Architectural Glass
Contra Vision has developed specialist, high-quality printing techniques which enhance architectural glass with a combination of benefits including one-way vision and privacy, color and decoration, solar control and shading, and manifestation for both humans and to eliminate bird collisions. From the outside, Contra Vision® architectural glass appears coloured or decorative, providing a distinctive look to modern buildings. From inside, the external-facing glass color is invisible and the see-through is excellent, providing natural working and living spaces.
Key Benefits
- Decorative and colored architectural glass: incorporate color and signature architectural features to building facades and glass cladding;
- Solar control glass: reduce solar heat gain, glare, UV radiation and air conditioning costs inside buildings;
- One-way vision privacy glass design: hide the view into buildings;
- Glass manifestation to ensure safety around glass doors, balustrades, internal partitions and glass cladding;
- Bird-friendly glass to eliminate bird strikes and collisions; and
- A screen for digital projections on buildings.
Architectural Products
Screen Printed Glass
Contra Vision® XR Ceramic™ is a screen-printed glass which is made by screen printing a pattern (usually dots) of ceramic frit, creating fritted glass. The dots are a different color when seen from each side of the glass, which produces a one-way vision effect.
Printed Window Films
Contra Vision® window films enhance glass printed graphics for decorative purposes or to provide privacy as well as solar control. We offer one-way vision solutions which are widely used by most commercial printing companies and can last from at least 3-5 years.
Printed Interlayers
Contra Vision® Printed Interlayers™ for laminated glass are used in modern architecture which requires the highest level of durability and performance. The graphics are printed as a dot pattern onto a clear polyester film using our patented Contra Vision® XR™ technology.
Switchable
Contra Vision® Switchable Smart Film™ offers instant window privacy at the press of a button, transitioning from transparent to opaque and back again. The product can be applied as a self-adhesive window film to existing glazing. It is also possible to supply the product as an interlayer which is sandwiched in a laminated glass construction.
24/7 Privacy Glass Panels
Vision® 24/7 Privacy Glass Panels™ combines Contra Vision® Ceramic XR™ toughened glass printed with a one-way vision dot pattern with energy efficient LED strips applied to the edges of the glass. As pioneers in one-way vision technology, Contra Vision® has developed this new product which can satisfy the requirements for 24/7 window privacy. *Please Note: UK TRIAL ONLY
Exact registration printing of two layers of dots
Traditional methods of manufacturing decorative and colored architectural glass result in a product which distorts the see-through experience for people inside buildings. The view is either blurred, milky or has an unnatural colored tint, which can adversely impact people’s wellbeing. See here for a comparison.
The secret of Contra Vision is being able to print two layers of dots in ‘exact registration’, without any discernible overlap. This means the “outside facing” white or colored dots are completely hidden from the inside by the second layer of black. The black dots absorb rather than reflect light, providing a more natural black tint that is much less noticeable to the eye.
We recommend our internationally patented Contra Vision® Ceramic XR™ (toughened screen printed glass) products for economical and durable results. Exact registration printing cannot be achieved with standard digital, digital ceramic and screen printing technologies. If the dots are not printed with exact registration then the outside window can appear dirty (and it is impossible to achieve the right colors) and the view through the glass is blurred and disorientating. In particular, it is impossible to avoid “ink splatter” across the non-printed areas if digital printing methods are used, which severely undermines the see-through experience.