Prestige Spectra PhotoSync

Tintguy1980 · June 8, 2016

^ Yes it's better than Huper Optik. I feel it's a bit over rated. I mean yes it does block a lot of heat but it's not all that much than the f1 pinnacle while costing more.

I can prove to you the performance #'s of Huper Optik's ceramic films with 3rd party nationally recognized testing. Can you or anyone for that matter substantiate the performance #'s of Prestige Photosync...

If so, then we can talk about durability next.

I don't have any #'s, I just go by my "butt dyno" so to say. I'm just someone who went through many different brands of tint trying to find one that blocks the most heat without being too dark. I've tried huper optik, vkool, f1 pinnacle, llumar air blue, and many other lesser brands and have found the photosync tint to block the most heat. Actually I feel the heat rejection is similar to vkool. I had vkool 40 all around and 70 on windshield on one of my previous cars and now photosync 45 and 70 on windshield and it feels pretty close. I like photosync more because it's not reflective like vkool, I got pulled over for the 40% tint Don't get me wrong, huper optik is good, I just didn't feel it block as much heat as the photosync tint. I had huper optik 60% on my windshield and 30% all around and was not happy with the amount of heat I felt through the windows and windshield while with the 70% photosync I felt much less heat when driving facing the sun on a hot summer day. I've had the photosyn tint on my car for over 2 1/2 years now and it's still holding strong, even with the extra layer of tint I put over it because I wanted darker but didn't want to remove the photosync. I didn't keep huper long enough to see their durability because I wasn't happy with the tint but I'm sure they will last pretty long.

Funny story tho, I went to a pretty popular tint shop in my area to get the sunroof tinted with huper optik and the owner asked me what tint I have now. These were the same guys that installed huper optik and llumar air blue on my previous cars. Told them about the tint and they've never heard of it before. He brought a heat lamp to test and he was surprised how much heat it blocked (this was before the second layer of tint). After a few months, I see they're now offering photosync tint as their top of the line tint at their shop.

Funny... I find that "method" tends to be subjective... no two butts are alike so what you are trying to tell an entire forum is that your butt knows what the best films is. That is not data, it is opinion. Pardon the pun but... I see a hole in your reasoning.

You doubled up your film, of course it is going to feel better than if it were single layer. It might even feel better when you compare it to films that are not doubled up. How much did that all cost you? A grand... at least? Can you compare it to a traditional film installation? Not really. Most consumers buy a single layer of installed film.

The company that manufactures photochromatic film products wanted to license the technology to us years ago and we asked 'how long does the adaptive vlt last and they said 5 years. So according to the mfg, you have about another 2.5 years left before the chemicals that activate the SAC in this product stop working. Save your paperwork or you will have to spend another $1k to get your car tinted.

My point is that even if your opinion was correct and the Photosync 70 performed better than all of these other products you mentioned, then what good is a fast horse that can only race for 5 years? Regardless though, the data that all of these reputable industry leading window film manufacturing companies have published says otherwise. Many of which use 3rd parties to validate their data. That is a butt test that I trust... and coincidentally so do a lot of other agencies that deal with energy transmission.

Prestige Film Technologies... Who are they?

I like the footnote at the bottom of Photosync's performance data:

*Due to the unique properties of our Solar Adaptive Coating, conventional method of measuring SHGC and SC can only be provided within a range.

Translation = We do not use a conventional method of measuring and therefore have no accountability and can post whatever numbers we want.

To finish your story... Yes, they did pick up Photosync. Now they have since switched back to Huper at one store and over to Rayno at the other store where the market is cheaper. I agree with you, it is a funny story...

:yeah

The truth of the matter SAC only changes the VLT 2-3 points at best so, if you were to look at other like film products (minus the SAC hype) performance difference between say a 35 and a 40, you will begin to see this is a smoke and mirror marketing ploy from regions of the world that have no governmental or independent oversight of marketing claims or test results.

An instance of product samples requested and received (in various VLT's) for purchase consideration by a tinter I know, led to an invite to review with the EDTM SS2450 meter. The findings were, no consistent SAC activity among the samples among four separate VLT's looked at using EDTM's meter, both before and after 3-4 hours sun exposure. Only two samples displayed mild changes as stated above (2-3 VLT points).... That translates into, maybe, 1-2 upticks in TSER and even then all before and after results were less than published.

lowincash · June 8, 2016

Well yeah of course what I stated is not data proven by whoever, I was just simply giving my opinion and real world experience lol Plus, I had the second layer put on about a year ago. The $1k price is for photosync only, plus $100 for sunroof using huper and another $100 when I added my second layer. I should have just gotten their 35% in the first place, lesson learned. Honestly, I could care less about the transition part, I never really notice any difference from the start but the fact that it's able to block out a lot of heat it's good enough for me.

The shop I was talking about still uses huper as well as 3m crystalline, they just offer photosync as their top of the line tint and uses them on those high end cars from what I used to see on their instagram account. It is what it is, I feel people get emotionally attached to huper as if they're king of all tint lol I've used them before and was not that impressed and switched back to vkool at the time. I do plan on keeping the mazda for 7+ years so I'll see how it holds up. Longest I've kept a car was 5 years and I went through tint many times with that one, just to try different brands and shades lol

Tintguy1980 · June 8, 2016

You have to admit that Huper hit the market with marketing genius behind it. They (a marketing group from Singapore) did in a short period of time what 3M took decades to do with their 'brand'.

vquestfilms.com · June 8, 2016

You have to admit that Huper hit the market with marketing genius behind it. They (a marketing group from Singapore) did in a short period of time what 3M took decades to do with their 'brand'.

Now that is a funny story...

There was a sputtering company that designed some revolutionary products in the 80's. Amazing idea... a clear non-reflective window film that cuts the solar energy by over 50%. They tried to sell them in the 90's as a product called Solis. Nothing really happened until that group you mentioned from Singapore put branding and a business model behind it. V-Kool was born... #1 brand in SE Asia the largest automotive market in the world.

That same group employed the resources of the Von Fraunhofer Institute (spelling... I'm not German) with the goal of creating a high IR rejecting, non-reflective product that could also filter more of the visible spectrum without the use of dyes and pigments and at the same time fixing some of the negative issues of V-kool technology, namely the corrosion factor. Huper Optik was born... arguably the #2 brand in SE Asian automotive market. So valuable that Eastman Chemical bought Huper Optik and V-kool and they stand behind their quality to this day.

That company in Singapore just took a great idea and improved upon it thereby creating what is now commonly marketed as ceramic window film. Huper's big marketing push is "durability." Ergo the logo... The name of the product is indicative of its high optical characteristics. There is no scam, no numbers game, no slight of bandwith tricks... unlike some films out there, the performance values of the Huper Optik films are legitimate which makes them a great value for those that want it.

Genius? :dunno The way you can tell if you have done something right is when everyone else tries to duplicate it. How many companies market ceramic 16 years later? :krazy

vquestfilms.com · June 8, 2016

Well yeah of course what I stated is not data proven by whoever, I was just simply giving my opinion and real world experience lol Plus, I had the second layer put on about a year ago. The $1k price is for photosync only, plus $100 for sunroof using huper and another $100 when I added my second layer. I should have just gotten their 35% in the first place, lesson learned. Honestly, I could care less about the transition part, I never really notice any difference from the start but the fact that it's able to block out a lot of heat it's good enough for me.

The shop I was talking about still uses huper as well as 3m crystalline, they just offer photosync as their top of the line tint and uses them on those high end cars from what I used to see on their instagram account. It is what it is, I feel people get emotionally attached to huper as if they're king of all tint lol I've used them before and was not that impressed and switched back to vkool at the time. I do plan on keeping the mazda for 7+ years so I'll see how it holds up. Longest I've kept a car was 5 years and I went through tint many times with that one, just to try different brands and shades lol

One fact that can't be argued... You have definitely spent a lot of money on window film. I think we all owe you some gratitude for your business because we probably have all benefited from it in some way. :thumb

Another fact is there are a bunch of people on this forum that have seen window films come and go over the decades. Many of those professionals who are well-respected see some red flags with this product and some of these folks have access to independent testing and accelerated testing results. I tend to side with them on this one rather than an unproven marketing claim. What looks good and feels great out of the box doesn't necessarily stay that way long term. Time will tell... it always does. :twocents

DynamicATL · June 8, 2016

The shop I was talking about still uses huper as well as 3m crystalline, they just offer photosync as their top of the line tint and uses them on those high end cars from what I used to see on their instagram account.

The reason it is their "top of the line" is because it is an expensive film and they want to keep the retail price up. In GA, Photosync goes for $700-$750 depending on the vehicle. Huper Optik Drei also goes for that same price range in GA. Got to keep in mind, Huper Optik Ceramic is very popular, but is not their highest end line in price or performance.

lowincash · June 8, 2016

Well yeah of course what I stated is not data proven by whoever, I was just simply giving my opinion and real world experience lol Plus, I had the second layer put on about a year ago. The $1k price is for photosync only, plus $100 for sunroof using huper and another $100 when I added my second layer. I should have just gotten their 35% in the first place, lesson learned. Honestly, I could care less about the transition part, I never really notice any difference from the start but the fact that it's able to block out a lot of heat it's good enough for me.

The shop I was talking about still uses huper as well as 3m crystalline, they just offer photosync as their top of the line tint and uses them on those high end cars from what I used to see on their instagram account. It is what it is, I feel people get emotionally attached to huper as if they're king of all tint lol I've used them before and was not that impressed and switched back to vkool at the time. I do plan on keeping the mazda for 7+ years so I'll see how it holds up. Longest I've kept a car was 5 years and I went through tint many times with that one, just to try different brands and shades lol

One fact that can't be argued... You have definitely spent a lot of money on window film. I think we all owe you some gratitude for your business because we probably have all benefited from it in some way.

Another fact is there are a bunch of people on this forum that have seen window films come and go over the decades. Many of those professionals who are well-respected see some red flags with this product and some of these folks have access to independent testing and accelerated testing results. I tend to side with them on this one rather than an unproven marketing claim. What looks good and feels great out of the box doesn't necessarily stay that way long term. Time will tell... it always does.

Lol yeah, that's why I'm low in cash When I went to the tint shop and had them strip the whole car (tinted in vkool 70%) and had them redo it with vkool 40, they kept asking if I was sure I wanted to do that lol After a few months I went back and had them strip the vkool 40 and went with the f1 pinnacle tint because I wanted the black tint look. Lost track what I did after that. But yeah, this photosync tint has been on my car the longest out of all the tint I've used. Not because it's the most expensive, but it worked the best (IMO). While I was researching this tint, there were lot of folks over at the tesla forum use this tint and that's all they rave about.

mkygod · July 28, 2016

Aside from better IR rejection and Adaptive abilities of Spectra Photosync, can you tell me if there are any other advantages of going with Photosyc versus other high end ceramic tints such as Formula One Pinnacle? The most important thing to me aside from heat rejection is clarity and lack of distortion and haziness.

I would like Photosync, but the price and availability puts it just out of reach for me. Also, the only Photosync dealer remotely close to me cant do my front quarter triangle windows.

DynamicATL · July 28, 2016

Go with 3M Crystalline if you want that level of rejection as long as a low to mid 30's is a good shade for you. 3M like most manufacturer's film is outside tested to make sure the film meets the specifications found by the manufacturer. Prestige does not do this, their numbers are completely done by them. So needless to say, the numbers can be far off and since this industry is not regulated then they can list whatever they want. Many people has done their own calculations and found there numbers just don't add up. The film also has only be around for a few years and is made in China. So it is not proven long term. Also just like Transition Lenses for glasses, the getting lighter/darker will start to reduce probably after the first year and stay stuck at one shade by the 2nd year. With that being said, that does not mean the film isn't good or doesn't meet the specifications. It just means there are too many unanswered questions. Lastly, your front quarter windows are not hard...we have done probably 8-9 of the new GTI's now. They just have to remove the A pillars to properly access the windows.

Tintguy1980 · July 29, 2016

Photosync films are not consistent in their adaptive capability throughout the various shades, only lower 1-2% points in light transmission (like testing film performance on 1/8 compared to 1/4 inch glass leading to minute change) and take hours to achieve the shift or to revert back. Not to mention questionable life of this adaptive foo foo dust.