Why is the touchscreen so glossy?

[medved]

In this video (at 04:10) finally someone acknowledges the glossy touchscreen:

"But there is another problem with this thing and that's the glare. This is a fairly glossy panel and as we get the sunroof here, at times, the sun shine through, reflect out of there and go right in your eyes and there's no way to block it out. That can be a little bit annoying."

Yes, it is annoying to me too, big time. I just don't understand why? Why so glossy? Why not matte? I have a Garmin GPS navigation, it's matte and it is perfect. It has very nice clear picture and I can see clearly during sunny days. I can even watch digital TV or video on that Garmin and the picture is perfect.

And NO, changing the colors/brightness doesn't help at all because the touchscreen has a glossy finish.
To apply matte finish over glossy finish is not a good solution either. I have a notebook like that and it's terrible. The best (and only) solution is to provide matte touchscreens directly by Tesla.

So why we have to suffer with these glossy touchscreens?

 

[StephRob]

Strange, I have pano roof and in three months of driving the car, there have only been two or three times where I've even noticed a glare of reflected sunlight off the screen. Hasn't bothered me at all.

 

[medved]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. Sometimes it's not that bad but obviously, it is there. And it bothers me a lot. Especialy when i don't understand why would you do that when there are matte screens available?
This is what other member posted here:
"The monitor fails, however, on glare and fingerprint retention, and I am hoping some kind of matte finish or oleophobic substance is used."

 

[ElSupreme]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. Sometimes it's not that bad but obviously, it is there. And it bothers me a lot. Especialy when i don't understand why would you do that when there are matte screens available?
This is what other member posted here:
"The monitor fails, however, on glare and fingerprint retention, and I am hoping some kind of matte finish or oleophobic substance is used."

Well that quote is from last March so NO EXPIERENCE with the actual screen.

The screen is glass, so it is 'glossy'. It is much less glare inducing than glossy plastic. That being said I have had absolutely 0 problems with the roof closed, the tint on the roof it just too dark. I have produced glare with the roof open, but it really isn't a problem. The screen is mostly below your eye line, mostly perpendicular to the floor, so sun coming from the roof and reflecting off the screen directly into your eyes simply doesn't happen. It is basic physics. Glare yes, reflections in your eye nope. Think of how often the sun is reflected directly into you eyes from your side rear view mirrors. Then think about how much easier it is for those to catch direct sunlight. Then think that those are aimed upward towards your eyes.

I hate glossy laptop screens also, but they are plastic and much worse for glare than glass. I have a work computer with one. It is horrible. But if you turn up the backlight (and have a light background) you can't see reflections.

It simply isn't a problem. It was well thought out. Sure if your screen catches some direct sunlight, through an open sunroof, it does get a little washed out. But you can still see everything.

 

[Tommy]

Well there is a glare and it is the kind that causes you to turn your head to avoid being hit by the light. It happens to be in the early morning when the sun is low and directly behind me when I drive a particular route. The sun actually is coming through the rear glass hatch area not the sun roof in my case. Perhaps tinting the back window will moderate the problem. The problem is real, however not everyone is going to experience it unless their daily commute brings them in alignment with the sun.

 

[doug]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. Sometimes it's not that bad but obviously, it is there. And it bothers me a lot. Especialy when i don't understand why would you do that when there are matte screens available?
This is what other member posted here:
"The monitor fails, however, on glare and fingerprint retention, and I am hoping some kind of matte finish or oleophobic substance is used."

Have you actually experienced this problem yourself? If you're that worried you can just get a matte screen protector cut for the Model S which are currently available.
Car Care: Center screen protector

 

[Shorty]

Interesting. My sunroof is tinted so I don't have any issues with glare.

 

[PeterK]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. Sometimes it's not that bad but obviously, it is there. And it bothers me a lot. Especialy when i don't understand why would you do that when there are matte screens available?
This is what other member posted here:
"The monitor fails, however, on glare and fingerprint retention, and I am hoping some kind of matte finish or oleophobic substance is used."

I don't have my car yet so can't comment on the screen in everyday driving use, but I have experience with both matte and glossy MacBooks, and the glossy works better in the sun. True, matte doesn't directly reflect sunshine, but sun hitting on a matte finish can wash it out such that you can't read the screen contents. Perhaps they chose glossy for that reason, and figuring that usually the sun won't be at such an angle that it reflects in your eyes. In any event, I expect it will be less of a problem for those of us in New England than for people in California, etc.

 

[bonnie]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. Sometimes it's not that bad but obviously, it is there. And it bothers me a lot. Especialy when i don't understand why would you do that when there are matte screens available?
This is what other member posted here:
"The monitor fails, however, on glare and fingerprint retention, and I am hoping some kind of matte finish or oleophobic substance is used."

medved, do you have a Model S or are you observing this on a video? It's not a problem reported by people who actually have the car ... not sure why you're raising this issue.

 

[dsm363]

Zero issues with glare from someone driving the car in Texas since September. Simply not an issue. Fingerprints is more of an issue than glare.

 

[jerry33]

Well there is a glare and it is the kind that causes you to turn your head to avoid being hit by the light. It happens to be in the early morning when the sun is low and directly behind me when I drive a particular route. The sun actually is coming through the rear glass hatch area not the sun roof in my case. Perhaps tinting the back window will moderate the problem. The problem is real, however not everyone is going to experience it unless their daily commute brings them in alignment with the sun.

The problem isn't so much that it's glossy (though I'm not a glossy screen fan by any means), it's that car manufacturers always seem to want to tilt the screen up rather than having it strictly vertical. If it was vertical the glare wouldn't be a problem because there wouldn't be any. And yes, unless your commute is such that the sun comes in from the right angle, glare won't be a problem.

 

[dtich]

It happens to be in the early morning when the sun is low and directly behind me when I drive a particular route. The sun actually is coming through the rear glass hatch area not the sun roof in my case.

my experience too. no issues at all but for a couple times in as many months as i happened to be heading east and the setting sun was shining directly through the back windshield. noticed it, but it wasn't an issue as it goes away in a few mins one way or another...

i like the screen.

 

[Frankrb]

I think the right solution to this problem is for Tesla to complete the design of a quality sunscreen that will block out all ambient light coming thru the pano roof, just like every other luxury car manufacturer provides.

 

[dflye]

Okay, so having driven a bit over 5k miles in my MS, normally I haven't had ANY problems with screen glare / glossiness when the sunroof is closed, whether it is cloudy or full sunlight (admittedly in the winter for a northern latitude)

However, once the sunroof is opened, all bets are off. At that point, if there is any sort of direct sunlight coming down on the touchscreen, good luck viewing it.

 

[StephRob]

I'm sure I'm not blind. I can see the glossy finish clearly. "[/I]

I didn't say I disagreed with you about the fact that the touchscreen was glossy. It is glossy. It just doesn't bother me at all. Minimal glare in my experience.

 

[KenEE]

+++++++ matte screen. I absolutely won't purchase a laptop with a glossy screen. I enjoy working outside on nice days and a matte screen allows this easily while a glossy screen prohibits it. Absolutely no good reason for glossy screens.

 

[tdiggity]

What are the dimensions of the screen? There are a lot of anti glare matte screens on amazon.

 

[aviators99]

6200 miles in subtropical Florida. Never had glare off the screen (never driven with the roof open during the day, though). *Have* had substantial glare off the piano black trim, though.

 

[medved]

Have you actually experienced this problem yourself? If you're that worried you can just get a matte screen protector cut for the Model S which are currently available.
Car Care: Center screen protector

Yes, I have experienced this problem myself. I have driven the car several times, including two get umped tours one in Toronto, Canada and one in Munich, Germany. Actually, I spent more time behind the wheel of Model S than in the back seat. I was driving during rainy days and also during sunny days. I spent extensive time just playing with the touchscreen. The UI is perfect, intuitive, easy to learn and logical. That's great, but the reflection is just too strong, especially during sunny days. It's like a mirror. You can see yourself in the touchscreen thus making it harder to see what's on the display. And here you have the evidence:

It is like that in reality too. Whoever says it is not, is not saying the truth.

Matte screen protector, I don't think it's a good solution. It will be even harder to see through that. Tesla should offer matte touchscreen as an option for those who don't like the glossy one. Or just make it simple and make only matte touchscreen.

 

[FlasherZ]

It is like that in reality too. Whoever says it is not, is not saying the truth.

Well, I assure you that I'm not lying when I say:

The only time I have been even slightly hindered by a glare problem is when I have the pano roof open; the light from above casts a purplish tint across the controls and if your brightness is too low, recognizing some of the options can be a slight challenge.

I have not experienced a problem with light coming from the rear or sides. Perhaps it's because of the children in the third row, perhaps it's because of the children in the second row, and perhaps I'm just getting lucky when I drive.