This was discussed before - there is no such thing as a one way mirror, it simply relies on the dark side giving off less light, and the light side reflecting more, so the light side cannot see the dark side, but the dark side can see the light side.
So how does this work?
Just imagine a grid of black spots on a piece of glass, you can see through it and it looks like its tinted. Now overlay mirror dots on the black dots, its now a mirror on one side and tinted glass on the other. It will be difficult to see through the mirrored side as even the light filtering through will be enough to make the birds reflection much brighter than the inside of the room.
Surely this would (say the dots cover 50% of the area) provide the bird with half as much image of the people as normal glass, and also give a 50% bright image of itself. But.... since the bird box is dark in comparison to the living room, the 50% reflection it sees is dimmer than the 50% transmitted light from the living room.
I asked this question previously about the tinted glass you an get for privacy on building windows and for show on cars, and why you couldn't get something that stopped you seeing into the car without reducing the visibility looking out of the car. That stuff doesn't appear to be any different no matter which way round you fit it - I assume that has dots with a mirror on both sides. So why don't they make the car window film of the same stuff as the bird box? Then you'd just get a dimmer view, not a reflection of yourself obstructing your vision.
It is possible to create different transmission / reflection using a combination of different forms of polarisers.
Not sure if that's the technique here though. It might well be the silver/white/black masking that another poster described.
Either way I would expect significant attenuation.
The kit seems to come with a semi mirrored film that you put on the pane of glass.
It also comes with a hanging shutter with a suction pad that is used at night to shade the interior of the box from light from the room.
Presumably, during the day, the box is likely to get most of its illumination from the entry hole, and lighting coming from the back of the room won't be so intrusive.
Also how do those now you see them, now you don't mirrors work. I was talking to somebody who went to a club up in London and he said they have booths up there that look mirrored but you can see out, but if you flick a switch it turns into almost clear glass both ways.
Brian
Hang on but the bird womt see its reflection as presumably it has no light in its box. Brian
Cars in the UK have to have very light tints to be legal. You couldn't do any sort of one way on the front windows or screen without breaking the law.
That would only work if it was dark on one side.
They do make car window film like that, but not mirrored. the adverts on buses are like that, you see the advert from outside, you see a tinted window from inside.
Surely mirrored would be better for car window tints. You'd get the same light reduction from the driver's point of view, but outside looking in, you would see reflection instead of darkness on the dots, hence it would be even harder to see in.
Even worse, so the bird would still see only the living room, but just 50% of the light. The people would also se the bird at 50% brightness.
LCD presumably. Your watch can "at the flick of a switch" make each segment opaque or see through. There must be some crystals that are one way mirrors instead of black.
I had assumed the entry hole (as it's small) wouldn't provide as much light as the living room lit by sunlight through the rest of the large window.
So, mirrors are made from Duck Tape?
Are you quoting from Spaceballs?
And reflect blinding light to other drivers?
I don't think it does. The advert shows a separate very dark film in one picture - all the others look like there's no film at all. There are no testimonials from the birds!
They probably don't care that they can see us. Most birds treat humans as a source of food.
From where? Their own badly adjusted headlights? Now there's an idea.
More expensive and more hassle.
Why would you have to do that?
With the box, you can see it at all times, even when you're watching TV on the TV.
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