I was pleased that Power Support made an anti-glare film (here for $24.95) for the iPad like the one I’ve been using on my iPhone for the past couple of years. My experience with their product on my iPhone has been very positive. Not only has it reduced screen glare on my iPhone when viewed in different lighting conditions, but it has also dramatically reduced smudges and fingerprints when touching, tapping and swiping my iPhone display. How does the iPad version perform? Read on after the break for naked iPad’s take on Power Support’s new iPad anti-glare film and for more pictures.

Why would you possibly consider putting anti-glare film on your iPad? There are a few reasons. Even though the iPad screen is fingerprint and smudge resistant, it’s still a fingerprint magnet and it doesn’t take long until you want to wipe it off with a microfiber cloth or the soft cotton of your t-shirt. It’s not as noticeable when the iPad is turned on, but when it isn’t, the smudges are practically glaring. Also, any external light source can cast glare off of the shiny glass of the iPad display, making it sometimes difficult to view content. The textured matte finish of the film also creates a nice swiping experience on the iPad — to me, the screen seems more responsive to swiping and touching due to the textured surface of the film.

Once I learned of its availability, I ordered the anti-glare film from Power Support’s site for a total of $30 (including shipping and handling). It took just a few days to arrive — expedited shipping was available for additional expense, but since I was still waiting for my iPad 3G, I didn’t mind the wait.

I received the mailer with the anti-glare film inside. Included in the package was the film (1 sheet) and instructions for installation. I quickly learned that installing the film on an iPad is far more tricky than installing on an iPhone. The much larger screen size of both the iPad screen and the film makes it infinitely more difficult to apply with precision and avoid trapping dust between the film and the iPad’s screen.

My first attempt at installation was fairly disastrous. It’s best to have a clean, dust-free environment, but if you’re like me, you don’t have the pristine environment of a semiconductor “clean room” handy, so I did the best I could by clearing a place on my desk and I started installation. The best method is to make sure your iPad screen is as clean as possible by using a soft cloth, preferably a microfiber cloth. Once clean, you want to peel back the protective backing from one end of the film (my personal preference is starting from the “home” button end), being careful not to touch the slightly adhesive backing of the anti-glare film. Line up the film edge with the iPad screen edge and begin applying from one end, peeling away the backing as you work your way down the iPad screen. Once applied, you can use a credit card to smooth out the bubbles toward the edges.

I underestimated the difficulty in applying the film precisely on my first attempt, and when I peeled off the film to try again, I ended up accidentally trapping quite a bit of dust and particles between the iPad screen and the anti-glare film. It looked horrible. When you trap dust and particles between the screen and film, the end result is lots and lots of bubbles — totally unacceptable.

I’ve provided the pictures above to give you some idea of what I had to do to salvage my anti-glare screen. You see, once the adhesive backing is compromised, it’s not really possible to clean it unless you take some drastic measures — I poured a tray of distilled water, soaked the anti-glare film, wiped the adhesive backing with alcohol swabs to remove debris, removed most of the water with pressurized air, then reinstalled to my cleaned iPad screen. Once applied, I used a credit card to push bubbles and moisture toward the edges where I wiped the moisture away with a cloth. I was careful to avoid applying the film with too much moisture on the backing so I wouldn’t damage my iPad.

As you can see in the pictures, the film application is not entirely perfect. There are still a couple small bubbles near the screen edges, but they don’t affect the viewing area of the iPad and are hardly noticeable. Overall I’m very pleased with the result. The anti-glare film provides a nice protective layer against scratches and the fingerprints and smudges left by the oils of the fingertips. Also, the anti-glare properties actually reduce glare from exterior light sources, making the iPad screen more easily viewable. The installation process was a small nightmare for me but I realize that it didn’t have to be. My advice would be to have the cleanest environment possible and to take great care when installing so you can do it as precisely as possible the first time — there is very little room for error.

Overall, I like using the Power Support anti-glare film on my iPad. It’s a little pricey, but from my experience using the same type of product on my iPhone, I can attest to the fact that they last a long time and you likely won’t need to replace it — just clean off the screen every now and then with a soft cloth and mild cleaner, like the kind you would use to clean a laptop screen. Be careful when installing — if you make a mistake during installation, you may either have to buy a new one or get creative using distilled water and alcohol to remove debris from the adhesive backing and try again. As an additional note, I can also tell you that the adhesive backing leaves no residue on your iPad screen.

Pros:

• anti-glare properties offer better viewing
• textured surface offers more touch responsiveness
• very resistant to fingerprints and smudges, almost non-existent

Cons:

• somewhat expensive for only 1 screen film
• difficult to install and even more difficult to re-install if you screw up