blinds
Sunscreen vs Light-Filtering Roller Blinds: How to choose
Sunscreen and light filtering roller blinds both let daylight in and give you privacy during the day. The difference is the view. Sunscreen fabric has tiny open gaps in the weave, so you can still see outside. Light filtering fabric is woven closed, so light comes through soft and even, but the view is gone.
Openness factor: the spec that matters
Openness factor is the percentage of a sunscreen fabric that's open space between the yarns. A 5% fabric is about 95% yarn and 5% gaps.
A higher openness gives you a clearer view and more daylight, but also more glare. A lower openness softens the view and gives stronger glare control and more daytime privacy.
In our range, N-Vision has an openness of about 10%, so start there if the view comes first. Sheerweave is about 5%, and Durascreen lets about 5% of natural light through. Start with these if glare is the bigger problem.
Colour changes the view
At the same openness, darker colours give a clearer view out. A dark fabric absorbs light rather than scattering it, so there's less haze between you and the outlook.
Lighter colours look softer and brighter from inside, and they suit homes with pale window frames. If the view is the point of the window, lean dark.
What about UV?
Your window glass already blocks most UVB, but how much UVA gets through depends on the type of glass (Cancer Council Australia). A sunscreen blind adds a second layer. The yarn stops UV, and the open gaps let some through, so a lower openness factor generally means more UV protection.
Light filtering fabric has no open gaps, so it also reduces the UV reaching the room. Sunscreen fabrics are simply easier to compare, because openness factor gives you a number to go on.
Privacy, day and night
During the day it's brighter outside than in, so both fabrics give good privacy. Light filtering gives more, because there's no open weave to see through.
At night with your lights on, that flips. People outside can see in through a sunscreen blind, much like through a sheer curtain. Through a light filtering blind, they may see shapes and movement.
For privacy around the clock, consider a double roller blind. It puts a sunscreen and a blackout blind on one bracket: the sunscreen for daytime, and the blackout for night.
In short
- Choose sunscreen to keep your view while cutting glare and heat. Best for living areas, kitchens, and windows with an outlook.
- Choose light filtering for soft, even light and more privacy. Best for home offices, bathrooms, and street-facing rooms.
- Neither gives privacy at night once your lights are on, and neither darkens a room for sleep.
Test it at your own window
Order a sample of each fabric and tape them to the glass. Check the view and glare during the day, then go outside and look back in. Repeat at night with the lights on, because that's the check that decides bathrooms and front rooms.
Samples come with free express post, so you can have them in hand before you measure. When you're ready, browse our or .
