Can anyone shed some light on some these newer films? Trying to decide on something current.

caterpill · March 25, 2022

Hello all,

I've been doing some research on films and would like to see if anyone can help me compare some of them. There are so many films out there; it has become quite a blur. I don't like to think that I am that picky with tint, but it does seem that I am, considering that i've been having a hard time choosing. 😛

Ok, so this is 2022. I don't go to SEMA, I don't know the insiders, I don't quite know the who's who. I do know what i've had tint wise, to compare some.

I'd like to re-tint my vehicle, currently has some old Lulu CTX 35 (~48 TSER) - Performs well, but after 5+ years, forgive me but I think somehow the heat rejection has degraded. Is that even true? Does window film with, say %50 TSER have %50 TSER for ~10 years with no degradation at all?

Debating between these films, so far - please help me decide.

Solar Gard Xenith 35 (59 TSER) Color : Almost Neutral

Solar Gard Vortex 35 (53 TSER) Color : Almost Neutral

Panorama HiLite 40 (60 TSER this stuff is pricey. - Yes I know this is supposed to be a flat glass film. I guess PS adhesive 😃) Color : Slightly Green

LuLu IRX 35 (54 TSER) Color: Have not personally seen this film

.. and please educate me. What is Huper i3? Some guy locally who is/was the coveted dealer of Huper, used to install the Huper 35 Ceramic years ago. Not sure what he is pushing from the Huper Line now. Might want to give him a call to get current info, since I googled Huper 35 and noticed that Huper has changed their line to "Autobahn" now. IIRC the Huper 35 i'm used to was a flat glass film that had a PS adhesive and worked well on cars aside from its crazy absorption.

Now, I haven't quite wrapped my head around the whole selective IR, and other film specs yet. I'll have to brush up on that..

All things considered, I had Panorama Hilite 40 on a vehicle, damn it was very good. Very slight greenish hue but heat rejection was high. I did notice that it had an off-angle purple sheen, almost like the Huper Ceramic I had years ago. Unfortunately, I only had the vehicle for a short time and wasn't able to benefit from that awesome and expensive tint job. I had Huper 35 on a vehicle about 10 years ago, I remember that rejecting a lot of heat as well. It had a neutral color, ever so slightly green, but off - angle purple sheen. What was strange was that I had "Huper 30" from a guy that said he bootlegged the film from Malaysia. I almost want to say that the Huper 35 blocked more heat than the 30. *shrug* he showed me the 3m logo, however I couldn't really conclude if it was just my head or not. It did seem to retain a ton of heat in the glass, though. It's hard to factor in that absorption spec in the real-world, though but it does make a difference.

I do notice that some of the new "IR" films seem green. The Solar Gard "IR" line seems pretty neutral - maybe looking forward to that if I can't find any other films. My previous tint guy who installed the CTX had some health issues and threw in the towel. (I didn't expect him to be around forever anyway, with all due respect I believe he was an older gentlemen that was in it for years.) Oh, and the Llumar CTX was a bit blue - I didn't mind that, however some people do.

So, if I may ask, in this day and age, are metal films still useful? Let's say I don't care about reception in general..

Sputtered / All Metal 35% vs "IR" 35% ?

Sputtered / All Metal 50% in windshield vs "IR" 80% ?

Etc. Etc. Thoughts?

Any thoughts? Let me know. Tint is quite interesting. Let's talk! 😛

Thanks!

Edited March 25, 2022 by caterpill

Jeff@STEK · April 20, 2022

Wow you had done your research.

So to put it simply if you are looking for the best IR rejection film for the best feel in the car sputtered film is going to be the best. It does have metals in it and will reflect the heat but this also come with a big price point.

Ceramic films are all absorption type films so that is why the glass feels crazy hot but does not mean it will always pass though 100% it will depend on the film and what the specifications. You should look for something in the farther IR range of the film instead of just something with Near IR as these is only numbers but does not necessarily mean a cooler car.

There are line hundreds of brands out there and the big names are most popular, but as I am biased as I do work for STEK. Do check out our STEK NEX films with Graphene technology it is a ceramic film and it is bluish due to the ceramic materials that we use and has no dyes to give a different color so the film will not fade or turn purple. Amazing heat rejection and top tier film https://www.stekautomotive.com/wf/nex/

We are a bit newer in the industry for window films but I have this in my own vehicle and love the performance in the summer days! Notice that I do not use my A/C as much too.

Hope this helps but shoot me a message if you want to chat more.

caterpill · April 23, 2022

Jeff,

Thanks for the heads up on your films.

I haven't done as much research as I should, it's just that the market is so saturated .. it's very diluted now, just as you said. Too many out there.

I do have a question for you though. There used to be some guy on here that would go down to the nitty gritty and I enjoyed his arguments (he used to rep Huper Films - vquestfilms?) and I do have a genuine interest in the numbers.

So back in the day, I thought Huper's C30 had some high absorption rates. I swear it was around %60, and TSER around %60.

Nowadays with the new "IR" films, I see even higher absorption rates, is this the same train of thought? So for instance, the NEX 35 spec sheet states 76% Solar Absorbance and 56% TSER (yes, 92%/96% @ 950/1400nm IR Block, respectively). Does this mean that the SHGC is higher than the Huper in the NEX 35? Hmm.. the absorbance is 88% on the NEX 05.

These new "IR" films in general seem to absorb even more then the TiN ceramics. I don't have any real-world experience with this new gen of films so it is quite interesting... (=