Month: August 2020

List of Top Adhesive Privacy Window Film | 2020

Both non-adhesive and adhesive privacy window film is becoming popular for both commercial as well as residential use. Each type of film has its own benefits and advantages. Choosing the film type greatly depends upon your requirement.

Since privacy films are becoming the new “Black”, therefore, it is imperative to keep yourself up to date. In the course of this article, we are going to talk about the top four privacy window films of 2020. Each film offers unique characteristics and they would be a great addition to your house, office, or building.

Top 4 Privacy Window Films

The great thing about these privacy films is that they come in different styles and designs. For instance, if you want to ensure complete privacy, go with the blackout window films. You will be able to enjoy privacy both ways i.e. from the inside as well as from the outside.

Likewise, you can acquire privacy to a certain extent via tinted, frosted, or mirrored window films. However, as opposed to black films, these films do allow the light to penetrate. Moreover, you can enjoy one-way privacy with most of these films.

So, in case, you don’t want to block your view, but you want to prevent people from the outside to peek inside, you can use a one-way window privacy film. Now, you can look at what is happening outside, but people outside will not be able to look inside.

To add more to your windows, like designs and patterns, you can use decorative films. They would boost the overall appeal of your windows. To ensure that the window film is a perfect fit for your window, choose the one that would fit your window size. This way, you would not have to do a lot of trimming.

Below are the four window films 2020, that will help you enhance the overall look of your house while ensuring privacy.

Frosted Window Film

Application Type: Static Cling

Size: 35.5 x 78.7 inches, 17.7 x 118.1 inches, 17.7 x 78 inches

You will be impressed by the low-cost frosted window films by WGlass. These films are bound to transform your windows. Despite allowing the soft light into your room, these films are ensuring complete privacy.

The great thing about the films is that you don’t need any glue to stick to. On the contrary, they use the static cling mechanism. The film has the ability to block 99 percent of the harmful UV rays. What more is that it reduces glare, and offers heat preservation in cool months along with heat insulation during hot weather.

The manufacturers use premium vinyl material for the making of these window films. Therefore, it is possible to reshape and resize the film as per the requirement. Instead of the warm white, you can also go with the pure frosted color.

Note: The frosted color tends to offer less privacy.

 

One-Way Adhesive Privacy Window Film

Application Type: Adhesive

Sizes: 36” x 100 feet , 36” x 15 feet.

When it comes to WGlass one way-window film, you will not find its equal. Since the film uses adhesive to stick to the glass, therefore, it has the ability to last for a long time. However, you need to be extra careful during the installation process.

Make sure that you place the film in the correct position as it is very difficult to reposition it. The film comes with a mirrored exterior appearance. It means you can enjoy full privacy in board daylight, without compromising on your view outdoors.

In addition, the film comes with the facility of preventing up to 90% of harmful UV rays from entering your place. It is also offering 82% glare-reduction and is extremely energy efficient. The great thing is that it can work with large size windows as well.  It comes with a 100-foot option.

Stained Glass-Inspired Privacy Window Film

Application Type: Static Cling

Sizes: 35.6” x 78.7”, 23.6” x 78.7”, 17.7” x 118”, 17.5” x 78.7” and many others.

The stained Glass Inspired Privacy window film is an excellent choice for your office and home. It comes with a magnolia print that would enhance the overall appeal of your window. In addition to enhancing the window’s privacy, it also offers complete privacy.

The amazing film lets the right amount of light to enter your place, making it bright and vibrant. Even though it lets in the light, it blocks 96% of the harmful UV rays. It is also effective when it comes to glare and you can reuse it.

Peeling the window off and then putting it somewhere else is extremely easy. It would be a great addition to your house.

Blackout Privacy Window Film

Application Type: Static Cling

Sizes: 35.4” x 236.2”, 35.” x 78.7” ,29.5” x 78.7”, 23.6” x 236.2” and several other options.

If your objective is to achieve complete privacy, we recommend the total blackout window films by WGlass. This non adhesive privacy window film offers two-way privacy. It means that you can’t see outside nor can the people on the outside peek inside your room.

This film is the perfect choice for people who have a night routine. It means they would need the room to be completely dark during the day to ensure proper and sound sleep. The film is famous for its ability to control the UV lights as well as to prevent the glare.

Since it comes with static cling, therefore, installation is simple and effective. What more is that you can easily remove the film and reposition it without leaving any glue behind. When it comes to a complete blackout film, you can enjoy diversity and variety.

Take Away

When it comes to WGlass adhesive privacy window film, you will not be disappointed. They offer the best quality and the finest window films. What more is that they have a wide range of films. So, you can choose the one that is as per your requirements.

If you are confused as to which film would work best for you. Reach out to us today, and we will provide you with all the required information.

All That You Need to Know About PDLC Smart Film

Switchable Film often referred to as the Smart Film or the PDLC smart film is a technology that manipulates the light-transmission from completely opaque to transparent. These films have become an imperative part of modern, smart houses.

Once you provide AC power to the film, it would change its states. For instance, if the film is transparent, i.e. you can see outside your window or door after you apply current it would become opaque. In some cases, the film might require constant current in order to perform its function.

However, it most cases, you just need to apply a small voltage once. The film would change it states, after that, you would apply the need to apply current when you want to reverse the state of the smart film.  The films even offer several other functionalities including blocking harmful rays, light adjustment, security, and advertisement.

Now that you have a basic understanding of what a PDLC smart film is, it time to get down to the complicated stuff.

PDLC Smart Film: Manufacturing

PDLC smart film consists of several components, however, the main component is the Polymer dispersed Liquid Crystal. This component ccomprises of 2 layers, liquid crystal microdroplets, and the PET sheets. These sheets come coating of ITO. This makes it conductive.

There is a coating of ITO films of the crystal microdroplets. They are present in the center of the film and it is put in the polymer. PDLC film’s natural state means opaqueness. The crystal liquid is arbitrarily arranged. It causes the light wave to scatter. No light would be able to enter through the window.

In order to allow the light to penetrate through the window, you would have to apply the electricity. When you apply the voltage, it would line liquid crystal molecules, this results in the transparent surface.

In most cases, you would need a transformer as there is a need of suitable voltage as most of these films operate under 46/60vac.

Composition of Standard PDLC Film

To prevent the smart film from being scratched, there are two outer protective fil layers. These are kind of the PET film.

2-layer ITO Film

ITO film or formally known as the Indium-Tin Oxide Film allows the voltage to pass via the PDLC material. It has a coating of a conductive material that allows optical clarity bypassing the electrical current.

PDLC Smart Film Core

At the core of the PDLC smart film, you have the liquid-crystal droplets. Suspended in the polymer and they come with a coating of the ITO film. The film permits the current to reach the liquid crystal droplets.

NOTE: In the absence of power, the smart film looks as a private–opaque. This is the natural nature of the film.

When the PDLC core is haphazardly arranged it gives the glass an appearance of the frosted glass. This frosted state offers privacy while allowing a amount of light to pass via the layers.

However, once you turn PDLC film on, it means you supply power to it. The film would become transparent. Do bear in mind that the nature of the technology results in a slight haze in the switchable glass.

This means that the glass is not as clear as the standard glass would be. But it still offers decent transparency. You can apply PDLC smart film to your existing windows. Also, non-adhesive PDLC smart films are effective for the manufacturing of switchable smart glass. Some of these glasses include the following.

Laminated–Switchable Smart Glass

When it comes to switchable glass, the most popular type is the laminated switchable glass. The technology involves laminating switchable layers between two pieces of glass. The glass is toughened to ensure robustness and sturdiness of the switchable glass.

Toughened Switchable Glass

In case, you want a switchable glass that offers additional sturdiness, go with the toughened switchable glass. This type of glass comes with an additional coating of a switchable layer. Thus, there is more firmness and thickness to it.

Double Glazed Switchable Glass

This is a highly effective and energy-efficient solution. The double-glazed switchable glass comes with an integrated PDLC film layer. Although, it would be slightly expensive in comparison to the other films, but the additional benefits that it offers are worth the added money.

Classification of Smart Window Film

The switchable smart film has two main classifications, the non-adhesive film, and the adhesive smart film. Below, we have explained both these types briefly.

Self-Adhesive Smart Switchable Film

Self-adhesive switchable films come with a treated surface. They have a glue attached at their base from the factory. Therefore, it is possible to apply these films to any existing window. The advantage of the film is that you don’t have to substitute the glass.

On the contrary, all you have to do is paste the film onto the existing glass and you are good to go.

Non-adhesive Smart Switchable Film

The Lamination switchable films or the non-adhesive films require special glue to stick to the existing glass. Therefore, it is more popular in producing switchable glass then to be actually applied onto windows.

 

What are the Benefits?

Privacy

Like all other smart films, PDLC smart films are highly effective when it comes to offering privacy. They ensure that you enjoy 100% privacy in a sophisticated way.

UV Resist

The films have the ability to prevent harmful UV rays to enter your place. PDLC smart films offer 99.5% of UV resistance. These are the best when it comes to UV resistance.

Multi-Functional

The benefits of the films are not limited to privacy and UV resistance. On the contrary, these films are effective in making your house energy efficient. They are also anti-glared and are environment friendly.

Usage of Diversity

The great thing about these films is that you can install them on any glass. They are not limited to a certain type of glass. They have become common for residential as well as commercial use. Offices use them for partitions, hotels for bathroom segregations, etc.

Easy Installation

You really don’t have to change the entire window glass. On the contrary, all you need is a PDLC smart film, and turn your windows into smart windows. The film installation is extremely easy as well. Most of the time you can do it yourself.

However, for smooth and error-free results, we do recommend reaching out to professional smart glass suppliers.

Long Life Line

Every type of film comes with different life-span. In case, you are looking for something that would last a long time. We recommend you use adhesive privacy films. They would stick to the glass and stay intact for many years to come.

On average, an adhesive film is able to last for almost a decade. With proper care and maintenance, there will be a significant increase in shelf life.

Switchable Smart Glass: All That You Need to Know and More

Switchable Smart Glass technology is becoming an essential part of the modern, energy-efficient, and compact houses, offices, and buildings. Their endless benefits, conveniences, and effectiveness make them the top choice for windows, partition, privacy, and whatnot.

The great thing about the technology is that it is progression by leaps and bound. Every day, we see a new switchable smart technology’s new product. People are improvising with this technology. The new products are catering to the newer, sophisticated needs of both the consumer market as well as the industries.

After all, the technology is reshaping how you previously handled your window. Instead of conventional curtains and drapes, you now have high-end automated windows. These windows offer transparency, privacy, and opaqueness with a flick of a switch.

Something as great as smart glass technology is bound to make an impression. Therefore, it is always a great idea to keep oneself updated regarding the latest technology trends. In the course of this article, we are going to talk about switchable technology, its benefits, and its importance.

Switchable Glass Technology Overview

With passing time, enhanced and innovative demands, smart glass technology is evolving at an extremely fast speed. Currently, there are three main technologies that exist in the field of the switchable glass industry.

We are going to focus on each of these technologies and explain them in detail.

• Suspended Particle Devices
• Electrochromic Devices
• Liquid Crystal Devices

Suspended Particle Devices

The first form of technology is the SPDs—Suspended Particle devices. Switchable Privacy Film manufacturers even refer to this technology as light value technology. It uses either a film that has the droplets of liquid suspension or a liquid suspension. The droplets present in the film are distributed.

The working mechanism involves the dispersion of light-absorbing microscopic particles within the liquid suspension. To ensure smooth functionality, use tow plastic plates or glasses to enclose either the film or the liquid suspension. These plates or glasses have a coating of a transparent conductive material.

The basic mechanism of Suspended Particle Devices is similar to that of the Parallel Plate Capacitor. Thus, they use an electric field to polarize the dielectric atoms.  This means that when you apply an electrical voltage through the coating, you are forcing the particles to align.

The process above would offer a range of transparency. You can either have completely transparent windows, or you can enjoy a different degree of transparency. The level of transparency that you want to achieve greatly depends upon the degree of voltage you apply.

To Make Things Simpler

Let’s make things even simpler for your better understanding. You can think that Suspended Particle Devices are light valves. So, you are placing millions of SPDs values withing the SPD Window. The window generally is of plastic or glass.

So, when you bring the current in contact with the SPDs through the conductive coating. They would allow the light to penetrate by lining up in a straight line. After you remove the current, the particles are distributed again. Thus, blocking the light and the view. You can control the darkens of the window by providing less or more current.

Taking away the electricity would make the window go completely dark. So, choose a degree that suits your needs.

Switchable Smart Glass: Electrochromic Devices

A newer form of switchable glass technology is the electrochromic windows. The manufacturers use the special electrochromic material for the making of these windows. Electrochromic is basically a property of a material that helps its change color after you energize it via current.

The reason being, once you apply current to the chemical present in the material, a chemical reaction takes place. This is common like any other chemical reaction; it would change the properties of the chemical.

In the case of electrochromic, when you apply current, the chemical reaction that occurs would make the material change the way it absorbs and reflects light.  The change even the difference between electrochromic materials.

In some cases, the material would change color. However, int the case of electrochromic windows, it would either come transparent meaning no light could pass, or it would become colored, i.e. reflecting the light of a certain color.

The basic electronic window requires the above type of electrochromic material along with the electrode system. Together, they would be able to make the chemical reaction take place and switch between transparency and color.

To create the electrochromic glass, the manufacturers generally sandwich some material between glass panels. Remember, there are mostly 2 glass panels.

Oxidation Reaction – Working

So, what really is happening once you apply current to the electrochromic window. Applying current leads to a chemical reaction, this reaction is the oxidation reaction.

Oxidation Reaction

It is basically a reaction in which molecules present in the compound tend to lose an electron. For it to change color from transparent to translucent, it would depend upon the ions. These ions allow the window to become clear or dark after all, they allow the window to absorb light.

There are two conducting oxide layers present, you would power them using the power wire conducted to them. Once you apply the current, the voltage would force the ions to move from the ion storage layer to the electrochromic layer. The ions would pass through the conducting layer in order to reach their destination.

Once the ions reach the electrochromic layer, the glass becomes opaque. Now to bring back the transparency, you would have to shut down the voltage. After the voltage shuts down, it would again force the ions to leave the electrochromic layer and enter into the ion storage layer.

The great thing about these windows is that you need to apply electricity once. There is no need for continuous electrical power. Apply the voltage, change the state of the window and you would go from one state to another and vice versa.

Liquid Crystal Smart Glass Devices

Liquid Crystal devices for formally known as the Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystals – PDLCs are highly famous and effective in the switchable smart glass industry. This particular technology is becoming increasingly popular as it offers numerous benefits.

The working of PDLCs is simple. The glass would diffuse direct sunlight and it would remove ultraviolet rays up to 90 percent. These windows operate as per the principle of electrically controlled light scattering. It means that you would have to power it to switch between a degree of privacy levels.

The technology consists of two conducting glass pieces. Between these two pieces, there is a polymer mixture. The polymer mixture then surrounds the crystal droplets. To make it easier, first, there is the crystal droplet, then the polymer mixture, and finally the two conducting glasses.

In the rest state, that no current has been applied the crystal droplets are not in uniform origination. On the contrary, they are scattered randomly. Thus, they create an opaque state. So, for the transparent state, you would need to apply current.

Once you apply the current, the crystal droplets align with the electric field. Doing this would make the window transparent. It would let the light pass through the windows. Do bear in mind that with LCD technology, you are limited either to a transparent or to an opaque state. There is no degree of darkness.

Advantages of Switchable Smart Glass Technology

There are several benefits that the switchable privacy film technology offers. For instance, the electrochromic devices and the suspended particle devices offer the facility for controlling the transparency level. You can go from completely transparent to complete darkness along with a degree of darkness level in between.

The amount of light that transfers through the windows depends upon the electrical power that you apply. The increase in power would result in greater darkness and vice versa. ECDs and SPDS are highly effective for problems that are real-valued. Therefore, they are also more popular across industries.

The Liquid Crystal device on the other hand offers just two states, either it’s completely transparent or it’s completely dark. There is no in-between.

Below are some of the benefits that all these three technologies offer.

Switchable Smart Glass Technology Benefits

Instant Privacy

They are excellent replacement of drapes and curtains as they offer complete privacy with a flick of a switch. They have the capacity to go from transparent to completely opaque in a matter of seconds. Something which is really great, especially if privacy is among your top priorities.

Advertising/ Display

Another great thing about switchable film technology is that you can use it as an effective platform for advertisement or spreading information. Once you turn the film or the window offer, it then provides you the option of using it as a screen.

You can project high contrast and high-resolution images onto the glass film and enjoy an outstanding digital advertising space. You can even rent your film to small business owners to advertise their products. These surfaces would become their billboards.

Creative Alternative for Designers

With switchable glass technology, you provide multifunctional spaces. At the same time, you are also redefining the environments and allowing the contractors, interior designs and the architects to come up with their creative design concepts.

These can use these surfaces to get their design concept through the audience.

Variety

Since every display application has its unique requirements, therefore, the technology offers variety and diversity in terms of sizes, shapes, and colors. You can enjoy different types of these windows or films and yield highly effective results.

Durable

Although the upfront cost of switchable smart glass technology is high, it would last for years.  It is, by all means, a more powerful, low maintenance, robust and hygienic window covering solution.

Makes Place Energy Efficient

In addition to offering complete privacy, smart glass technologies are a highly effective solution for making houses energy efficient. They would block the heat and harmful UV rays to make your place cooler and safer.

Low operating Voltage

Another great thing about this particular technology is that it does not require a lot of energy to operate. On the contrary, it would work with extremely low operating voltage. This would mean that they would not add to your electricity bill while keeping your place completely insulated.

The downside of Switchable Smart Technology

Although, the technology is highly effective, yet it does come with some possible drawbacks. For instance, the changing speed can be slow. However, do bear in mind that the speed is directly proportional to the surface of the glass window.

So, if you have a big window, it would require more time to change its state in comparison to a window that covers less space. The ECD technology is innately slowly mainly because it depends upon the chemical reaction.

However, with SPDs, things are faster. They can respond in a short time. Although, we do hope that technological advances would eliminate this particular problem as well. The modern and sophisticated switchable glass technologies would become faster. They would be more responsive once you apply the voltage to them.

Applications

The applications of smart technology are endless. They are only limited to one’s own imagination. Modern, offices homes, building, etc. are switching from conventional window covering drapes to sophisticated and modern switchable technologies.

Below, we have come up with some of the applications of Smart technology.

1. Privacy Windows for Offices
2. Privacy Windows for Homes
3. Dividers for Offices
4. Room Partitions
5. Effective Blind Replacement in Bathrooms
6. Window Displays
7. An effective medium to advertise things
8. Counters
9. Display Cases
10. Skylights
11. Vision Panels
12. Used for Shower Cabinets
13. They are becoming popular in beauty salons
14. Energy Efficient Homes
15. Enjoy Complete Privacy without compromising on the Big Front Glass Windows
16. Automated Shading for Buildings

 

Take Away

The Switchable Smart Glass technology has become the need of modern and sophisticated buildings. It no longer a luxury, on the contrary, it has become a necessity to ensure that your house, office, or building is energy-efficient and pleasing to the eye.

What more is that you can use these windows in numerous other ways. You can advertise on them, use them for projection purposes, partitions, etc. They are complete privacy solutions. To know more about the latest switchable technology, reach out to our representative.