• I want to thank all the members that have upgraded your accounts. I truly appreciate your support of the site monetarily. Supporting the site keeps this site up and running as a lot of work daily goes on behind the scenes. Click to Support Signs101 ...

Help! Blurry One Way Vision on sloped vehicle rear windows

S

Sonja

New Member
So I have a bit of a problem & I'm having a hard time trying to solve it! About 3 months ago I Installed LAMINATED Image Perfect (brand name) 'One Way Vision' to a VE Commodore sedan & a FG Falcon sedan. I installed them dry to an immaculately clean surface & everything went well, very straight forward. Now the owners have come back to me because they don't have a 'clear' view out of the window, & is kind of dangerous as all you can see are very blurry shapes!

I was supplied the product from a large Signmaking company in the City (as am in the country & do not have a printer myself yet), I have contacted them & explained the situation, as the first thing that came to my mind was that they have used the wrong laminate that wasn't 'Optically Clear'. Their explanation is that the windows on these two types of vehicles have a very sloped angle which decreases the vision through the holes, I've never heard of this before!! Can someone tell me if they have come across this?
 

Attachments

  • Rear Window Falcon.jpg
    Rear Window Falcon.jpg
    97 KB · Views: 522
reQ

reQ

New Member
Looks like no opt. clear laminate. I think they screwed up on that one and trying to get away without replacing the print for you.
 
T

Turfa

New Member
There is something seriously weird with that perforated window film. You shouldn't be able to clearly see the image from the inside of the car like that. What especially stands out is the white text. The back side of the film should be black ! I don't agree with the 'sloping glass' reason. Yes, highly angled glass will reduce the visibility through the graphic, but not give the blurry overall look that you have here. I would suspect (as you have) that they used a standard laminate & not an optically clear one...... Still doesn't explain why the perf film itself looks translucent ????
 
bob

bob

It's better to have two hands than one glove.
reQ said:
Looks like no opt. clear laminate. I think they screwed up on that one and trying to get away without replacing the print for you.
Click to expand...

No.

Hold a a piece of perforated material held parallel to your eyes. Now rotate it in either direction away from parallel. Notice the perforations, the part that you can actually see through, become smaller and smaller as the material becomes less and less parallel to your eyes. Until they disappear completely as the material approaches being perpendicular. Or edge on.

The phenomenon is called 'Parallax'.
 
reQ

reQ

New Member
bob said:
No.

Hold a a piece of perforated material held parallel to your eyes. Now rotate it in either direction away from parallel. Notice the perforations, the part that you can actually see through, become smaller and smaller as the material becomes less and less parallel to your eyes. Until they disappear completely as the material approaches being perpendicular. Or edge on.

The phenomenon is called 'Parallax'.
Click to expand...

Well, since i am working at the shop right now i actually went and took laminated perforated graphics that we have ready for installation. Yes, it reduces visibility, but does not become blurry.
 
reQ

reQ

New Member
Btw. Just did full back window perf on 2014 Malibu. Window is sloped like crazy, but zero issues with visibility.
 
gabagoo

gabagoo

New Member
Turfa said:
There is something seriously weird with that perforated window film. You shouldn't be able to clearly see the image from the inside of the car like that. What especially stands out is the white text. The back side of the film should be black ! I don't agree with the 'sloping glass' reason. Yes, highly angled glass will reduce the visibility through the graphic, but not give the blurry overall look that you have here. I would suspect (as you have) that they used a standard laminate & not an optically clear one...... Still doesn't explain why the perf film itself looks translucent ????
Click to expand...

I agree here.... you should not be able to see the graphics from inside the vehicle...should look like a tinted window from inside...unless there is some new form of clear contra vision available
 
B

BIG EASY DOES IT

New Member
bob said:
No.

Hold a a piece of perforated material held parallel to your eyes. Now rotate it in either direction away from parallel. Notice the perforations, the part that you can actually see through, become smaller and smaller as the material becomes less and less parallel to your eyes. Until they disappear completely as the material approaches being perpendicular. Or edge on.

The phenomenon is called 'Parallax'.
Click to expand...

Yes the holes get smaller and smaller. But the vision through the holes does not get blurrier as you tilt the image more? The wrong laminate was used. If it were optically clear, yes you would still have a highly sloped window with minimum visibility but it would be clear what visibility you did have.
 
threeputt

threeputt

New Member
Wrong laminate. I think they may be trying to pull a fast one on you.

The optically clear stuff is much more expensive than regular "daily use" laminate.

Ask them to re-make and re-send you the printed graphic. Then you'll know exactly the kind of vendor you're dealing with.
 
Bly

Bly

New Member
The company is in Perth yeah?

I did an install for a local company who sourced the graphics from a company over there.
It was meant to be IJ180 but turned out to be that Arlon wrap vinyl with the grabby adhesive which was a real pain to apply.

Could be just the way they roll - quote premium & deliver non-acceptable product.
In which case you don't get what you pay for.
 
striper14

striper14

New Member
like reQ said, thats very suspect one way vision...lift some off & see if theres any holes in it or if its just a printed clear vinyl which is probably breaking down in the sun...good luck
 
phototec

phototec

New Member
Wrong laminate

striper14 said:
like reQ said, thats very suspect one way vision...lift some off & see if theres any holes in it or if its just a printed clear vinyl which is probably breaking down in the sun...good luck
Click to expand...

You can see the perforate holes in the photo, so I believe it was printed on transparent perforated window film like 3M 8176:

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/...-Transparent-1-37-m-x-50-m-?N=4294964643&rt=d

However, I agree with others that it WAS NOT laminated with optically clear laminate, cheaper regular laminate causing the blurry view.

Although the slant of the window does make the round holes appear as ovals, that would NOT cause the blurry view looking through the holes, only an un-clear laminate can cause that.
 
S

Sonja

New Member
Thanks!

Thanks everyone for your feedback!

I will be contacting the company I dealt with & demanding a refund or re-print! So frustrating when you can't get good quality products from reputable suppliers :(
 
gabagoo

gabagoo

New Member
So are we saying that there are perforated films that allow you to see the image from the backside? I have never seen any, who sells this stuff?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top