The Difference Between Anti-Glare & Anti-Reflective Glass
What is Anti-Glare Glass?
Anti-glare coating is a treatment method on glass that ensures external light sources, such as bright sunlight or other interior ambient lighting, do not affect the visibility or legibility of a framed image or document. Anti-glare acrylic has a matte finish that diffuses reflected light by reducing the coherence of the reflected image, but can, in turn, somewhat distort an image behind the glass caused by the diffusion's loss of sharpness.
Anti-glare coatings tend to use diffuse particles or small etchings on the glass surface to achieve the desired visibility outcome. It is generally used for outdoor displays or for indoor areas that have bright, intense lights whenever a loss in image quality isn't much of an issue; however, it is not recommended to be used in dimly lit areas since the blurriness/graininess of the coating will be much more obvious.
What is Anti-Reflective Glass?
Anti-reflective glass is the gold standard in thin-film technology and is designed to minimize reflections by disrupting the energy contained in light waves, causing them to flow out of sync. The disrupted wave pattern virtually eliminates all reflection from the acrylic surface, resulting in a crisper image and true-to-life colors. The scientific term for this phenomenon is the destructive interference of light. Additionally, anti-reflective glass coating does not consider only external light sources, but rather both internal and external ones.
Ideal applications for anti-reflective glass:
- QSR digital menus
- Digital retail signage
- Wayfinding signage
- Glassdoor merchandisers and refrigerated displays
- Outdoor large-scale lighting
Now that we have explored how both Non-Glare and Ant-reflective glass are produced, let's look at their typical applications. The matrix below can help steer you in the right direction when deciding between Anti-Reflective and Non-Glare Glass.
