The 10 Best Cinema Light Boxes

Editor's Notes

June 08, 2020:

Owing to widespread availability issues, this set of rankings needed to be largely rebuilt during this round of updates. We decided on removing the Funtone Color, Royal Casa, Onmier A4, Love Lighting, EnzZone Dimmable, Brooklyn Company and Iridescent Premium, leaving the Gate 35 Vintage, Suomei LED Lamp and My Cinema Lightbox Original as the only remaining inclusions from our previous rankings. Our new additions this time around include some updated versions from companies we previously featured, as well as new models from companies we’re listing for the first time. Some standout entries include the Brooklyn Lighting Company Vanity — a wall-mountable mirror with a single-strip lightbox built into the bottom of the unit, the My Cinema Lightbox XXL — a large model measuring 12 inches by 24 inches, and the Tricase Vol 2.0 — which has 16 color options and three brightness settings. While many options in this category are remarkably similar – sharing features like ABS housings, options to power through USB or a bank of six AA batteries, and provisions for wall mounting – they do have some differentiators worth paying attention to.

Here’s a few things to look out for:

Size and Capacity: Not only do you want to make sure that the unit you’re ordering is the right size for your intended use, but you also want to make sure that it has enough space for letters, especially if there’s a specific message you’re planning on displaying.

While some options – including the My Cinema Lightbox Original and Brooklyn Lighting Company Multi-Colored – are as small as a foot wide and nine inches tall, others can be more than twice that size — like the My Cinema Lightbox XXL, which measures two square feet.

However, even though the My Cinema Lightbox Original and Brooklyn Lighting Company Multi-Colored are the same size, because the latter option features a border of marquee lights taking up quite a lot of space, it can only accommodate a maximum of 10 characters over two lines. Meanwhile, the former can fit 24 characters over three lines, which is a substantial difference. As the largest offering we ranked, the My Cinema Lightbox XXL can accommodate as many as 68 characters across four rows.

Character Collection: Now that you’re sure that you’ve got enough space to get your message across, let’s make sure that you’ve got the letters to spell it out. As we just mentioned, the My Cinema Lightbox XXL is the biggest option we selected; but despite that, it only comes with 160 character tiles to choose from, which is only 60 tiles more than the Brooklyn Lighting Company Vanity — the smallest option we listed. One couldn’t be blamed for interpreting the clear deficit of tiles that come with the XXL as a ploy pushing users to order an extra set, at additional cost.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, the EnzZone Marquee Sign can only accommodate 27 characters, yet comes with a collection of 380, while the similarly sized Tricase Vol 2.0 comes with 352, which will allow for much more creative flexibility.

Models like the Good Cheer Decor ULWD01 take measures to prepare users for letter shortages, and include three colored markers and 13 blank tiles with their character collection, allowing users to create some custom tiles, if need be.

Light Options: While all options in this category should, by definition, be able to light up in some capacity, there are models that go further than most to provide users additional light control. The EnzZone Marquee Sign and Tricase Vol 2.0 both feature dimming functionality, and the Vol 2.0 can also be backlit with multiple colors, as can both options from My Cinema Lightbox. The Brooklyn Lighting Company Multi-Colored strikes an interesting balance between traditional white-light options and new multi-colored models, offering a simple board with white backlighting surrounded by a border of multi-colored marquee bulbs.