The goal is to have a back projection of colors out from a TV that helps really immerse you in the content. The easy public way to do this is a set of Philips HUE lights and their HDMI sync kit.
The problem with this is that it's super expensive for what you get. Consider the following table of required equipment for that solution:
| Philips Products | Price (as of June 2021) |
|---|---|
| HDMI sync kit | $229.99 |
| Hue Bridge | $59.99 |
| Play Light Bar | $149.99 |
| Total | $439.97 |
That is an extraordinary price for such a mundane goal, especially because it's not a turnkey solution - one must still pair the components, use a smartphone to set everything up, etc.
In this project we will build the same functionality using easy off-the-shelf components in such a way that it's very easy to set up and very easy to customize.