Ok guys, just got done with my Xenarc 700TSV. Actually, just got done putting it back together for a second time. Unfortunatly I won't be able to test it in car for a while as I've decided to make repairs to my bezel while it's out. However, I have tested it in the house using sunbeams coming through the windows and I don't seem to be getting the results changeip got. However, I do see (and read) that the orientation of the film affects viewing angles. So that may be part of whats going on. Once I get it back in the car, we'll have some more solid results. I used 2 sheets of BEF-II in alternating directions(per the instructions), topped off with DBEF-E 0 degree. From my preliminary testing, it doesn't seem to be doing much for sunlight viewing. Maybe the 45 degree DBEF-E was more appropriate after all. My results thus far should not be taken as any kind of definitive proof that the film works or doesn't work. This is the just my results with this particular combo. I'm sure I have the films oriented correctly, because I disassembled the screen and double checked. With that said, lets get into the process I used for this.


First let me say, this isn't for the faint of heart. Having the screen out of its case and separated from the touchscreen board is one thing. Disassembling the LCD is far more involved. Not trying to scare anyone out of it, but just be aware of what you're getting yourself into. With that said, I'm not responsible if you mess up your screen. This process worked for me(so far anyway), but may not necessarily work for you. My screen is a second gen(?) Xenarc with the 4-wire touchscreen. Therefore newer Xenarcs may be different.


I'm starting off from the LCD already being removed and separated from the touchscreen board.
Here you can see the various tabs that need to be pryed back in order to remove the LCD from the metal casing. You also need to pull the connector off that is stuck to the side of the metal casing.


Here are some more tabs that need to be pried back. Be very careful not to damage the ribbon cables. I suggest you use your fingernails rather than a screwdriver.


Once all the tabs have been pried back and you pull the connector off, you can now pull the screen from the metal casing and you should be left with just the LCD and backlight assembly. Next you need to remove the LCD ribbon cable so that you can rotate the LCD out of the way. Here's a close up of the ribbon cable, but it's also pictured in the first pic of this post.


Here's a picture of the LCD face up after being removed from the metal casing. and the ribbon disconnected:


You next rotate the LCD up and out of the way, being very careful, not to damage these ribbon cables:




Her you can see the bottom of the LCD. I used my fingernails to gently pry it up and the edge(it is stuck with double sided tape, though the tape on mine was pretty weak).


Here you see the LCD rotated out of the way:


I cut my pieces of film that were 158mm by 97mm. You could cut them slightly larger and probably slightly smaller though. To cut them I used a piece of MDF as my cutting board along with a square and a VERY sharp X-acto knife.



As you can see I used a felt pen to mark what looks like V's on the film. This was so I knew where the notch in the film was. The notch is used for getting the correct orientation of the film. This is unfortunately where the pics end.


*Note: Others may want to try the steamy bathroom suggestion for a sudo clean room. I did this at my desk and as soon as I pulled off the protective sheets, dust clung to the films. I cleaned them with a slightly damp, eyeglass microfiber rag as best I could and just assembled it anyway. Didn't seem to show any dirt when I fired it up. Your mileage may very though. Definetly don't want any big debris getting there. I also recommend rubber gloves to avoid getting fingerprints on anything.


From here I laid down a piece of the BEF-II on the back light with the now imaginary notch in the upper right corner.

Next another piece of BEF-II, cut so that it's rotated 90 degrees from the first piece when mounted. It's the equivalent of rotating the sheet so the notch faces out the side of the top left corner of the screen.

Next the DBEF-E 0 degree was placed on top of the second piece of BEF-II with the imaginary notch in the upper right corner.

After that, the LCD can be rotated back into place and the disassembly procedure is reversed.


Things I may try differently to improve performance:
1. May remove the second piece of BEF-II and see what happens. Maybe I didn't cut the second piece right and it's oriented the same as first sheet effectively canceling the first sheet out.

2. Try to get some DBEF-E 45 degree. Maybe 45 degree was somehow more appropriate for this application.

3. Try the ESR film .

4. Try the ARMR-200 anti-glare film.

What about this monitor? Have they just inserted some of these funky films in there to increase the brightness to 600 NITS ? or is the 600NITS calculated before the films were applied?
http://linitx.com/viewproduct.php?prodid=10949

Because while reading through this article I kept thinking about enhancing the 600 NIT screen. And making it the brightest screen ever!

I've just ordered the samples from the 3M site, we'll see if they get to me here in Melbourne. I'm not sure if I want to upgrade a cheap display or get a trusted one like xenarc & liliput. But I would definitely prefer to have a flip out in-dash display.

I don't know if mixing BEF-II and BEF-III is good or bad or doesn't matter. However, I would definetly pick up ESR, DBEF-E, and either BEF-II or BEF-III. The samples they're giving for ARMR-200 are appearantly too small for our screens.

-Kevin