Anti-glare, is it worth having on a head unit?
What is an anti-glare screen?
An 'anti-glare' screen is a screen that has a thin layer of coating to diffuse some of the light that is being pointed at it. The effect of this is that it makes the screen easier to see in high light environments. Instead of having a glossy screen, it is replaced with a more matte finish which helps diffuse some of the rays of light which is bouncing off the screen and back into your eye.
Simply put the layer of anti-glare that can be added to your aftermarket head unit, will make it easier to see the screen when it's too bright outside. Think about how when it's a sunny day (which is rare if you're in the UK) and you're trying to look at your phone, you'll know the struggle, as it's too bright to see the screen.
Increasing the brightness or cupping your hand around the phone is usually the only way to see what is on the phone, which could be dangerous if you are driving and using your phone as a satnav, as it will increase the amount of time you're having to look at your phone.
What's the trade-off? Well you can't have anti-glare and keep the crispness of our head units completely. Unfortunately anti-glare does remove some of the crispness of the unit's screen, as it diffuses the light that it emits externally. Meaning you lose some of the fidelity. Ultimately its a minor trade-off which is optional. Some people don't mind the slightly fuzzy appearance of a matte screen, as their eyesight can adjust to the fuzziness off the screen.
Why would you want anti-glare on your head unit? The main reason we hear from customers is that they want to make sure that they'll be able to see the screen when it's bright, which isn't much to ask for but it can be a concern for people who are planning on driving in the early hours of the morning when it is extremely bright.
Another reason that people say they like anti-glare on their screen is because they own a convertible, which is far more likely to have direct light onto the head unit display. Making sure that it comes with anti-glare is key when you have a convertible version of a car because of how often the screen comes into contact with the open sky.
Blue Light filter.
As we all know, blue light is no Bueno, especially at night as it can cause eye strain, which is why most phones offer a blue light filter option which can automatically come on at specific times of the day. Well why not have a blue light filter on your aftermarket head unit?
Blue light rays can strain our eyes, especially while driving, where we often keep our eyes open for longer periods of time than at a computer monitor, or looking at our phones sleepily at night. Make sure that your eyes are on point while driving and get a blue light filter on your head unit even more so if you're in for a long drive. It will also reduce digital eye strain, so your eyes won't feel as tired at the end of the day.
As our systems are either Apple Carplay or Android Auto, they have blue light filters installed on the systems to internally change the output of the blue light of the screen. Which is a good feature for driving at light as it reduces the amount of light the head unit is giving out, combined with an anti-glare screen, and you'll have a lovely diffused lamp screen as opposed to a harsh blue light screen.
There are several external, not built in applications that you can download to make sure that you have a better blue light filter on your system that can be downloaded form the Google Play store or the Apple Store which will work with our units, we also recommend looking into the systems settings to see about turning on dark mode which will also help reduce eye strain.
This is the Blue Light Filter - Night Mode by Leap Fitness Group
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.eyefilter.nightmode.bluelightfilter&gl=GB
For more information about anti-glare displays look here:
