What do all materials have in common?
They protect the display from external influences.
The purpose of every screen protector: To protect the display with a film.
There are two scenarios from which a screen protector can protect the display.
a. Scratches can quickly occur in everyday life.
For example, in a handbag when a smartphone and keys are carried together, or in any situation where a single grain of sand comes into contact with the display. Grains of sand are often harder than glass, and a simple everyday situation is enough to cause irreparable damage.
b. Bumps and drops are the actual causes of display damage.
While a scratch is often annoying without affecting the functionality of the device, bumps and drops are the reason why the display is destroyed. The use of the smartphone is then no longer possible or only severely impaired.
Therefore, it is important to focus on impact and fall protection for screen protectors, without neglecting scratch resistance.
The force of energy that impacts the display during an impact or a fall leads to cracks or breaks in the actual display. All dipos screen protectors have shock-absorbing material components that are specifically designed to absorb impact energy. The force of the impact is thereby distributed over the surface and only reaches the device display in a weakened, reduced form.
This physical phenomenon of absorbing and distributing mechanical energy (e.g., from bumps or falls) is of elemental importance in preventing the likelihood of display damage.
How do I know if the protective film really protects my display?
By means of a so-called free fall test, a metal ball is dropped onto a display from a defined height. The drop height and thus the impact force are continuously increased. Ideally, the test is carried out a) without a screen protector to determine what self-protection functions the display has, and b) with an applied screen protector.
Such a test, if carried out professionally and with high validity, is associated with high costs. After all, it is essential that devices or their displays are damaged and destroyed during the execution.
As a consumer, one is dependent on the sometimes effusive promises of the providers. The truthfulness of the statements cannot usually be checked. A renowned large company from the telecommunications industry did not want to rely on these advertising claims and conducted extensive internal free fall tests with its own smartphones.
As part of these tests, which were made available to us as manufacturers of dipos products, products of our dipos brand were also tested. The aim of the test was not to declare an official test winner, and it is also not the goal of dipos to evaluate the quality of other brand products here. But the fact is that the tested dipos products effectively protected the display from damage, while a conventional protective glass (often also referred to as tempered glass) did not meet these requirements.
In a direct comparison, it was shown that protective glasses are significantly more susceptible to damage, have to be replaced more frequently, and do not protect the device display equally from destruction.
The tested protective glass of a renowned brand was destroyed from every tested drop height, while the tested dipos protective film was only slightly damaged from every tested drop height.
The protective glass could not always protect the device display, and so the device display was partially destroyed and damaged. With the dipos screen protector, the device display remained undamaged in all tests.
Our assessment of the weighting of material hardness and thus resistance to scratches
Hardness is usually given in H. Starting from H (lowest hardness) up to 9H (highest hardness).
In a standardized test procedure (DIN EN ISO 15184), a pencil with a defined hardness is clamped into a device and pressed over the screen protector or protective glass with a pressure of 7.5 Newtons (N).
The test begins with the softest hardness H. The hardness is gradually increased. If scratches appear at H4, the material is considered scratch-resistant up to hardness H3. However, if it holds up and does not get scratches at pencil hardness H9, it has withstood the highest tested hardness without damage.
The published data should be treated with caution. Because almost never is the pressure in Newtons (N) specified for the given hardness. If this value is not available, there is no objective significance for the hardness.
From our practical experience, a screen protector made of PET plastic with a hardness of 3H already offers good protection. If the material is harder, this is a higher quality criterion.
Analogy: Nobody wears glasses made of mineral glass because this material is harder than modern plastic glass. The advantages of modern glasses so outweigh this one negligible side property that it would be foolish to focus on it and, for example, injure your eye on glass splinters in the event of an accident.
Self-healing protective films
For rigid materials made of PET plastic, protective glasses, or hybrid glasses, the previously described pencil hardness (H) is used as a measure of hardness.
Flexible materials, e.g., made of TPU plastic, are much more susceptible to scratches. These materials must typically be soft to provide effective display protection even in curved display areas.
Modern materials take advantage of the supposed disadvantage of being soft. If these materials are damaged on the surface, for example, by pressing in with a fingernail, the material independently returns to its original structure after a few hours, and the "scratch" disappears as if by magic. This property is often referred to as "self-healing".
Here, too, the understanding of screen protection applies even more, and that its quality is not dependent on material hardness.
Flat (planar) and curved (curved) displays
There are flat and curved displays or surfaces.
Even if a screen protector made of PET plastic or hybrid glass is flexible, the adhesive force of the silicone adhesive layer is not sufficient to permanently protect the curved area of a display.
The situation is even more pronounced with protective glasses, as these have no flexibility.
There are many compromises on the market, which often lead to dissatisfaction among consumers.
Rigid materials are cut for curved displays only large enough to cover the planar part. For tempered glass, tricks are often used by printing the edge area, which cannot lie flat on the curved display. This creates the misconception for the user that the display is completely covered. As a result, this edge area is particularly fragile due to the existing leverage. Soft TPU films are used for large tablets and prevent proper stylus operation. Or it is simply claimed that the screen protector is designed to be "case-friendly".
With the experience of recent years, we at dipos have made a clear regulation.
If a contour has to be shortened too much due to the display curvature, so that too much edge area remains unprotected, we only offer flexible materials for this device.
dipos screen protectors for flat displays
- dipos Crystalclear and dipos Antireflex
- dipos Glass Crystalclear and dipos Glass Antireflex
- dipos Privacy Screen Protector
- dipos Hybridglass Crystalclear
dipos screen protectors for curved displays
- dipos FLEX Crystalclear, Antireflex and Privacy Screen Protector
In some cases, there is no clear assignment. In these cases, we leave the decision to the user and offer both types of material with their advantages and disadvantages. Of course, we point this out in the corresponding item description.
Misuse of films as screen protectors
The market for screen protectors has become unmanageably large. Unfortunately, some providers offer materials as screen protectors that originated in a different use and were not developed for screen protection. Particularly in the low-price segment, unsuitable materials can be found.
Examples:
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Transport protection films were developed to protect the display from simple damage during transport. These materials are generally not hardened and have no shock-absorbing layer.
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Paint protection films were developed, for example, to protect car paint from stone chips or surface scratches. Often these materials have a strong to aggressive adhesive and can damage a sensitive device display.
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Window color films were developed as craft films that adhere through pure adhesion, e.g., to windows or other smooth surfaces. The surface is often too dull to ensure flawless touchscreen operation.
