Who sells tinted plastic? (Making a tinted overlay for my iPad)

Factual Questions
1

So those among you with iPads know that the brightness control is pants, especially in the dark. It’s way too bright. While the “black on white” feature is ok for surfing the web, and most reader apps have very good brightness controls, there’s nothing to help when you want to watch video. Even in the jailbreak community, there aren’t any apps that allow you to make the screen any darker than the factory default.

My idea is to cut a piece of tinted plastic and just slide it in and out of my iPad folio as I need it. I know there’s tinted film you can buy but I don’t want anything permanent - just something to slide on the top of the screen so I can watch Peep Show without disturbing the wife and baby at night.

I thought about calling a tint shop but I suspect it would be pricey. Heck, I used to have a smoke-colored translucent clipboard that would be perfect - just trim it down to size and it would work.

Of course other ideas are welcome if you have 'em!

2

Stores that supply professional musicians with mixers and microphones and light fixtures etc. sell tinted plastic sheets suitable for making colored spotlights.
The material is clear, tough, and comes in a variety of colors beyond the obligatory red and blue.
A proper theatrical supply store will also have the stuff, but those are rare compared to garage-band-outfitters.

3

try colored transparency sheets at office supply outlets.

4

They might have neutral gray acetate report covers too.

5

I thought I was the only one. The iPhone is perfect in this regard.

6

So - an update.

I first went to Fry’s to see if they had any of those tinted covers that go on monitors. They didn’t have any, but it seemed that they were more for reducing glare and making it hard for people not directly in front of the screen to see. Not exactly what I was looking for.

Then I tried Cagey Drifter’s recommendation. No dice. Apparently, smoke-tinted report covers were all the rage a few years ago, but now you can only find the primary colors. Again, I didn’t see what I thought would work, and I definitely didn’t want to try a red or blue tint… that would defeat the purpose.

I did find a smoke-tinted folder in my office and put it over the screen - it didn’t look too bad, but the mylar-type material seemed a little too thick. It was a little ratty looking as well, so that was a non-starter.

I even called the window tinting shop that did my car windows. No dice. Also, I tried Lowe’s and saw a window tint but it came in huge rolls for about $20 a pop. Too much.

Finally I try Squink’s recommendation, and call a lighting shop. The lady on the other end of the phone says that they had “gels” that might work - so I head over to their shop. Which, incidentally, handled all the lighting for Austin City Limits. Cool stuff. The gels come in a variety of colors and shades and we find a perfect black one. I don’t have my iPad on me so I can’t test it, but it looks good on my netbook monitor.

Got home and cut the gel with scissors to fit the sleeve of my iPad case. Easy. Then the moment of truth… what a surprise! The screen is legible, clear, and much dimmer. Pretty good stuff. Even better bonus is the fact that the touchscreen functions aren’t affected - I can scroll, point, and swipe like normal.

But I still want it a little bit darker. So I cut another piece, put it on top of the first one, and slide the iPad into the sleeve.

AWESOME!

The screen is so dark I have to crank up the brightness to midrange to see a very dim display - perfect for night reading or video viewing. Again, the touchscreen functions are intact.

The best thing about it was the price - $6.75 for a roll about 20" x 30".

Props to you Squink!

7

You could also try sunglasses, with the added benefit of looking cool.

8

:cool: