In-Wall DVD rack and DS Poster Lighbox, Help?

[Backlash]

Hi guys, I've been looking into some of the threads here but I think I'm doing something a little different.

I'd like to build my DVD rack into the wall and for a door I was going to use a movie poster, but I wanted to backlight the whole thing.

Construction shouldn't be a big deal, as I'm just going to skin the back off the wall and stud in an extra wall so that the wall becomes twice as thick. Of course the rack will be boxed out.

For the poster, I am planning a relatively thick poster frame, and will route out slots in the top and bottom pieces so that drawer sliders fit inside them. This way when mounted, the poster will slide open along the wall revealing the rack behind. For light spill I will attach black felt strips to the back of the poster.

The only problem I see is getting even lighting of the poster considering there will be shelves behind it. Glass shelves won't help in the least, so it's a matter of depth or of diffusing multiple lighting elements into an even glow. I am planning on white sign acrylic for the poster backing.

Is there a certain depth I will need from the back of the poster to the front of the shelves to achieve even lighting?

If I use a diffuser in front of the shelves with .5" flourescent or LED lighting behind it like this: "| (o====|" (Poster, forum suggested appropriate space, diffuser for indirect lighting, light element, shelf, back wall) Will that work? Ideally I'd like to light the shelves from above so as to remove any lip below, but maybe by setting the diffuser and light element lower to make it flush with the top of the shelf will still work.

And for the cherry on top, how would you go about making this not only dim-able (I know, no flourescents then) but also setting this to dim to a preset level when opened?

Thanks everyone! I'll post construction pics and finished results when I get it all done, but I really need your advice to get it going!

[coolhand]

I really don't think this will work. You will have an entire lightbox on hinges moving around. Lightboxes are generally heavy. And you would have electrical going to a swinging door. I love my lightbox but this is not practical (IMHO).

[krooooog]

My first instinct says to build it with the lighting around the inside of the recess itself. Mount the poster on a white plastic panel to diffuse the light. I'd say to go with four fluorescent tubes inside the recess, but if dimming is needed then I think your only option is to use rope lighting. Once you have the lighting in place, install trim to cover the tubes so they are not visible directly but still illuminate the interior. I would also recess the shelves far enough back so that they do not block the light at all. Hope this diagram explains it....

[Backlash]

Thanks Tim, that's exactly what I meant!

I don't want to make this too deep because every inch deeper is an inch that I have to shorten my wife's gym by, and that will make this not too SO-friendly.

Will only using perimeter tubes cause uneven lighting? That's why I was thinking of a something like a rope light etc, mounted to the front of each shelf and covered with a valence to provide for some evenness and prevent hot-spotting.

I think this will take a lot of experimentation to get right, but I'm looking forward to it.

[krooooog]

I think it is something that is cheap enough and easy enough to test. Buy 4 undercabinet fluor. fixtures at Home Depot, pick up a piece of translucent white plastic, and nail together 4 pieces of wood to make the sides of a box. Put it on the floor, put the lights around the inside edges, and put the white plastic panel over the top. If the light is bright and even, you are good to go. You may even find out you only need two fixtures, one on each side, to make it look good. If not, return the light fixtures and come up with a new plan. I "think" that by installing some trim over the front of the box to cover up the fixtures from the front, that the box should then be fairly evenly lit. You might want to try to find some plastic diffuser panels to try out as well.

[Backlash]

It's the depth that I have to test though. How far back do the DVDs have to be to make it work, what color the inside of the box will have to be (not sure that matters so much).

Not that evenness with the flourescents isn't a question. I've seen a lot of the posts here using rope light all over the back of the box, which is why I figured that maybe 7 strips accross the shelves would be good, but with trim to block the direct light for spotting.

In any case I appreciate all the suggestions.

[krooooog]

I don't think the DVD's have to be back any further than the thickness of the fluorescent tubes. I don't think color matters much, but I'd go for white or a light color...and probably a semi-gloss to help with reflecting the light.