Can I fix my severely scratched anti-glare screen?

November 20, 2004 6:13 AM

Monitorfilter: I have a rather vintage 17" Apple Studio monitor, whose anti-glare screen coating has been severely scratched. Does anyone know of a product out there I could use at home to recoat the screen? And if no product exists, are there anti-glare screens which could be recommended to fix the problem? My google-fu has failed me, miserably.
posted by Chrischris to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I have some Firestone Plastic Cleaner that says that, in addition to cleaning plastic, it's also excellent to clean and restore anti-glare coatings on monitors.

It cleaned my monitor well, although the anti-glare coating was in reasonable shape before I used it, so I can't back up their claims.

The can did only cost $3 at a surplus shop, though, so perhaps you can find a similar deal near you.
posted by shepd at 11:30 AM on November 20, 2004

(I used to work for Radius, the monitor people)

In general I've never seen anyone succesfully repair any scratched anti-glare coating. It's plastic yes, but plastic cleaners/polishers will just as likely take the thin coating right off as it will clean it. I think you're out of luck, for the most part, unless you found something that's been developed since I was last worried about such things.
posted by wolftrouble at 3:17 PM on November 21, 2004

I asked a similar question a few months ago, and got some useful responses. In short, you might want to consider stripping off the rest of the anti-glare coating, and just have a glareful monitor. I installed a hood over my monitor and moved a lamp a few feet, and the problem was solved.
posted by waldo at 4:37 PM on November 21, 2004