What VLT really means, how each shade looks on a real car, and how to choose one you can live with.
Ask three owners what "20% tint" means and you will often get three different answers. The number itself is simple once you know what it measures, but it gets thrown around loosely, and plenty of people end up with a shade that is darker or lighter than the one they had pictured. Here is what the percentages actually mean, what each one looks like on a real car, and how to choose a shade you will still be happy with in a few years.
Tint is rated by VLT, or visible light transmission. It is the share of visible light the glass lets through. A 35% film lets 35% of the light in and stops the other 65%. So the lower the number, the darker the tint. That catches people out, because it feels backwards. Someone asking for a "high tint" usually means dark, but a high number is light.
The other thing worth knowing is that the number on the film box is the film on its own. What matters on the road is the film and your glass together. Most cars already have a slight tint in the glass from the factory, and plenty of SUVs and wagons come with proper privacy glass behind the driver. Put a 35% film over factory privacy glass and the finished result is far darker than 35%. A tinter who checks your glass first will tell you that before the film goes on, not after.
As a rough guide, 50% barely reads as tinted. It takes the edge off glare and blocks UV without changing the look of the car much, which suits owners who want the protection and not the appearance. 35% is the classic factory look, clearly tinted but you can still see people inside, and it is the limit for front side windows in Victoria. 20% reads as properly dark and gives real privacy from a few metres away, though you will notice it at night. 5%, usually called limo, is close to a mirror from outside and genuinely hard to see through in the dark.
The rules differ depending on which window you are talking about, so it is worth reading our note on legal tint limits in Victoria before you settle on a number. A common setup is the fronts at the legal limit with something darker behind the driver, which looks consistent and keeps the car compliant.
This is the one that costs owners the most money. Most people choose a dark film because they want a cooler cabin, but shade and heat are two different things. Heat rejection comes from how the film is built, not from how dark it looks. A quality ceramic film at 35% can reject far more infrared heat than a cheap dyed film at 5%, which will sit there looking almost black while the cabin still cooks.
So when you compare quotes, ask about more than the VLT number. Ask what the film actually rejects and how it is constructed. Dyed films are the cheap ones, and they are also the ones that fade towards purple and start bubbling a few summers in. That is a job you pay for twice, once to install and once to strip and redo.
Think about how you actually use the car. If you reverse out of unlit driveways or dark car parks at night, a very dark rear will make that harder, and no film gives that visibility back. If the car is mostly a daily commuter parked in the sun, heat rejection is worth more to you than darkness. If you are keeping the car long term, a shade closer to factory tends to age better than an extreme one.
The best thing you can do before committing is hold a sample against your own glass, outside, in daylight. Film always looks lighter under workshop lights and against a white wall than it does on your car. We would rather do that with you than have you pick a number off a chart.
If you would like a straight answer for your car, tell us the model and how you use it and we will put together an honest, no-obligation quote. You can also read more about our approach to window tinting.
Yes. The number is how much visible light gets through, so 20% is darker than 35%. A lower number means less light and a darker film.
Front side windows in Victoria must let at least 35% of light through, measured with the film and the glass together. Behind the driver you can generally go darker.
Not on its own. Heat rejection comes from how the film is built, not from how dark it looks. A light ceramic film can reject more heat than a very dark dyed film.
We look after everyday drivers, not just weekend supercars. Tell Henry, our owner, what you want to protect and what you have to spend, and he will put together a cost-effective option that makes sense for your car, with honest advice and no pressure.
Tell us your car and how you use it and we will talk you through the options.
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