Matte screen protector

[devkev]

I recently got my Framework in Australia, and went looking for a local provider of a matte screen protector to avoid the hassle and delay of importing one from Photodon or ViaScreens.

I found https://screenshield.com.au/, and am happy to be able to highly recommend them.

I initially bought the BROTECT AirGlass Matte Glass Screen Protector for Framework Laptop (actually the 3x pack, for a friend and a spare). Unfortunately, when it arrived the dimensions were approx 283.5 x 188.5 mm, which doesn’t quite cover the active area of 285 x 190 mm. (It also didn’t have any “Brotect” branding on the packaging, not that that matters.)

I contacted the store and they responded quickly and helpfully. They sent out custom-sized replacements at the size I requested, which was 288.5 x 193.5 mm. This allows the protector to sit about 1mm inside the bezel (which has inner dimensions of ~286.5 x 191.5 mm), while still being small enough to not go over the edge of the actual panel itself. The protectors are about 0.5mm thick, which seems to sit fine under the bezel.

The end result is a beautiful consistent seamless finish right to the bezel (ie. no distracting reflections at the edges). Like others have reported from similar products, it’s a high-quality anti-glare solution to the glossy screen, which allows it to be much more easily read. I’m very happy with both ScreenShield’s product and service.

Before:

After:

I’m not sure if the store will be adjusting the dimensions of their Framework product listings (I also don’t know if they’re pre-stocked, or cut on demand), and even if they do, whether they would go with the dimensions I used, or some other size (perhaps some customers might not want to remove the bezel, even though it’s so easy and helps so much with the installation?).

However, as the service is so good, I recommend either reaching out to them prior to ordering to confirm dimensions, or submitting a custom quote request for the exact size you want.

[devkev]

Some close-ups showing the detail of the corners.

Without bezel:

With bezel:

[district9prawn]

I’m also in Australia and got https://screenshield.com.au to custom cut a protector. Very happy with their service and their matte anti glare film.

[software_developer]

I’m in Australia and purchased a photodon MTX for framework for $72.50 AUD which includes one screen protector and cheapest shipping. It took 5 days to arrive. I may have purchased a Brotect instead from screenshield.com.au or even a custom protector if I had paid attention to this thread before hastily ordering a photodon.

I found application of the protector a bit scary since i don’t really have fine motoring skills. Overall I’m pleased at the job, I have maybe 4 teeny bubbles that may just disappear and they’re not a bother when the display isn’t black. In case anyone does go this route, remove the bezel before applying the protector, it makes things a little easier.

As for the result - I don’t see any difference in clarity before or after. I’m rating this screen protector a 10/10.

After going through this pain of getting a screen protector, I’m less adamant that Framework should sell matte displays as going the screen protector route is not that annoying and gives the same result as a native matte screen in the end (imo).

Here are some pics:

Without matte:

With matte screen sample (bottom right corner) - notice that the Fastmail icon (top rightmost icon) is more visible/clear whereas it’s unreadable without the matte.

Full matte protector (bubble visible):

[suliblian]

Re Schutzfolien24: I bought phone protectors and ever since I get offers of a 10% discount. So, if you are really tight, or place one order for a group of people – order something cheap and use the discount for the bulk order.

[suliblian]

Re dust:
I have sucessfully applied a protector to a smartphone under a running shower. However, the phone is rated IP54 and for extra caution I had removed the battery.

IP54

The first digit indicates the “Solid particle protection”
5 = Dust-protected: dust will not interfere with the satisfactory operation of the equipment.
The second digit indicates the “Liquid ingress protection”
4 = Splashing water: water splashing against the enclosure shall have no harmful effect.

Experiences:

• The water on the protector’s sticky side does no harm; on the contrary, while the protector is not fixed in place yet, it ‘swims’ on a thin water layer and slips around very easily.
• First pressure should be applied in the center, and from there outward (duh). Early in the pressing and swiping the protector wants to move with the swipe and must actively be held in place. No worry, a misalignment is no problem yet, because:
• During the process the force required to adjust the protector increases and the protector clings more and more to its position with the water removal. This makes it easy to make fine adjustments very late in the process. The less water, the more sticky.
• Most bubbles can be swept out, the rest, and the remaining water is gone soon. So, don’t sweat it and scratch the protector using too much force. This was on a phone, on a laptop screen there is more water and it has to travel farther to the edges; I expect it to take up to several days.

Result: No dust at all, and within a day no remaining bubbles and no moisture left around the edges.

---

How to do this with a Framework?

• Either take out the screen (repairability FTW!) and tape every gap and the backside waterproof all around.
• Or pull off the bezel, put the whole machine in a watertight plastic bag (saran wrap is tempting but leaves too many gaps) that then is taped around the rim of the display in such a way that only the surface where the protector will go is exposed to water. Still better to also remove the battery and the CMOS battery. Yes, this works, I had success with a netbook (ah, those were the days…).

All outcomes will be your responsibility, face it!

Whish you luck!

[Jake_Richter]

@suliblian

The water on the protector’s sticky side does no harm; on the contrary, while the protector is not fixed in place yet, it ‘swims’ on a thin water layer and slips around very easily.

That’s interesting (he said from way over there). I wonder if this technique could be used / is being used commercially…

[suliblian]

@Jake_Richter

That’s interesting (he said from way over there). I wonder if this technique could be used / is being used commercially…

Doubt it. It adds risk of water ingress into the product. Or else, it has to be applied early in the process on the not yet assembled displays where they have already clean enough rooms for their assembly. The market for aftermarket protector application is not big enough (it is simply too easy to DIY; also: IKEA effekt) a business here would not fly, imo.

BTW: Repeated successfully yesterday a protector assembly under a kitchen faucet that had a ‘spray’ option. Better light and more surface to put things on than in a shower.

[Rising_Exurb]

I installed the matte screen protector from ViaScreens a few days ago and it’s been great. I had the initial impression that contrast appeared lowered but now I’m not sure this is really the case. Some pointers:

1. It might be a good idea to do the initial placement with the sticky tabs whilst the laptop is on so you can check it’s lining up perfectly with the actual working area of the panel. The glass extends beyond what the screen actually shows, but the protector seems cut to perfectly match the working display, so it is hard to correctly centre it with the correct borders whilst the screen is off. I managed to do a decent job but still slightly misplaced on the y axis, so there are about 2 rows of pixels at the top of the display not covered. As this is where I have my status bar I am not bothered however.

2. I would suggest taking the magnetic bezel off whilst installing, as I did, however will point out when I placed the bezel back on, the bottom right corner somehow pushes the protector up and off the screen a tiny bit, making a little air bubble. I’m hoping this will go away with time or if I reseat the bezel a few times. I can attach a picture if it isn’t clear what I mean.

3. If you are going to add a screen protector I highly recommend installing it before you start using the laptop. It took ages getting off every last bit of dust, and ViaScreens doesn’t provide alcohol wipes which made it a lot easier for me (I had an optical wipe spare).

Finally, I received 2 protectors. Is this expected or have they accidentally given me a spare?

[Edward_Gray]

@Rising_Exurb

Finally, I received 2 protectors. Is this expected or have they accidentally given me a spare?

They gave me a spare, also. I believe it is on purpose, if you mess up badly the first time.
Mine fits nicely and has the edges covered completely by the bezel.

[Michael_Wu]

I finally installed the Photodon MXT 50% and am loving it so far!

This is after using the stock laptop screen for almost 1.5 years. My screen without a protector only had a tiny line scratch on the bottom right hand corner which I didn’t even notice.

The installation process was fairly straightforward, but it did take a while to prepare (both physically and mentally). I’ve had plenty of experience installing phone screen protectors, but nothing this large. Definitely read the instructions like they say!

To help prevent dust, I installed it in my bathroom with the shower head spraying hot water to increase humidity. I took the bezel off to clean the entire screen, but put it back on since it’s much easier to align the film with it on. The film’s dimensions are slightly smaller than the bezel’s. As the instructions say, ensure you’re familiar with how to align the film so the gaps on every side are equal (about 1-2mm less than the bezel on each side).

I laid the laptop’s screen flat down and carefully/slowly applied the film long-ways, making sure to squeegee out any air bubbles and remove any new dust that stuck to the underside of the film or screen with the included sticky pad/tape.

After installation, on white screen, there was a noticeable piece of fine dust/strand that didn’t produce any bubbles. It’s definitely fine to lift the film after it’s already been applied to remove it. Just be very careful and have gloves on to prevent oil/fingerprints. And I had a sharp pair of tweezers to lift one corner up (though this bent the corner up slightly so a very tiny part of that no longer sticks down).

I ended up with no air bubbles/debris except for a very tiny piece that I somehow couldn’t remove. I think it might not be due to debris and from a tiny nick.

There are already fantastic photos in this thread. Here are some of mine:

Bare screen:

Full installation:

Click for more photos

These photos were taken with the screen flat down 180 degrees under my warm-yellow-ish bathroom lights. Yes, that’s a faucet in the corner
Edit: also screen’s around 25-30% brightness.

Sample:

With sample installed:

With sample with flash 1:

With sample with flash 2:

With sample closeup 1:

With sample closeup 2:

With sample closeup 3:

With sample screen off:

Full installation without bezel:

Full installation with bezel:

I added on the “Deluxe Screen Protector Install & Care Kit” to my order. I think it was worth it. It came with cleaner, staticide, squeegee (which has a nice cloth scraping end), gloves, 3 different towels, and a very small tacky tape pad. I think the gloves are essential and wish they provided more tacky tape.

Oh and definitely put the hinges flat 180 degrees down before removing the bezel like Framework’s website guide says. I accidentally cracked both sides of the plastic bezel at the top, though I’ve taken it off many times before and am not too careful with it. Not a big deal, and nothing glue can’t fix.

Thanks to everyone in this thread for sharing!

[Edgar_Acosta1]

just replaced my Photodon with a ViaScreen. Used the cleaner form photodon and the staticide. It is a very humid day in Houston so did this on the kitchen table. Probably cleaned the screen 20 times with a moist lens cloth. No particles no bubbles. Very happy with the result. My last two installs were not that great.

[Simon_BN]

@devkev

They sent out custom-sized replacements at the size I requested, which was 288.5 x 193.5 mm.

Thank you very much. I just used your size without verifying them and they were perfect!
I got a custom size from brotect and installed it after a shower. It fits perfect and I have no dust between screen and protector.

[maxb911]

@devkev

They sent out custom-sized replacements at the size I requested, which was 288.5 x 193.5 mm.

Which corner radius did you pick?
Also it looks like there is an ever so slight overhang over the edges of the actual display. Would you still recommend the 288.5 x 193.5 mm or rather take .5mm off both dimension? Would it then still reach under the cover and be hidden there?
Thank you!
Here in Germany we can get the same Brotect protectors via schutzfolien24.de quite cheaply…

[amoun]

I have just measured the screen glass that is visible without the bezel.
Top and sides have small surround of less that 1mm, the bottom has 7mm of tape.

The visible glass is 288mm wide and 192.5mm height

The bezel provides a viewable screen of 287.5+mm width and 191.5+mm

So there is hardly 0.5mm difference between the glass of the screen and the bezel width, and maybe 1mm diff. in height, on my laptop.

So I would ask for 288 x 192.5 given my measurements, but there are manufacturing tolerances especially with the bezel, so better maybe to measure yours and not rely on others.

[maxb911]

Thank you for checking yours in so much detail, @amoun!
I will go with the middleground between the two of you and order 288x193mm.

Thanks again!

[devkev]

Apologies for the delay replying.

@maxb911

Which corner radius did you pick?

I didn’t specify any corner radius, and just left it to the vendor’s best judgement. By eye it looks like a radius of about 1-2mm.

@maxb911

Also it looks like there is an ever so slight overhang over the edges of the actual display. Would you still recommend the 288.5 x 193.5 mm or rather take .5mm off both dimension? Would it then still reach under the cover and be hidden there?

Yes, there is a very slight overhang, and in fact this has caused my bottom left and bottom right corners to be ever-so-slightly raised. The effect is very small, so I don’t mind.

Shrinking the size by 0.5mm in each dimension (but not each edge - that would be 1mm smaller in each dimension) would likely solve this, but I’m not 100% certain if it would still reach under the bezel. With the smaller size there would also be smaller tolerances when lining up and applying the protector (ie. the size might be enough to reach under the cover, but that’s irrelevant if it ends up misaligned or crooked). When figuring out the size to request, I decided that for me, it was more important to have the full coverage and be sure the protector would reach under the bezel.

[dcdc]

Just wanted to add how much this thread helped with installing the MXH screen protector fro Photodon.

I took the bezel off, cleaned the screen, applied the sample (was a bit tough to remove), cleaned some more, then with some help the two of us applied and squeegeed the screen protector slowly across the screen. We didn’t align it perfectly, but it is 95+% of where I want it (just a small gap (maybe 1mm) at the top once the bezel is back on. To the point where I have to look to see the gap.

This provides exactly the matte effect needed to see the screen outside, near windows, and when on the move. Thanks all for the advice!

[Samuele_Quaranta]

I’m looking to buy a one of the photodon anti glare products, something like the MXT or the MXG.
I use my laptop for photo editing, so I need max sharpness and color accuracy, here comes my question: how much would these two factors be affected?
Anyone with experience in photography?
Thanks

[Emory_Hellips]

Hi friends,
While this topic very useful, how about any protection cases/covers for (body of) Framework laptop 13? For example, this https://www.amazon.com/Fintie-Microsoft-Surface-Laptop-Keyboard/dp/B0BS2LCG7C/ for Microsoft surfacebook 13.5.