Electronically adjustable tints

[Bobo]

Good morning everyone! I'm looking to get tints for my new brz, and was toying with the idea of getting electric tints. Has anyone else gone this route, or have any insight into the products? I spoke to my local tint shop about it, and while they hadn't heard of electric film tints (they thought it was only whole glass panels), they were intrigued and said if I wanted to pick some up, they'd apply it, I would just have to do the electrical installation part myself, which is no problem. So before I go and drop the relatively insane amount of money on that, I was looking for some opinions on the matter. Thanks!

[KenTK808]

I think what your talking about requires special glass. It's like 2 pieces of glass and a light is reflected between them. I seen it at Tokyo Auto Salon a couple years ago. It's more common in houses and stores as door glass.

[Bobo]

http://www.smarttint.com/ is one place i saw.

[neutron256]

It's not so much a tint despite the name. It's opaque/translucent when it's off

[Bobo]

How do you figure? It's supposed to be dimmable, and when on, the black one is at a reasonable 45% tint. Assuming it's dimmable as it claims to be, you could theoretically set them to any level between 4 and 45%.

Though if you're right, it's kind of a whole lot less appealing. I wrote to them and I'm waiting to hear back.

[Bobo]

http://shop.smarttint.com/Smart-Tint...stem_p_37.html

[Poodles]

It's not tint... It's effectively frosted glass on command. While yes, it lets light through, you can't see through it (in other words it would be dangerous if not downright illegal for use in a car unless it was on the roof)

[AtlasMick]

Whenever you would turn the car off it would immediately go opaque. Accidentally lose power to the unit on a fast crowded highway... instant death trap.

Awesome idea, IF off was transparent instead of opaque.

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Poodles

It's not tint... It's effectively frosted glass on command. While yes, it lets light through, you can't see through it (in other words it would be dangerous if not downright illegal for use in a car unless it was on the roof)

correct. i did seriously look into this tech a couple of years ago, and as far as i'm aware, there is no significant improvements in it.

a couple reasons this tech isn't commonly available.

1. it's expensive.. yes it's cool, but cost-of-new-wheels-cool is usually difficult to justify

2. most iterations rely on lcd crystals sandwiched between 2 layers of glass, activated by an AC power source to change states. currently all the tinting glass is AC-only, and is 2-part glass, which means you would need to have custom-formed/cut windows for the car. this is the version that is on high end cars roof panels-- the panels are custom built that way, it isn't something that can just be applied by the local tint shop.

also, while there are AC tinting films that are available, all of them require a constant AC power source to maintain the preferred tinting level. so you'd need to run an inverter 24/7, with enough battery power to keep the system active when the car isn't running.. depending on how long your car sits, that could be a whole trunk load of batteries.. AFAIK, there are no 'pulse' films that only require a small pulse of power to change states for long periods of time.... this was about where i started to give up on the idea of applying it to my car..

3. the other iterations that use films, require constant power to maintain a clear state(no power= can't see-- serious problem if something goes wrong) will have the appearance of heavily frosted glass when activated, making it impossible to drive with it activated. some people like this idea if they have a lot of expensive gear in their car, and will set the film up to trigger with the door locks, so that no one can see inside the parked car and see how expensive the gear is.. but that said, i am of the mindset that 'hiding in plain sight' is a better slogan.. if you don't have any tints or frosted glass, there is less of a chance that a criminal will think that there is something within the car that is worthwhile to steal..

4. at a consumer electronics show years ago, they posted a video of a small sample of a metallic film that could change states from clear to mirror-like using DC current. however i haven't heard anything about this film becoming mass-produced since that demo video came out... that was the closest to a variable tinting film that i've come across..