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Govee TV backlight: start corner and direction

A backlight strip runs in a loop around the back of the screen. Screen sync only lines up when the app knows two things the strip cannot tell it: which corner the loop begins at, and which way it turns.

Why it comes out rotated

The strip reports a segment count and takes a colour for each segment in order. It has no idea that segment 1 is at the bottom-left of your TV and segment 8 is somewhere along the top. Where you started sticking it, and whether you went clockwise or counter-clockwise, is information only you have.

Get it wrong and the effect is unmistakable: the colour from the left of the picture appears along the top, or the whole image feels rotated a quarter turn. Nothing is faulty — the ring is just indexed from a different place than the app assumed.

Models this applies to

Segment order around the TV is unverified for these — nobody has confirmed it against the physical hardware. That is exactly why the app asks you and previews it rather than assuming.

Setting it

  1. Open Settings → Device Output and select the backlight device.
  2. Set the layout to TV backlight.
  3. Start corner. Where segment 1 physically sits: bottom-left, top-left, top-right, bottom-right, or bottom-centre. Bottom-centre is there because many kits begin at the middle of the bottom edge, next to where the cable enters — check yours before guessing a corner.
  4. Direction. Clockwise or counter-clockwise, as seen from the front of the TV, which is how you will judge the preview.
  5. Run the preview and watch the actual strip. It lights a pattern you can trace around the screen, so you can see where the run begins and which way it travels.

Reading what you see

What the preview showsWhat to change
Pattern travels the wrong way aroundFlip direction
Right rotation, but offset by a quarter turnMove the start corner one position
Starts halfway along the bottom edgeSet start to bottom-centre
Screen colours appear roughly upside downStart corner is on the opposite side — try the diagonal

Work one setting at a time. Changing both at once makes it hard to tell which one fixed it, and there are only ten combinations in total.

Finding where the loop actually starts

If you cannot tell by looking, follow the cable. Segment 1 is at the controller end of the strip, so trace from the box where power enters and note which corner or edge the strip first reaches. On four-strip kits like the H6168, follow the first strip out of the connector rather than whichever piece is nearest to you.

If part of the loop stays dark

That is a segment-count problem, not a layout one. Kit lengths vary, and a strip cut or extended from the standard configuration expects a different number of segments. Override the count for that device in the same Device Output panel — any value from 1 to 255 — and preview again. If your kit's real count differs from the supported devices table, send it to [email protected].

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For a TV with no computer attached — a console or streaming box — no desktop app can help; here is what actually works there.