Review: Intelligen Anti-Glare TV Filter

Anti-glare maker Intelligen, who has traditionally made security screens for computers, laptops and desktops, and even iPads, under the ViewGuard brand has expanded into filters for widescreen TVs all the way up to 65″.

I reviewed a ViewGuard LCD TV Anti-Glare filter for a 52″ TV and found a pretty solid product.

Installation
While the ViewGuard came in a pretty large box, it isn’t that heavy and was quite easy to place over my 52″ LCD TV. It has a lip at the top that curves over the top of your TV. It also has mini-rubber suction buttons that help keep it in place quite well without the need for the enclosed self-adhesive strips. I didn’t bother using the adhesive strips – the plastic was heavy enough to sit fairly securely.

Take a look at these 2 photos (click to enlarge) to see how it attaches.

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Results
The brightness of the screen was noticeably reduced, but not detrimentally. In fact, after mere minutes of watching with it on, my eyes and brain had adjusted to the new picture and even after a few days, I forgot about that change.

The transparent optical plastic has a greater than 90% transmission, but not 100% which accounts for why the brightness decreases.

There was no question that it absolutely reduced the glare and reflections of the afternoon sun coming in at a less than 90° angle from a side window. It also eliminated the reflection of the sofa on darker scenes of what I was watching. It didn’t eliminate those reflections when the screen went completely black, but I can live with that more so than in the middle of what I was viewing.

Although one of its features is to protect your TV from scratches and damage, the instructions explicitly say not to scratch the guard, so don’t let that feature be the primary selling point for you.

Another minor problem that you may have to deal with is dust. Southern California may be nice and sunny a lot, but it can be quite dusty. This means that my TV seems to constantly attract a layer of dust. However, this isn’t usually a problem unless the sun is shining on the screen.

But the ViewGuard screen attracts dust just as strongly and to both sides, as there’s a gap between itself and the TV screen. And since there’s a gap between the screen and the filter, you notice the dust a lot more; it’s as if the dust is floating in mid-air. The solution is simple – just wipe the filter clean with the enclosed microfiber cloth! If you’re the ‘lazy’ type, you may not care to do that too often.

Conclusion
If you are someone who either has their TV in a glare-prone location and/or suffer from headaches or other negative effects of glare, then an anti-glare filter is easily your solution. Granted, it’s not a cheap solution if you have a very large TV, spending in the region of $40-$200 may still be an easy decision if it means you can go back to enjoying TV without any negative side effects.

(Disclaimer: Gizmos for Geeks received a complimentary review copy of this product.)