Great thread guys, keep the ideas coming!
The main difference between
heat shield and
Gel Shield is pretty substantial.
Heat shield is simply
clear, thin polyester which provides another layer to collect heat.
Gel Shield, on the other
hand, is an 8 mil thick
clear substrate that has a vacuum deposited
dielectric coating on one side (similar to
dichroic glass). This substrate, while
clear, is as thick as an
Apollo steel
gobo and more rigid than polyester
heat shield. The
dielectric coating applied to
Gel Shield reflects both IR and UV energy, reducing the harmful rays which ultimately cause organic dyes to migrate from the center of the
gel. When you see a lighter area in the center of a
gel cut, the dye has actually moved toward the
edge of the
gel, away from the most intense heat.
Gel Shield negates the migration, allowing up to 7x the life of even the darkest
gel transmission.
When building color scrollers we add a layer of
Gel Shield to the
fixture side of the device, allowing
Apollo gel strings to last an unbelievably long time.
So, there ya go-
Gel Shield 101 class completed!