, the second step is that it asks you to verify the corners of your display. This is done by selecting each corner and then using your phone moving a green light to the best position you can for the corner. The final step is to ensure that the camera can see all parts of the screen this is usually done by just moving dots around to ensure it's got everything in view, with all that done you're set up and good to go.

Obviously now that it's set up using it is a little trickier and for one major reason it sometimes didn't like starting up in the 4D mode, which is this screen extension. When you turn it on by default it will just be a row of light, in the app you can select the 4D mode which is what extends the colours off your screen to the LED strip and therefore the wall behind your display. Once I had that set up, I was able to make sure the light was presenting the right colours and for the most part it works fine on TV shows and movies. I had a few episodes of Ahsoka playing with the 4D mode enabled but as that shows a bit darker at times it didn't really do much, but then I watched the entire new season of Takeshi's Castle and given that that's a Japanese game show, colours we're in abundance.

For the most part all the colours that were on the display, be it the bright colours of the game show walls or the on-screen elements, all translated through when appropriate. There were times however where instead of displaying colors on the bottom of the strip it would just show red and I couldn't work out what was going on there. Turning it off and back on again usually resolved the thing, but what triggered it in the first place I can't tell you. Now I obviously also play a lot of video games and I was having fun with Forza Motorsport and Spider-Man 2 with the 4D camera on and let me tell you one of those games worked perfectly and the other did not.

If you guessed Spider-Man 2 being the one that worked you would be incorrect, each time I tried with that the 4D camera just either couldn't keep up with the constant colours changes that were happening as I was swinging around New York, or it just gave up and went to a standard colours scheme. Forza Motorsport was the better of the two and I suspect that comes down to the fact that the game doesn't really shift the top part of the screen all that frequently, by that I mean the sky is usually blue, unless it's cloudy in which case it's gray and even though the weather does change it's not over a period of seconds but rather minutes. The games hud elements, namely the levelling up corner did make pops of colour appear when it happened, but elsewise it was a simple extension without any drama.

There is an issue that I find myself experiencing and its one that maybe only a few else will get and that is placement of the display. In my case my TV is sort of in a corner, which means that when the led strip is on, the light collects in one corner, rather than dispersing over the wall. That is the not the issue, the other side of my tv is part of an old wall, which essentially puts my tv screen in an alcove, which means that light doesn’t bounce out right on the other side. The means that instead of the light spreading out of the display, it stays around the edges and while this has an upside in the daytime, it also just means the colours are not spreading out right and will look a little mixed. This is not a Nanoleaf issue, but just goes to highlight that if your display is not in the best place, your results may not be ideal.

The Nanoleaf 4D Screen Mirror is an interesting addition to their lineup, while it does work, it has a few issues that will limit its useability by most people. The camera won’t work for anyone who mounts their tv, without using the little arm to hold it out in place, which is not affixed in anyway. Similarly, with the camera below, the entire field of view must be kept clear of other items, less they be picked up by it. Once it is set up, the randomness of it working as expected, meant that it was sometimes not worth turning on and when using it on a game that was quickly shifting visuals, it struggled to keep up. For movie and tv watching, it works as advertised and it did work with most games, but your millage may vary. If you already own any of the existing Nanoleaf panels, this might just be a great add on, but buying it all at once might be a hard sell at the moment, until they can ensure it works perfectly with each use.

The Score

8.0

Review unit provided by Nanoleaf

The Pros

The setup is so simple and does not require you to rewire your setup to include this

When its working, the effect of the lights is brilliant…

The Cons

… but there are times when it either doesn’t work, or doesn’t light up the way it should

The camera can’t keep up with some fast colour shifts, so it won’t work in all situations