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Is this possible

SezMe

post-pre-born
SezMe
Joined
Dec 30, 2003
Messages
25,183
Location
Santa Barbara, CA
This site has my BS alarm going off pretty loud, but I do not know enough of chemistry, properties of thin films, etc. to reject it. The testing which has been done by all the news outlets does little to convince me, but the Denver Police Department?

Also, their money-back offer has some HUGE holes in it, which further puts me off.

If it is BS, are the pictures just photoshop work?

Your thoughts?
 
I've just thought of another "100% gauranteed" (sic) way to avoid these fines: DON'T RUN RED LIGHTS!

Do you think it's likely to catch on?
 
It is possible, if the spray reflects the light of flash significantly more than the uncoated plate. If use of this product increases the light coming from the plate by 3-4 stops, then if would result in massive overexposure, just like in the pics.
 
I'm almost sure this product is 100% worthless. I did check it out on the interweb a few weeks back when it came up on another board (museumofhoaxes.com) and most of what I read (from reputable news sources) seemed to indicate that there was little or no chance of it working as advertised. There were, however, a lot of shills that popped up on that thread to say how well it worked. They all seemed too much like salespeople to be believed.
 
Technically possible or not, I agree it doesn't look good. The high price, the pushing of psychological buttons--the thrill of doing something quasi-illegal, the thrill of fantasizing about doing something illegal (running red lights or toll booths), the thrill of "sticking it to the man"--the convoluted return policy, the disclaimer

Because the application of Photoblocker is important to the effect of the product, we have taken the step to include an instructions sheet with every order.
Click to expand...

that allows the company to blame the customer if/when the product fails... this is highly suspicious, to say the least.
 
The website has TV links saying "Australian TV says [insert-product-name] stops you getting caught by speed cameras!". Ummm, no they didn't. Not even a single mention of the product or even the use of it or similar products, or even mention of trying to fool or stymie speed cameras. Liars.
 
License plates (in the US, anyhow) have a glass-bead coating that serves to reflect light back at the source. The colored or non-white lettering covers up the beads. In theory you could put a beaded layer over the lettering, which would increase the amount of light coming back from that part of the surface, but I doubt it would make that great of a difference because the reflectivity of the surface under the beads has a large impact as well.

Depends mainly on what kind of sensor is used in the camera. If they are using a visible light sensor, forget it -- anything that would hide the license plate markings from the camera would be visible to the naked eye, and a cop would be writing you a ticket for altering your plates. If the cameras are using infrared sensors, then it is possible to come up with a coating that will pass visible light, but is opaque to IR.

As far as the ad in the site, I can take a regular, undoped license plate out on a clear, sunny morning and by carefully positioning the cameraman between the plate and the sun, I can get exactly the same "wash-out" effect. Doesn't even have to be morning -- I could have an assistant bounce sunlight on the plate with a large mirror for the same effect. Too easy to fake.

Regards;
Beanbag
 
Just took another look at the photos on the site. The sun is low to the horizon (morning or evening) coming from behind. Perfect arrangement to have an assistant with a mirror bounce light back on the plates. If you check the young lady's glasses, in the "before" picture, they are dark; in the "after" shot, there is a light source from the front clearly reflected in the lenses.

BTW, anyone else find it odd that the car hasn't budged between the Before and After shots, and the lady's position has shifted only slightly? You would think that if application of their magic spray was so critical, they wouldn't have been able to do it on the side of the road.

Regards;
Beanbag
 
Damn sharp eye, Beanbag. Now that you mention it, look at the woman herself. In the before picture, she is quite dark but in the after photo, she is generally illuminated. Ditto the front end of the car, itself.

See, I KNEW there was some reason I waded through all those 1"Christ posts. :D JREF rules.
 
Zep said:
The website has TV links saying "Australian TV says [insert-product-name] stops you getting caught by speed cameras!". Ummm, no they didn't. Not even a single mention of the product or even the use of it or similar products, or even mention of trying to fool or stymie speed cameras. Liars.
Click to expand...
Zep, either you watch all Aussie TV 24/7, I don't see how you can say this...unless there is an all Aussie search engines that plows through transcripts?
 
Chances are they're repackaging and selling a product much like Krylon's "Reflect-a-lite" retroreflective clear paint. Yes, in theory it is possible that a clear retroreflective coating could produce enough backreflection to wash out a photo red light camera. Whether this product can do so under the majority of lighting conditions, license plate foreground/background contrasts, etc. is unknown without seeing it or having it tested. Speculation based on the marketing material is useless. It may work well, it may be complete hogwash.

I'm curious, though, why anyone would want to buy a dozen cans.

- Timothy
 
I also find it interesting that the site you reference is selling the product at a "blowout price" of more than double what the original seller charges (phantomplate.com)

- Timothy
 
I didn't know about that site, Tim. On a whim, I e-mailed them to offer to split the $1 mil prize if they would provide a couple of cans of the stuff. Mightly generous of me, I think.

I am now officially holding my breath awaiting a reply.
 
DangerousBeliefs said:
Do the police video cameras use flash photography?

I think not.
Click to expand...

Video cameras, probably not. Still cameras, designed to catch you running a red light, definitely. We've got a few of those here in town, one not too far from my house. It rips off two or three quick frames to catch you at various distances into the intersection (the red light is also visible in the frame), and at night there's a flash that accompanies the pictures being taken. Lemme tell ya, nothing like an eight-bazillion candlepower flash going off in your eyes across the intersection at dark-thirty ayem to make that trip home real interesting...

:crazy:
 
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