Privacy glass VS. Window film

Factory tint, officially known as Privacy Glass, is an electrical process called “deep dipping” that involves dying the inside of automotive glass with a dark pigment. The dark tint is obtained by altering the chemical composition of the glass, giving lower light transmission.

Factory tint is standard on the rear half of many new SUVs. With a common visual light transmission (VLT) of 15–26%, privacy glass is installed to provide passengers and personal items privacy from outsiders, hence the name privacy glass. Since most states have a VLT legal limit of around 50% for the front driver windows and windshield, factory tint is only applied to the rear half of vehicles windows to avoid breaking the law.

Benefits

With a low VLT, the primary benefit of privacy glass is to provide privacy for passengers and personal items.

By reducing the light transmission, dark glass offers visual protection from the outside environment. Dark glass absorbs part of the incoming sunrays, leading to lower temperatures by preventing the sun’s heat from entering in the vehicle, meaning reduced need for air conditioning and increased fuel and CO2 savings

Unlike window film, privacy glass does not provide the same ultraviolet (UV) protection or heat reduction qualities. Window film offers 99% UV protection against both UVA and UVB rays. Privacy glass provides protection against UVB rays because UVB rays cannot penetrate any kind of glass including non tinted glass. When it comes to skin cancer, a major risk factor is prolonged exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.

Removal

Unlike window film, privacy glass is a pigment within the glass that’s installed during the manufacturing process. There is no way to remove the tint from the glass except to replace the glass with untinted glass. The only alternative to getting the same benefits of window film is to install window film over the factory tint. Many consumers attempt to match the privacy glass to their front windows and windshield when it is legal to do so in their local jurisdiction. This can be achieved almost perfectly, although a small difference can still be seen.

You can check Colorado’s Window Tinting Laws here.

If you want to install window film on your vehicle, house or business please contact us today.