Lets talk tablet brightness

basil · Mar 22, 2015

Does anyone know if polarized sunglasses help reduce the glare from tablets in the sun?

David · Mar 28, 2015

Just pre ordered my galaxy s6 so I will see how it does next week... apparently there will be a pair of goggles compatible with them in a month or so, so maybe that will be an optional

Daniel Mascheck · Mar 28, 2015

sirnikolas said:
Compatible goggles are:
Zeiss Cinimizers
Fatshark HD
Sony HMZ-T3
Avegant Glyph (Later this year)

I have the Zeiss Cinemizers and I'm happy with them. Bought the rubber guards to block light and they are fine. I also use them for watching movies on an old IPod. Works great and better than watching the movie on the tiny screen.

I know Epson also has glasses, but I can never get the info from the company if they will work.

gruvpix · Mar 28, 2015

basil said:
Does anyone know if polarized sunglasses help reduce the glare from tablets in the sun?

Hell no, makes the screen unviewable

sirnikolas · Mar 28, 2015

Daniel Mascheck said:
I have the Zeiss Cinemizers and I'm happy with them. Bought the rubber guards to block light and they are fine. I also use them for watching movies on an old IPod. Works great and better than watching the movie on the tiny screen.

I know Epson also has glasses, but I can never get the info from the company if they will work.

There is a work around for the Epson glasses but it creates too much latency. I had a preorder for a pair of Avegant Glyph glasses but now I'm thinking of either buying the Zeiss Cinemizers or the Sony HMZ-T3W. And my biggest problem is that there isn't a store in my state that stocks any of those as I'd like to try them out before I buy them as they're bloody expensive. The Zeiss are $999 with eye shields from Brisbane and the Sony's are $1499 which can be ordered via any Harvey Norman store here in Melbourne.
What should I do!

Daniel Mascheck · Mar 28, 2015

basil said:
Does anyone know if polarized sunglasses help reduce the glare from tablets in the sun?

Their is a film you can find on Amazon that helps, but either a hood or glasses are the only way you'll totally eliminate the problem.

Daniel Mascheck · Mar 28, 2015

sirnikolas said:
There is a work around for the Epson glasses but it creates too much latency. I had a preorder for a pair of Avegant Glyph glasses but now I'm thinking of either buying the Zeiss Cinemizers or the Sony HMZ-T3W. And my biggest problem is that there isn't a store in my state that stocks any of those as I'd like to try them out before I buy them as they're bloody expensive. The Zeiss are $999 with eye shields from Brisbane and the Sony's are $1499 which can be ordered via any Harvey Norman store here in Melbourne.
What should I do!

I got mine for a little over $700 at B&H out of New York, although if I really looked, I'm sure I could have found them in Houston, TX. I live 50 miles south. I like mine very much, but get the rubber eye shields.

sirnikolas · Mar 28, 2015

Hmm decisions decisions!

Daniel Mascheck · Mar 29, 2015

crashburn said:
I tried everything, ipads, n shield, hoodies, etc, finally gave up and bought a Cimemizer

Enjoy life and be nice

You are using the Cinemizer for your second monitor? I bought a set but was unsure about using it? Are you using it on the master or slave unit?

Buck Ames · Mar 29, 2015

Soflms said:
Hey everyone, straight to the point: I cant see a **** thing on my tablet screen when trying to fly in mid day Florida sun. It's like, look up at the heli, eyes are burning, look down at the screen, cant see anything from my tablet, it looks off. Is it off? Nope, it's cranked up to high and still isn't visible. Now, this is like a $550 tablet brand new so I'm a little bummed it's not usable unless it's a super early morning shoot, or evening.

The tablet: 2014 note 10.1 outdoor luminescence of 400 nit

The new iphone 6 outdoor luminescence of around 504 nit

Iphone 6 plus (same as above, only 5.5" instead of 4.7: outdoor luminescence of around 540 but looks the same as the smaller version to me, if not a little dimmer. Id get it, but I still think it's just a little too small to fly from, and a little to big to carry around everyday after carrying my note 2 for 2 years.

Im comparing these two because I just picked up the iphone 6 and have to say i'm so much more impressed on the full sunlight visibility, along with how much better the flight app runs on ios. I can actually cache my maps, use the simulator, and see my AE lock button. Because of this, I started thinking of selling my note 10.1 tablet and getting an ipad. I figured i'd be able to go to the apple store and see similar max brightness to my phone, but none of them even come close to the brightness level of my 6! The iphone 6 plus is rumored to have a slightly better nit rating. Yes, I know the plus has a better ppi rating and a better screen overall, but I really care about the max brightness at this point, over pixel ratio. Anyways, after seeing that all the ipads are way dimmer then my iphone I started trying to find the brightest tablet I could which brought me to the 2013 version of the Nexus 7 based off google research i've done. It looks like an 8" tablet will tuck perfectly into the slot in the hard inspire case where the owners manual and paperwork were tucked into. I wouldn't mind buying it just to tuck it into my flight case and always keep it there.

So lets talk about what you fly from, and its direct sun capabilities (a huge plus if you can wear shades and still see the screen like I can on my iphone)

I'm thinking about these following devices:

The iphone 6 plus ( maybe too small to fly from, too big to carry daily? however way better battery life than my 6 that leaves me at 40% by 3pm so this would also kill 2 birds with one stone)

The nexus 7 (rumored to be one of the brightest tablet screens still available in 2015, and has an SD slot to immediately view pics/video)

ipad air 2 (looked way dimmer than my iphone in the store) but is supposed to be the brightest ipad)

Like I said, I love the fact that you can use the simulator, and cache the maps on any IOS based tablet, but the screen brightness is holding me back from pulling the trigger on an ipad...What tablets are out there that i'm missing? What about you shield guys/girls? Thanks for the help and sorry for the long post!

Edit: looks like the iphone 6 plus might have polarized glass? Can anyone confirm this? Someone said in a youtube video that it does, and it helps direct sunlight viewing.

Buck Ames · Mar 29, 2015

My problem is being able to see the iPad 2 Air on sunny days . Really strange since the Air 2 is suppose to be the best re; reflective surface, etc. Have ordered a sun-hood however not sure that will improve the situation. Have owned/flown P1, P2s using the Balce Pearl on the P2 and never this kind of a problem. Any suggestions ... is there a setting on the Air 2 or is the hood the only answer. Thanks for your reply.

purezerg · Mar 29, 2015

I own a zbook 17" dreamcolor laptop with sunshade/ hood
what I do on location is I connect to the zbook via a hdmi input device ExtremeCap U3, so that I can use the dreamcolor screen to accurately guage the exposure.
because at this moment, I cant find a way to turn on histogram to see any exposure details.

rilot · Mar 30, 2015

If you want to compare tablet brightness, use Bench over an Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Tablet/680
You can line them all up and compare the brightness in nits.

DaBone · Apr 2, 2015

Which is best, and why?

Zeiss Cinemizers
Sony HMZ-T3W
Avegant Glyph
FatShark Dominator HD

Thinking of buying the Cinemizers, but can´t find a store in Europe that have them in stock or they no longer sold.
Sony HMZ-T3W can I buy from the UK, but think they are a bit expensive. Are they worth the extra pennies? If so, of course I can pay them.
I do not know much about Glyph, but may think it looks a little tedious with the big muff on the ears. Can imagine it gets hot in the summer?
Otherwise, I just have FatShark Dominator HD to choose from, if I buy locally.

Oosie · Apr 3, 2015

Soflms said:
Already went that route no luck View attachment 803

If you can see your reflection or any reflection in the screen it will not work. I made one that works by angling the Ipad down so that it mirrors into the black cover and it works. I am not just saying it works, it does work in bright sunlight with the IPad Air 1. You can see yourself and the blue sky with all the ones posted on the net.

Oosie · Apr 3, 2015

Oosie said:
If you can see your reflection or any reflection in the screen it will not work. I made one that works by angling the Ipad down so that it mirrors into the black cover and it works. I am not just saying it works, it does work in bright sunlight with the IPad Air 1. You can see yourself and the blue sky with all the ones posted on the net.

View attachment 1026

This picture was taken with a flash and there is no bouncing back of the light. I am still going to improve it.

Carbines · Apr 3, 2015

Soflms said:
Edit: looks like the iphone 6 plus might have polarized glass? Can anyone confirm this? Someone said in a youtube video that it does, and it helps direct sunlight viewing.

iPhone 6+ definitely does, as have many iPhones of the past. Especially problematic if you combine this with polarized sun/eye glasses. The display becomes even harder to see when one of two lenses that are similarly polarized are rotated 90 degrees (like your phone/tablet in landscape orientation).

Outta Control · Apr 3, 2015

I tested out an screen protector that is specifically designed for anti-glare. I would like to report that it works fairly well. I was out on direct sunlight and was able to see the screen with clarity.

damoncooper · Apr 7, 2015

Outta Control said:
I tested out an screen protector that is specifically designed for anti-glare. I would like to report that it works fairly well. I was out on direct sunlight and was able to see the screen with clarity.

Cool. Purchase link/name?