Questions About Ceramic Films Answered

[vquestfilms.com]

About 12 years ago ceramic window films began to be marketed at an unprecidented level in our industry. Hüper Optik was arguably one of the first if not the most recognized brand with a "nano-ceramic" window film amongst other technologies. Since then other window film manufactures have developed their own versions of films marketing themselves in some way shape or form as "ceramic." This has brought up a lot of questions as to how they all compare with Hüper Optik.

So the purpose of this thread is not to argue whether or not ceramic is the better than say a metal technology film. Rather, this thread is here to educate and use publically available information to show how these ceramic products all differ in comparison to Hüper Optik. Kind of go to place for window film professionals and consumers to get facts.

To start, here is a video that will tell the story about the development of Hüper Optik. Enjoy

 

[Guest filmslayer]

damn ! look at the gap on that window @ 1:35 ...

[vquestfilms.com]

The following is a list (by no means a complete one) of known components that are classified as "ceramic" and used in window films.

Material Charateristics

Titainium Nitride (TiN) Nano-scale, High IR reflectance, Inert/non-corrosive, coloring agents are not needed to reduce vlt

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) Nano-scale, High IR filtering, High vlt clear to yellowish look, coloring agents needed to reduce vlt

Antimony Tin Oxide (ATO) Nano-scale, High IR filtering, High vlt clear material sometimes light blue tone, coloring agents needed to reduce vlt

While there are thousands of combinations of materials classified as "ceramic" there are only so many that filter in the Tvis and NIR regions and of those there are only a handful that are durable enough to be used in window films. Of the three main materials, two need dyes in order to filter visible light below 70% and one can be used to make a "dye-free" window film.

[vquestfilms.com]

Brands and ceramic components (based on publically available information):

Titainium Nitride (TiN)

Hüper Optik C-05,15, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60 (Dye Free= Advertised "Dye Free", Multi layer= Yes)

Geoshield Geo 30, 40, 50 (Dye Free= Advertised "Dye Free", Multi layer= No)

Johnson PD 35, 45, 55 (Dye Free= Not Advertised, Multi layer= No)

Johnson InsulatIR 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 (Dye Free= Not Advertised, Multi layer= No)

Indium Tin Oxide (ITO)

Antimonty Tin Oxide (ATO)

Nexfil Super IR 6599 (Dye Free= Not Advertised, Multi layer= No)

[vquestfilms.com]

Current Maximum Roll Size for Ceramic Films:

Hüper Optik = 72"

Geoshield = 60"

3M Ceramic = 60"

Johnson = 60"

Madico = 72" (on some vlt's)

EWF Pearl Ceramic = 60"

[vquestfilms.com]

The Durability Factor

There is a lot of value in a durable window film. If a film can maintain its ability to filter the visible, infrared, and UV spectrums (primarlty the first two) then the result will be that performance is maintained. This is crucial, what if your film loses 2% or more of its performance every year due to dyes fading or IR filtering components losing their effectiveness? The result would be increased enrgy demand due to increased solar tranmittance, reduced comfort, and and increase in your ROI.

Dye-Free Films

Eliminating organic dyes and pigments that break down over time and exposure will help in maintaining visible light filtering capability. Consider the fact that roughly one half of the energy that makes up heat is in the visible region, it is more favorable for a ceramic film to be "dye-free." While dye methods are becoming more stable than in years past, using "dye-free" film construction gives the satisfaction of knowing that there is one less component that can break down.

Most films that are "dye-free" will most likely advertise that fact in print. If you do not see it in print then you may want to investigate further. A good way to test a film for dyes is to soak a cut piece in methyl chloride.

 

Edit: spelling

[flat rock stan]

Great video and post Rob, most of us here need some education on the difference with ceramic film products

[mlemm99]

damn ! look at the gap on that window @ 1:35 ...

EXACTLY what I was going to post before I started scrolling!!!

[Guest filmslayer]

it was used in a manny's advertising but I cant remember witch one ...

[vquestfilms.com]

So the differences in ceramic type are obvious. How about the differences between the products that use the same type of ceramic component? Let's take a look at the TiN ceramic films...

VLRe & VLRi is the percent of total visible light falling on a glazing system that is reflected by that system. These figures will indicate the reflectiveness of a film both on the interior side (VLRi) and the exterior side (VLRe). Notice the differences in VLRi/VLRe on several 40% +/- vlt films mounted on single pane 3mm clear glass:

Hüper Optik Ceramic 40 = 9%/9%

Geoshield Geo 40 = 11%/11%

Johnson PD 35 = NA/16%

3M Ceramic CM40 = 12%/14%

Madico MAC 3000 = 15%/16%

Notice that there is almost a 78% difference between the least reflective ceramic film (Hüper Optik C-40) and the most reflective film (Johnson PD 35, Madico MAC 3000). This is quite a significant difference and will no doubt affect the appearance of the film. To reduce reflectivity, Hüper Optik utilized a patented multi-ply construction method whereby multi layers of sputtered ceramic are used to reduce the reflectivity. In order for other TiN products to reduce their reflectivity, they need to work around the patents by adding dyes into their construction. This can be placed either in the laminating adhesive, added to the PET (chip dye), or laminated on as a separate dye layer. The ceramics above excluding the Hüper Optik C-40 are most likely dye-free single layer ceramics which would explain their higher VLRi/VLRe.

Having a patented construction allows a film to not be duplicated by competing companies. Hüper Optik's multi-layer ceramics have not had an exact match by a competing company for over 10 years. Single layer TiN ceramics do not have any known patents so you will see competitive matches in one form or another. Many are similar in sputtered material and differ only in PET, adhesive, SRC formulation and maximum roll size.