Backlit Poster Frame & LED Light Box

A backlit poster frame is a frame with a light panel behind the print, so the poster glows from within instead of relying on the light in the room. It is a shallow frame: an LED panel, the poster laid against it, and an anti-glare cover held down by snap-open edges. Switch the light off and it hangs as an ordinary poster frame. It is the home version of the light boxes you see in cinema lobbies and bus shelters. Colors look richer, and the image stays visible when the room goes dark, which is why these frames suit movie posters, home theaters and bold art prints.

Inside Lumi Frames Lightbox, LEDs run along the edges of a light guide panel that turns their light forward and spreads it across the whole poster. That design is called edge-lit, and it is the reason the frame is only about an inch deep. Our guide to edge-lit vs backlit frames explains how the two designs differ in depth and evenness. For the wider family of lit frames, start with what an illuminated frame is.

Nearly always, yes: in a shop listing, a light box frame, a light up poster frame and a backlit poster frame are three names for one object, a shallow frame with an LED panel behind the print. Which name a shop uses says more about the trade it sells to — signage, cinema, home decor — than about how the frame is built.

There is one real exception. “Light up poster frame” is occasionally used for a frame sold with a lamp clipped over the front, which lights the paper from the wrong side: the light has to bounce off the print to reach you, and on anything glossy you see the lamp as much as the poster. If a listing does not say the light sits behind the print, assume it does not.

A light box frame sends light through the poster; a lamp bounces it off the front. On a glossy poster in a dark room that is the whole difference. Light coming through the paper arrives as color, and the dark parts of the image stay dark. Light from a lamp above the frame has to reflect off a shiny surface to reach you, so some of it comes back as a bright patch under the fitting and the blacks lift toward gray. Our guide to an illuminated frame vs a picture light sets the two out side by side.

The lamp wins in one case: a print that will not pass light. A poster bonded to foam board, laminated or printed on heavy stock leaves a panel behind it with nothing to do, so light it from the front instead. Edge-lit vs backlit frames explains what happens behind the print in each design.

Measure the poster itself, not the frame you think it needs. Then match it to the closest size:

The three smaller sizes share the same 2:3 shape, so a print made for one scales to the others without cropping. That matters if you plan to rotate a collection: pick the size that fits most of what you own. Posters from other countries and older releases come in other formats, so check the numbers in the picture frame size guide before you order.

If your print is an odd shape, or smaller than anything here, the widest choice of sizes we make is Lumi Frames Neon, at 26 sizes, though none as large as a one-sheet. It outlines the frame in light and leaves the print to the room, so it is a different effect that happens to fit your measurements.

• Eye level, with a view across the room. A lit poster is meant to be seen from a distance, so hang it where there is a clear line of sight.
• Give the TV some space. In a media room, a bright poster right beside the TV pulls attention away from the film. Hang it to one side of the room, or dim it or switch it off with the remote when the movie starts.
• Go lower than you expect. In a dark room, a small fraction of full brightness is usually plenty. The 1–100% dimmer gives you room to find that point.
• Mind the sun. The anti-glare cover cuts down reflections from windows and lamps, but direct sun on any print fades it over time.

The frame plugs in through a 12 V adapter that accepts 100–240 V, and it comes with both an in-line dimmer and an IR remote. The dimmer sets brightness from the cord; the remote switches between the whites and the color scenes from your seat.

Backlighting shows up everything between the light and your eye, including dust and fingerprints. A little care during a swap keeps the result clean:

1. Switch the frame off and wash and dry your hands, or wear clean cotton or nitrile gloves.
2. Flatten rolled posters first. Unroll the new poster face up on a clean surface, cover it with a sheet of clean paper and leave light, even weight on top for a day or so, so it lies flat against the panel.
3. Open the snap edges with the frame still on the wall. The quick start guide in the box shows the exact steps.
4. Hold posters by the edges as you take the old one out and set the new one in place, lining up the top edge first.
5. Check for specks before you close the edges. Switch the light on briefly; any dust trapped under the cover will stand out, and it is easier to remove now than later.
6. Close the edges and wipe the cover with a soft, dry microfiber cloth.

If your pictures are photos rather than posters, Lumi Frames Edge uses a similar light panel in a slim, cordless frame for desks, shelves and walls. For a frame where the light itself is the art, see Lumi Frames Neon.