Do you have trouble driving due to glare and eye strain? Do you feel like wearing oven mitts to touch your steering wheel? Window tinting may help resolve these issues.

Window tinting can provide many health, safety, and comfort benefits. There are six common types of window tinting. One of them is ceramic window tinting.

Continue reading this article to learn about the advantages of ceramic window vs. other types of tinting.

Why Glare Is Detrimental

Glare can impact your vision and make driving more difficult. It causes discomfort and decreases your ability to see clearly.

Glare creates a poor distribution of light intensity. This causes extreme contrasts in space or time.

There are three main categories of glare. These include discomfort glare, disability glare, and blinding glare. All types of glare can increase eye strain, visual fatigue, and accident risk.

UV Ray Risk to Eyes

UV rays contain two types that impact humans. These include UV-A and UV-B. Continued exposure to these UV rays can result in eye damage.

UV-A impacts your central vision. Over time, you can develop damage to the macula. The macula lies in the back of your eye on the retina.

UV-B can damage the front of your eye. This part of the eye contains the cornea and lens. When they absorb UV-B rays, the eye can become more damaged than from exposure to UV-A rays.

Examples of eye damage resulting from UV ray exposure include:

Macular Degeneration which is a leading cause of decreased vision and blindness in older Americans

Cataracts develop from prolonged exposure to UV-B rays. This manifests as a clouding of the lens in the eye. This makes it difficult to focus light and impairs vision.

Pterygium is a growth on the eye caused by UV ray exposure. The growth starts on the white part of the eye and may spread to the cornea. Over time, this growth can block your vision.

Skin Cancer is a well-known risk of exposure to UV rays. This cancer can develop on the eyelids from looking into the sunlight.

Corneal Sunburn, also called photokeratitis, can occur after short-term, high-level exposure to UV-B rays. This often occurs following long hours at the beach or on the snow without proper eye protection.

Extensive driving without eye protection may also cause corneal damage. This condition is often very painful and can result in temporary vision loss.

Window Tinting’s Impact on Driver Safety

Vision impairment while driving can result in decreased driver safety. If you are struggling to see due to glare or “blinding” light, you risk of having an accident increases. Window tinting can decrease glare, improves your vision, and make you a safer driver.

Does Window Tint Help Reduce Heat?

Window tinting has proven very effective in decreasing inside temperatures. The window tint creates a barrier between the sun’s heat and the car interior.

The multiple layers in the window tint create a thermal blockade. At the same time, they allow the transmission of some light.

Window tint ratings describe their light transmittance. The terms used include:

• VLT% (visible light transmitted) describes the amount of visible light transmitted through the window tint
• VLA% (visible light absorbed) tells you the amount of light absorbed by the tint
• VLR% (visible light reflected) grades the amount of light reflected by the surface

In a car without any window tint, 90% of visible light is transmitted giving it a VLT% of 90. The VLA% is 5 because only 5% is of the light is absorbed. The VLR% will also be 5 because most of the light goes into the vehicle resulting in almost no cooling.

What You Should Know Window Tinting Laws

All 50 states have laws concerning the level of tint darkness and reflection. Violating these laws can result in fines. It’s important to know about your specific state law.

Most states allow up to a VLT % of 50% darkness. Window VLT%s less than 50% are still effective. Even a window tint of 90% to 80% can reduce glare and protect you from UV rays.

Here are the rules from the first and last states that enacted window tint laws.

Iowa was the first state to pass window tint laws. They require that the front windshield allows more than 70% light transmission. The front side windows can have up to 70% darkness.

You may choose any chosen tint level for all other vehicle windows.

Washington was the 50th state to pass window tinting laws. These laws vary for passenger vehicles and multi-purpose vehicles.

Passenger cars may have a non-reflective tint on the upper 6 inches of the front windshield. The side and rear windows may have up to 24% tint darkness.

The Rationale for Window Tinting Laws

So, why do states need to enact window tinting laws? Window tinting helps to increase the driver’s vision and decreases heat and damage to the car’s interior. Yet, a very dark tint can create both a safety and security risk.

Some individuals wish to put a dark tint on their car to protect their privacy. Yet, this can pose a public safety risk. The driver’s view through the front window and in the rear-view mirror can be decreased with darker tinted windows.

Heavy window tint decrease the police officers’ and emergency workers’ view inside the car. Police officers can’t assess the activity of suspects in the vehicle. This can increase their personal safety risk.

Emergency workers have trouble locating any injured people inside the car. If there’s significant damaged, it’s important to know where victims are before extrication procedures begin. Totally blacked-out windows may also cause other drivers to feel intimidated.

The United States has a high rate of road deaths every year. Eliminating illegal levels of tinting is a priority. Legal tint levels help decrease interference with the driver’s vision.

Advocates of the window tinting law encourage the enforcement of fines and vehicle confiscation without fear or favor. They also call for businesses that illegally tint windows to receive penalties as well. They state that it isn’t enough to warn the customer that the tint exceeds the law and then apply it anyway.

What Is Ceramic Window Tint?

Ceramic Window tinting production involves combining ceramic and carbon particles. This combination provides a maximum level of color and heat resistance. This type of tint also provides high visibility in all shades of outdoor lighting.

This film doesn’t contain any metal, dye, or carbon. The ceramic particles are both non-conductive and non-metallic.

The ceramic tint comes in a wide range of charcoal shades allowing you to create the precise look you desire. It also offers a highly durable coating.

This style of window tint offers high-level glare control. It also provides UV protection and scratch resistance. Since it’s metal-free, there’s no interference with electronic device signals.

Other Types of Window Tinting

There are five other common types of window tinting available.

Dyed Window Film

Dyed Window tint films represent the least expensive option. Yet, they tend to have a lower functionality compared to other types.

The dye in the film does block light rays and absorb solar heat. This decreases the heat from entering your vehicle.

Dyed window films are most often used for cosmetic purposes. When viewing from the outside, this film appears flat and opaque. This provides a high level of privacy.

This film often fades or turns purple over time. The level of heat-reduction provided isn’t very high.

Metal-Metalized Window Film

The metal film contains tiny particles of metal that are invisible to the eye. The metal embedded in the film also strengthens the window. This type of film gives a mirror look to the windows from the outside.

Heat resistance is very high due to the high reflectivity of the metallic particles in the film. The mirror appearance provides privacy inside the vehicle.

Yet, there’s a downside to this type of window film. The metal in the film interferes with cell phones, GPS, radio receptions, and other electronics.

Metal/Dyed-Hybrid Window Film

This type of hybrid film combines dyed and metalized layers. The metal provides reflective qualities and the dyed layer provides resorptive characteristics. The dyed layers also decrease the shininess of the metal layers.

This style of window tint provides a high-performing film. It offers heat and glare reduction. This film also offers UV protection.

Carbon Window Film

Carbon tint provides a true black appearance and is resistant to fading. It blocks 50%-70% of infrared heat so that your vehicle remains cooler. This film also prevents transmission of 99% of UV-A and UV-B rays.

A patented nano-carbon technology creates hundreds of microscopic layers of polymer. This film doesn’t contain any metal. Thus, there is no worry about interference with electronics.

The black color comes from the carbon used in creating the film. This black film doesn’t have a mirror look, but still provides increased privacy. This tint is great for heat and glare reduction.

Crystalline Window Tinting

Some individuals wish to tint their windows for the benefits other than making them dark. The manufacturing process of the crystalline window tint involves a proprietary method.

It uses a multilayer optical film nanotechnology. The construction involves combining more than 200 layers of an extremely thin film.

This film reflects more heat than many of the darker films. A light tint level offers up to 60% solar energy rejection and 97% protection from infrared rays. This helps keep the interior of your vehicle cooler.

Crystalline tint blocks up to 99% of UV light. It also offers a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of 1000 for those inside the vehicle.

This increases your visibility and increases driving safety. Blocking UV light helps to protect the interior from sun damage.

It also allows visible light in while keeping the heat out. Since there is no metal in the film, you won’t have difficulty using electronic devices.

Why Is Ceramic Window Tint a Better Choice?

Ceramic window tint provides several advantages over other types of films. It has twice the heat absorption of dyed or hybrid films. The color remains stable over time and does not fade or turn purple.

Many consider this film the most technologically advanced. They base this on the fact that it provides both UV and Infra-Red reduction.

This prevents UV damage to your car’s interior and to your eyes. The infra-red reduction decreases the inside temperature of your car. It also increases the strength of the window and prevents shattering.

This type of tint is somewhat new to the market. Yet it’s already shown high performance and reliability.

It blocks up to 70% of solar heat and as much as 97% infrared heat. The ceramic film also provides better glare reduction and a high level of clarity. When considering all these benefits, ceramic window film offers a superior choice for window tinting.

Are You Considering Tinting Your Windows?

Would you like to have your vehicle’s windows tinted? There are several factors to consider. Is your goal to have dark, mirror looking windows that provide privacy inside the car?

Are you mainly interested in eye protections and increased driving safety? Do you want to protect the interior of your vehicle from sun damage? Is decreasing the heat inside your vehicle a priority?

This article has discussed six different types of window tint films and their advantages and disadvantages. One of the newest types, ceramic window tinting, has received high ratings on all beneficial features.

As you consider these questions, you must learn about your state’s window tint laws. Failure to follow these instructions can lead to fines.

To find accurate and current information about U.S. car window tinting laws, visit Windowtintlaws.us. All 50 states have now passed window tinting laws, but they are all unique. It important that you understand your state’s laws, rules, regulations, and guidelines.

When viewing our site, remember that specific districts, counties, and cities may have further restrictions, exemptions, and regulations. To ensure compliance, check your local Department of Motor Vehicle website. You do not want to pay for window tinting only to find out that it is illegal and have to remove it.

Check out our site today to learn about your state’s tint laws.