You know, we'd love to be flies on the wall for the marketing meetings at some of these manufacturers.
"Let's make a great OLED TV and only give it USB 2.0 ports."
- Some LG product designer
Please note: This post is maintained for archival purposes, but LG OLED TVs manufactured as far back as 2019 are confirmed to supply 4.5w via USB 2.0. This is enough power to supply any of our USB-powered lights without a USB Power Enhancer. You do not need one.
If you own a Panasonic OLED (you are most likely not in the USA), you DO need a power enhancer for any 5m or 6m strip or ANY length of strip if using a WiFi dimmer. This is for PANASONIC OLEDs only and does not apply to LG OLED.
You should still request a power enhancer if your LG OLED was manufactured before 2019 and if you are using a 5m or 6m MediaLight or LX1 — Or if you are using a pre-2019 LG OLED with a WiFi controller.
There are a few solutions to this problem, but we want to know how you will use your lights first.
In general, any MediaLight Mk2 unit 1-4 meters long is below 500mA (the maximum for USB 2.0) even when set at 100% on the dimmer. Larger units will draw fewer amps when dimmed to specific levels.
For larger MediaLight strips we can send a free USB enhancer with your order (you need to request it first -- there's no charge if it's shipped with your order. If you request it after your order has shipped out, just pay postage -about $3 in the USA). The enhancer is not free with the LX1. However, we can add one to your order for only $5 ($8 if purchased after the fact). (The MediaLight, in general, includes more "stuff" extension cord, switch, remote, adapter, clips, etc. If we included all of it with the LX1, it would cost nearly as much as the MediaLight).
The enhancer combines the power of two USB 2.0 ports to provide up to 950mA of power -- the maximum draw of even the 6m Mk2 Flex at 100% brightness.
We've had some people ask "why not just include the power enhancer with every order, rather than require that we read the site?"
1) Most people don't need the power enhancer and we don't want to increase the price of MediaLight. We'd prefer to just provide the extra part for free on an as-needed basis.
2) We encourage reading the site before ordering. We reckon that if more people read the site, fewer people would buy our lights without understanding the features, or thinking that they change colors. This would be fine with us. We're not a marketing company. Our sole focus is accurate lighting for accurate images.