3m upgrades - Page 21

nst6563 · 11-13-2007, 12:59 PM

I used 2 layers (at 90 degrees to each other as the application guides state), and I think it does make it brighter indoors as well as outside. One reason being is that I simply can NOT dim the backlight like I used to be able to. To be honest, it's so bright that I run the backlight at no higher than 40% even during the brightest parts of the day, and at night, 5% is even almost too bright. I actually think REMOVING one of the BEFII films would be beneficial in my situation... I may do that when I relocate the screen to reduce glare...dunno...guess it depends on how ambitious I am

FirebirdTN · 11-13-2007, 03:17 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nobb

From some posts here, I am getting the impression that 3M used to just send out the samples without the email. I remember a few months ago I would fill in the request form and got nothing (no email, nothing). But I think its a good thing that you got the email, because that means they acknowledge your request and are waiting for your response. However, to get past the email stage to get free samples, I think users have had to make up stories.

Thing is, for me at least, twice I have filled out the request, and both times...nothing. Not even an email.

At least there is Digikey, which I don't mind one bit, except the fact they don't have the DBEF.

nobb · 11-13-2007, 03:30 PM

Im dissapointed!

I just added another sheet of BEFII to be screen, so now its BEF II > BEF II > DBEF. basically, I have everything setup as shown in Homebrew's pictures on page 9 of this thread. Even my transmission axis match that picture. But I still cant see anything in the sun. I have pics attached. On the screen should be the OSD menu, but clearly you cant see anything at an angle. It almost seems as if my 2nd layer of BEFII completely killed the horizontal viewing angle.

nst6563 · 11-13-2007, 03:55 PM

wow...it did kill it. you can view fine straight on right?

The only thing I can think of is that you have it oriented the same direction as the original sheet when they should be at 90degrees of each other.

The films DO reduce the viewing angle a bit, but geez...not supposed to be like that. I can see my screen fine still from those angles and I've got the same layers (2xBEFII, 1x DBEF-E).

wywywywy · 11-13-2007, 03:58 PM

If you look at 3M's literature on how this film works, it is no doubt that it sacrafies view angel for brightness. It allows light to go through only directly in front, otherwise it reflects back.

EDIT: Is that a Lutron Graphikeye I see in one of the pics?!

nst6563 · 11-13-2007, 04:05 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by wywywywy

If you look at 3M's literature on how this film works, it is no doubt that it sacrafies view angel for brightness. It allows light to go through only directly in front, otherwise it reflects back.

yes, but the viewing angle is not killed like in those pics. If he were using the LCF films it would kill it like that as they're made for privacy.

I have 2 layers of BEFII applied on my screen exactly as 3M instructs and I can see it fine from all angles you'd view the screen in the car. the viewing angle IS reduced...but not that much.

nobb · 11-13-2007, 04:08 PM

Ok I just removed one of the BEFII 90/24 films so that I only have one BEFII installed. Its a little bit better in the sun, but still nowhere near the full sunlight visibility that I was hoping for. Maybe someone can double check what I did to see if I did it properly. Right now I have backlight > BEFII > DBEF > LCD. My transmission axis are BEFII: || , DBEF: ||.

Whats a Lutron Graphikeye? If you are referring to the piano, I dont know. Thats my sister's and I never touch it. I dont know anything about pianos...they all look the same to me.

nst6563 · 11-13-2007, 04:37 PM

The DBEF should be in the same orientation as the polarizer that's on the back of the LCD itself.

nobb · 11-13-2007, 04:57 PM

I thought my BEFII was the rear polarizer. Are you saying there is another polarizer on the LCD module itself? Or is it located in the backlight assembly? I pretty much removed all the stock films between the backlight module and the LCD module. How do I find out what its polarized at? To be honest, after the 3M upgrades...my screen sort of looks dimmer. Maybe my DBEF is orientated wrong.

Update: I think Homebrew's picture on page 9 (thats what I followed exactly) might be wrong. I took out all three films and redid everything such that its now backlight assembly > BEFII > DBEF > LCD module. I am not using 2 BEFII films because it seems to hurt viewing angle. The transmission axis on my BEFII and DBEF films are now horizontal ==== , NOT vertical || , like I had initially (very dim screen). The screen does look brighter now with the reorientation of transmission axis. But I'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out how it handles the sun.

parksgm · 11-13-2007, 05:13 PM

Quote: Originally Posted by nst6563

I used 2 layers (at 90 degrees to each other as the application guides state), and I think it does make it brighter indoors as well as outside. One reason being is that I simply can NOT dim the backlight like I used to be able to. To be honest, it's so bright that I run the backlight at no higher than 40% even during the brightest parts of the day, and at night, 5% is even almost too bright. I actually think REMOVING one of the BEFII films would be beneficial in my situation... I may do that when I relocate the screen to reduce glare...dunno...guess it depends on how ambitious I am

Quote: Originally Posted by nobb

I thought my BEFII was the rear polarizer. Are you saying there is another polarizer on the LCD module itself? Or is it located in the backlight assembly? I pretty much removed all the stock films between the backlight module and the LCD module. How do I find out what its polarized at? To be honest, after the 3M upgrades...my screen sort of looks dimmer. Maybe my DBEF is orientated wrong.

It seems that such wildly different outcomes could only result from either:

misorientation of the film when installed
presence or absence of "factory" optically active films in the LCD before installation

My bet is the latter...it would be nice if there was a separate step-by-step thread from someone knowledgeable in these films that included how to identify and determine the orientation of films already present in the LCD.

nobb · 11-13-2007, 07:31 PM

parkgsm: the different outcomes are a result of my error. I had the transmission axis vertically oriented on my BEFII and DBEF films, when in fact they should have been horizontal. I dont think it matters how the factory films are installed, because you are supposed to take them all out to perform the upgrade.

parksgm · 11-14-2007, 12:57 AM

Quote: Originally Posted by nobb

parkgsm: the different outcomes are a result of my error. I had the transmission axis vertically oriented on my BEFII and DBEF films, when in fact they should have been horizontal. I dont think it matters how the factory films are installed, because you are supposed to take them all out to perform the upgrade.

Ahh. Did you have enough film to reinstall correctly? I'd be interested in seeing pics of the results, as I wasn't convinced by the other pics in this thread, and your pics were excellent.

Good luck...