Are glassless mirrors as good as glass mirrors? It’s a common question since the glass mirrors weren’t even around more than 20 years ago or so. In 2005 approximately, Alvas took the technology that was used from rear projection televisions, flight simulators, the Hubble telescope, etc. and repurposed it. We made it into a big size glassless mirror on wheels that can be moved around in a dance studio easily and safely.
A 4′ x 8′ glassless mirror weighs only 20 pounds- If it was glass it would weigh more like 200 pounds! So in that way glassless mirrors are far superior, safe, and light.
The drawbacks of glassless mirrors are they are a bit more vulnerable. They can be punctured, scratched, ripped, etc. However, when they are hit hard, they don’t shatter like glass and become dangerous.
A drawback on glass mirrors is a “ghost image”- Not a big drawback, but we have included a photograph that shows it quite distinctly. You can see that the ballet barre bracket is mounted over glass and the reflection shows a “ghost image”. The reason for that is that the reflecting material is behind a sheet of glass so the reflection has to go through the glass, hit the reflector, and then come back to your eye, creating a ghost image.
Glassless mirrors do not have “ghost images” because the reflective surface is directly on the surface of the polyester film. That’s why they can use the polyester film in rear projection television, and come out with a perfectly clear reflection.
