One potential consumer objection to window film is the darkness of the film. A common perception is that if a window film transmits 35% of visible light it must keep out or reduce visible light by 65%. Nothing could be further from the truth.

While window film does reduce a percentage of visible light, the human eye does not perceive the reduction like a Spectrophotometer (testing device) does. When determining the specifications for window films please review the measured VLT of the film against the perceived amount of light that the human eye typically sees, shown in the graph below.

As you can see, the human eye only perceives about half of the total reduction of measured visible light. Some reduction of excessive visible light actually improves vision as too much visible light creates eye straining glare. Reducing glare improves the eye’s ability to focus on an object clearly, enhancing depth perception. The human eye reacts much like the lenses of a camera, opening up to allow more light in to generate vision. Compared to conventional window films, advanced solar window films allow for a great amount of visible light while controlling unwanted solar energy.