27 inch TV set inside, behind a sliding glass door, that I can watch from outside on my patio.
Outside sound is no problem—have a set of amplified stereo computer speakers outside plugged into the headphone jack of the TV inside. So glass doors can be closed and I get excellent sound.
Works great. Picture perfect. Sound great.
Only problem is I can only watch the TV this way at night. Daytime, the glare off that sliding glass door makes it unviewable.
So what I would like is some way to cut the glare. Does anyone make glare proof cut or cutable pieces of either glass or vinyl that would work in this situation?
Or maybe I am the only person who has tried to do this type of thing and there is no market for it. ----------Or it isn’t really possible.
Tried an internet search for glare proofing, but came up with nothing resembling what I want.
They make glare-proof glass for framing pictures, but I don’t think it would work in your case. It has slight texture in the surface to disrupt reflected light but allows the print behind it to be seen normally, mostly because the print is flush up against the glass (or at least close). Trying to view anything farther behind the glass would probably be like looking at it through a shower door.
You could try wearing polarized sunglasses, which will cut the glare but may not cut all the glare off flat plate glass; they work better for glare from irregular surfaces in my experience (like asphalt roads, car dashboard, curved windshield).
I think there is an optics tradeoff here (CalMeacham?) because smoothness, the property of glass that allows you to see through it without distortion, is the same one that causes mirror-like glare reflections.
Since it’s the sunlight reflecting off the glass doors that is the problem (obviously, since it only happens in daytime), wouldn’t an awning over the door that could be positioned appropriately fix this?
Beginning to think that what I wanted to do (place some sort of glare proof piece of glass or plastic over my glass sliding door) isn’t really possible. Anything that might work would probably be like looking through a shower curtain.
Awning idea sounds good. Or something set properly positioned behind the viewing area, like a small movie screen (oddly enough I have one in the garage) might also work well.
That might help, hard to tell without seeing the geometry of the situation. But screening direct sunlight from the glass may not be the problem. You will still have a fully illuminated landscape behind you that will be seen as a reflection in the glass. I have this problem with my computer screen. I can be sitting indoors but if my back is to a window on a sunny day I get huge glare from the outdoor scene, even though there is no direct sun streaming in.
Suggestion. Buy a cheap pair of Polaroid glasses. Cut apart and place one lens in the middle of the TV screen.
Adjust the second lens so you can see the ‘spot’ thru both lenses. Go outside and with the portable lens in the same position look at the TV.
Is the spot visible without reflections?
Repeat process rotating both lenses 15 degrees each time . Repeat for the best visability.
It’s possible - tue anti-reflective coatings are widely used on optical instruments, eyeglasses and even some TVs and monitors. But it’s not cheap - I believe such coatings are made by vacuum-deposition and similar methods. After a few minutes of Googling, the cheapest AR-coated plastic sheet I’ve found is from techplast.com, but it’s only 11x14" and costs $128. Edmund Optics has AR-coated glass windows which are somewhat cheaper - $54 for a 10x12" window. And even if you get these, you can’t just place it on top of glass. There’ll still be reflection from the original glass, unless you fill the gap with some type of transparent adhesive or liquid.
If the above works and I have every expectation that it will, then you can invest in two pieces of Polaroid. One large enough to cover TV screen and one large enough for viewing from patio.
Why would you need one on the TV? You’re just trying to reduce the reflected image, which is (hopefully) polarized. All you need is polarized lenses on your sunglasses - it will (again, hopefully) darken the reflection more than it darkens the unpolarized image from the TV.
Whether the reflection is polarized depends on incident angle. If your line of sight is perpendicular to the window, and the source of reflection is behind you, then the reflection won’t be polarized and the above method won’t work. If you’re looking up at the window which is reflecting the sky, conventional polarized sunglasses should work. If you’re looking at the window from the side, you need to remove the polarized lenses and rotate them 90 degrees (or buy unpolarized sunglasses and stick a piece of polarizer sheet, rotated to the optimal angle.)