Display protection/longevity
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From: D Yuniskis on 16 Jun 2010 16:12 Hi, Probably more of a materials engineering question... Most devices (esp. handheld) with displays tend to use polycarbonate, etc. to protect the display (neglecting touch sensitive devices). Over time, this scratches. The packaging often precludes replacing "just" the "display protection". So, the product's useful life is reduced because a piece of plastic wasn't, in essence, "hard enough". Can these sorts of plastics be buffed to clean them up? Aside from glass, are there any other clear materials that are suitable for this role? Thx, --don
From: larwe on 16 Jun 2010 16:41 On Jun 16, 4:12 pm, D Yuniskis <not.going.to...(a)seen.com> wrote: > Can these sorts of plastics be buffed to clean them up? Of course. There are products specifically sold for this purpose, though regular jewelers' rouge works well in most cases. 15-20 seconds buffing with a very fine rouge physically removes surface scratches at the cost of making the surface appear slightly sandblasted. The purpose-built products are designed for heavier scratching, to match the refractive index of the parent material. They abrade the edges of the scratch slightly to "feather" them, and fill in the bottom of the trench with RI-matched material. The sandblasting effect is less pronounced with these products, and they are typically applied by hand. In manufacturing, the lenses on cellphones and similar products are often polished before they ever even make it into the shipping materials.
From: Spehro Pefhany on 16 Jun 2010 17:33 On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 13:12:04 -0700, D Yuniskis <not.going.to.be(a)seen.com> wrote: >Hi, > >Probably more of a materials engineering question... > >Most devices (esp. handheld) with displays tend to use >polycarbonate, etc. to protect the display (neglecting >touch sensitive devices). > >Over time, this scratches. > >The packaging often precludes replacing "just" the "display >protection". So, the product's useful life is reduced because >a piece of plastic wasn't, in essence, "hard enough". > >Can these sorts of plastics be buffed to clean them up? >Aside from glass, are there any other clear materials >that are suitable for this role? > >Thx, >--don Acrylic is more scratch resistant (though not much different in hardness), and more transparent, but much more brittle. It's fairly common to use a UV polymerized hard coating overtop of a PC or polyester surface to protect it.
From: Hans-Bernhard Bröker on 16 Jun 2010 17:42 D Yuniskis wrote: > Can these sorts of plastics be buffed to clean them up? A very common approach, particularly with small displays and touch-screens, is to go at this from the other end. Instead of scratching it first, then worrying about how to get the scratches back out again, people put adhesive protective foils on the display right away, which they can replace when they're worn out. > Aside from glass, are there any other clear materials > that are suitable for this role? Even glass isn't really suitable for this in the long run. People who care about wrist watches have known that since about forever. Let's face it: if you actually use the thing on a regular basis its surface _will_ scratch, eventually. It may take a grain of sand getting stuck in just the wrong place, or a person with a diamond ring on their finger making a klutzy move in just the wrong moment, but it will happen.
From: Spehro Pefhany on 16 Jun 2010 19:25
On Wed, 16 Jun 2010 23:42:37 +0200, the renowned Hans-Bernhard Br�ker <HBBroeker(a)t-online.de> wrote: >D Yuniskis wrote: > >> Can these sorts of plastics be buffed to clean them up? > >A very common approach, particularly with small displays and >touch-screens, is to go at this from the other end. Instead of >scratching it first, then worrying about how to get the scratches back >out again, people put adhesive protective foils on the display right >away, which they can replace when they're worn out. > >> Aside from glass, are there any other clear materials >> that are suitable for this role? > >Even glass isn't really suitable for this in the long run. People who >care about wrist watches have known that since about forever. Let's >face it: if you actually use the thing on a regular basis its surface >_will_ scratch, eventually. It may take a grain of sand getting stuck >in just the wrong place, or a person with a diamond ring on their finger >making a klutzy move in just the wrong moment, but it will happen. That's why any decent wristwatch has a sapphire crystal. Best regards, Spehro Pefhany -- "it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" speff(a)interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com |