Boat captains have come to rely on electronic navigational instruments over the years and the new LCD displays have been both a blessing and bane. The touch screen technology enables users to quickly find out where they are, where the fish are or how deep the waters are.
However, all this information is rendered useless when the sun glare is overwhelming the display and the captain can’t read the screen. The glare bouncing off the screen into the eyes also causes headaches. Even when there is a canopy to shade the instrument there is always sunlight bouncing off the chrome or other materials to make it hard to read.
Wearing polarized sunglasses is not an option because the polarization of the sunglasses cancels out the light from the display screen. Since most devices are built-in into the dashboard they cannot be tilted physically to provide shading. And as the sun moves during the day the reflections can come from different angles, making it impossible to see the screen at times.
Being out on the water the salt air and sea spray hits the LCD display and can eat away the antireflective coating on the screen. This not only makes the display look ugly, it also makes reading the screen more difficult.
It was a welcome relief to boaters to find that the NuShield™ DayVue™ antireflective film has the properties and the strength to fight the elements and provide long-lasting protection. The DayVue™ film is made of super-thin, durable plastic manufactured using a patented technology that provides extended protection against sun glare, dust, scratches, and gouges. The properties of the film also eliminate 99% of the UVB rays bouncing back off the screen, thereby reducing eye strain and headaches.
DayVue™ is the only screen protector film of its kind that combines anti-reflective technology and superior scratch resistance. Dust and dirt and smudges can be easily cleaned off the DayVue™ film’s oil-resistant coating. The film has a very low-tack adhesive rubber backing which holds it on the screen. This allows for easy installation on flat LCD surfaces and easy adjustment if necessary. It usually takes less than 5 minutes to install the film and push out the larger bubbles. Smaller bubbles usually dissipate within 24 hours.
To test the quality of the DayVue™ film we took a 32-foot Cruiser, Inc. 3275 boat out on the Hudson River with a built-in Garmin 2006C GPS. Over the years, the screen on the left-hand side has the protective coating worn off. We placed a DayVue™ film on the right half of the display and it drastically cut down the glare on that side of the screen. We then placed a DayVue™ film over the whole display area. This eliminated the glare almost completely and the film was also able to hide the coating erosion on the left side when viewed from certain angles. The boat captain will be replacing his GPS with a new unit in the near future and he swore that he will put the NuShield™ film on before he takes the boat out.
We rode around the Hudson for a while, turning the boat in all directions and the DayVue™ film kept the screen visible most of the time. It is important to note that even the DayVue™ was overwhelmed when sunshine directly hit the display. Another benefit of having the film over the display is that it is easier to clean off and unlike the naked screen the residue salt from the water does not grind into the display when cleaned.