An anti-reflective screen is an electronic display with an anti-reflective coating designed to reduce glare. Traditionally LCDs, have had a matte “anti-glare” finish to scatter reflected light. This has the side effect of scattering the light from the display, increasing blur and eye fatigue, and reducing contrast ratio, colour intensity and viewing angle. Anti-reflective screens meanwhile use an optical coating to reduce the amount of external light reflecting from the surface without affecting light emanating from the display.

Display manufacturers label their anti-reflective screens under a variety of trade names:

* Acer: CrystalBrite
* AG Neovo: NeoV Optical Filter
* ASUS: Color Shine, Crystal Shine
* Dell: TrueLife
* Fujitsu: Crystal View, SuperFine
* HP Compaq: BrightView
* Gateway: UltraBright
* Sony: XBRITE, X-black, Clear Bright, ErgoBright
* Toshiba: TruBrite, Clear SuperView

Most laptop and LCD screens today are still of the anti-glare (not anti-reflective) type, but anti-reflective screens are usually standard features in higher-end laptop and LCD monior models. Some manufacturers allow this as an optional add-on for a nominal amount (usually around $ 50 on top of the list price).

As mentioned above, not everyone might appreciate anti-reflective screens. For instance, in an office environment, where the use of computers would mainly be for documents, spreadsheets and email, the anti-reflective screens would not be necessary. In fact, given the fixed lighting in office environments (and sometimes positioning against windows), anti-reflective screens might put off too much glare.

In a situation where crystal clear images are better, though, such as when playing games or movies, anti-reflective LCDs would be best. Read more - Anti-reflective screens versus anti-glare screens.

This entry was posted on September 20, 2006 and is filed under Facts.