Factory Tint Percentage Matched: Get a Perfect, Finished Look for Your Car!

Pickup trucks and SUVs always have their rear windows factory tinted. But the car owners want other windows to be tinted too! Our customers ask us for the exact match of the tone, shade, and color. At the Tinting Chicago shops, we measure the degree of factory tint with a special meter and recommend the color and specific percentages. But it may not always match with factory privacy glass to a ti. The Tinting Chicago expert explains why.

What is the window tint percentage?

The tint percentage represents the visible light transmission (VLT), it is the amount of light that can pass through the window. The lower the percentage, the darker the film. But, attention, — this does not mean that the percentage of visual transmission of light is the same as the degree of darkness of the glass. It happens that two glasses with the same percentage of VLT look different from each other, but one of them is darker and the other — lighter.

The factory tint — is not the film!

Factory windows are initially colored, but not covered by the vinyl film: the pigmentation is added during the manufacturing process. Such glass does not have protective window film properties from UV-rays, infrared radiation, heat, and glass damage. So we recommend installing the film on such windows too, with a very light tone so as not to darken even more.

Front tinted windows look lighter with the same VLT percentage

It is often impossible to match the same percentage of tinting since front windows with the same percentage of VLT look lighter. For example, factory-tinted rear windows can be 26%. A 30% film will look almost the same on the front windshield and front side windows.

And don’t forget about tint laws! Contact us at 773-455-0467 or 312-212-0493 for a free consultation!

Not all colors of factory tints might have a perfect match

At the Tinting Chicago shops, we try to match the color as closely as possible. We have a wide range of colors and shades of automotive window films from the best manufacturers. But remember that even in the best tint shop it may not be possible to match the film exactly by the color — factory tinting is done by a different technology. At Tinting Chicago, we select colors of car window tint as close as possible, but despite this, the color may not be exactly the same.