Salvaged LED televisions contain some of the brightest and whitest light sources I’ve found. This is an important enough topic, that it’s worth it’s own independent link. We’ll soon be adding some links to some Youtube tutorials, that we’ve found very helpful. In the not-so-far-distant future, we’ll be putting together a couple of our own videos on how to repurpose broken LED TV sets you can pick up for free, and help to keep a bit of non-degradable junk from being tossed in landfill. You can make fantastic studio lights with just the salvaged LEDs and diffuser panels, or even better, you can use most of the entire TV set as a lightbox.

Free LED TVs can easily be found on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, sitting on the curb when your garbage company offers free e-waste pick-up, and often just sitting on the sidewalk with a sign “free” taped to it. Most often, the LCD screen is either cracked, or the television has a bad board. Either way, they’re usually loaded with bright LEDs and several diffuser panels. You can ‘shop’ for one that’s the perfect size for you, and then build your light box to work perfectly with your light source! You can also salvage the LEDs and the diffusers and build a box for them that works with your light box. The LED strips can be powered in many ways (but if you leave them in the TV, you can use the TV’s power source AND you can use the remote control!).

I’ve found that just leaving the LEDs in the TV and making a more slender light box studio, allows the part that extends over the sides to backlight the sheeting. In the end, there is virtually no shadowing, unless you’d like to add some, which may be done by using other light sources. The PVC is more than strong enough to support the weight of the TV.

You will be amazed with how your photography skills seem to magically improve, over night! You will now be able to make the most mundane inanimate objects pop. The image to the right is only cropped, but otherwise it’s completely unenhanced! Clicking on this particular picture will take you to a page of images using the lighting I’ve described. You can spend a crazy amount of money on lighting, however in many cases, you can do very well, for free.