Window tinting has many benefits. It protects you and your home or car from the damaging effects of the sun, both to your vehicle and health. It can also provide security and privacy, while letting in light and letting you see out. It can even make your home more energy efficient and keep your car cool on a hot day.
With all these benefits, have you ever wondered how exactly car window tints work? How do these sheer and thin shaded films deliver the promise of better driving, comfort, privacy and health protection?
Here is how car window tints work exactly:
At the most basic level, window tinting entails the application of tinting film onto a window glass surface. Unlike popular belief, the films are not installed on the out-surface of the glass. Instead, window tint is applied on the inside. This is done to protect the tint from external sources of wear-and-tear, including flying debris and other hard objects.
It is a sheet of strong polyester laminate treated in variety of ways to improve the look and performance of existing windows. This layer makes up the bulk of tint film, with an extra thin layer made up of tinting agents like metals and dyes added to achieve the desired performance characteristics.
On this clear polyester film, another thin and even film is applied, made from various tinting agents. The application varies to what kind of tint is to be produced—metal, dye or ceramic.
The second layer’s objective is to block the harmful sun rays that cause the fading and premature deterioration of the vehicles interiors and the car’s colours in general. It is also the layer that blocks the UV rays, both UV-A and UV-B that harms the skin to the point of causing skin cancer.
Although there are different types of window films, all of them work on the following basic principles:
- Reflection
- Radiation
- Absorption
- Transmittance
The primary objective of the tint films is to reflect a significant portion of the harmful visible and ultraviolet rays, with something called ‘sputter coating’ (a coating of metal particles), which affects the amount of light that is rejected by the tint. More light is rejected when there is more sputter applied.
