Borderless bathroom mirror

InternetPolice

Thanks for the link to your topic @Ivanov_d . What foil did you use (link amazon) and what glue?

Now I am concerned about the dark mirror, because I ordered a huge one from Chris. It was planned as Bathroom mirror, based on a clear picture of him and a youtube video where somebody set up his own AI.

Ivanov_d

@internetpolice you can use any foil, I used the cheapest PVC foil.
A piece of advice - I thought that white foil would add additional reflection to the mirror and make it brighter, but it didn’t and I swapped it with black foil - it is much better.

The glue that I used is this one:

However, since you will be gluing it to the PVC foil and not to the mirror directly, you could use any silicone.

Since as I mentioned in the start of my thread the mirror, I received from Chris was damaged during transit, I bought a new one from a company in Bulgaria which is much better and cheaper (which I hope to soon offer here on the forum) and when I was removing the old mirror from the frame … man, it was strong … I broke the mirror in multiple places as I was cutting the silicone, so you should not worry about the mirror not sticking, it is not that heavy as the mirror is thin.

InternetPolice

@ivanov_d Thanks for the details.

tomster

@ivanov_d said in Borderless bathroom mirror:

If you can afford it (I can’t at the moment) go for an OLED monitor/TV - the LCD backlight is seen through the mirror and while it is not that bad I am perfectionist and it bothers me :D

I haven’t tried an OLED Display yet, mainly because they are not available (at a decent price) in 27"/32" yet. But I would assume there’d be a noticeable amount of burn-in/ghosting due to our 99.7% static content. Especially when you turn up brightness to the extent necessary to compensate for a “dark” (=low transmission) mirror.
BTW, I can second the “dark feel” on Chriz’ mirrors. My bathroom isn’t exactly what I’d call dark but the mirror still won’t give you a feel like a real mirror.

My next go will be for a VA-panel display. They’re said to have a quite decent contrast ratio and seem to have a “blacker” black than IPS panels .
I am right in the middle of putting a ~600x1800mm mirror on the cupboard in our hallway. This time I’ll be opting for a Mirroview mirror with 25/60% transmission/reflection in hope of a more realistic mirror feel. The display will be a Viewsonic VX3267-4K. keep fingers crossed

Ivanov_d

@tomster in my case I hope that burn-in won’t be an issue, since the display is ON for only few minutes, when I am in front of the mirror, then it goes into sleep, but as you said it is not yet mass produced in the size that I need for my project and the niche products cost a lot.

Just FYI, this is the mirror that I am using now and it is a bit better that the previous one that I used and a lot cheaper: https://forum.magicmirror.builders/topic/15553/new-2-way-mirror-supplier-lower-prices-and-lead-times?_=1632237048367

In natural light you can’t tell that this is not a regular mirror and in dim conditions it is perfectly usable as a mirror, for example I shave in front of it even with only my ambient lights on. When I turn on all lights it looks the same as regular mirror it terms of reflection.

tomster

@ivanov_d Your mirror seems like a good alternative. Do you have a picture/video of it?

Ivanov_d

Hello @tomsterand sorry for the late reply, I was out of town for a few days. I am planning to shoot few 4K/60 videos with my GoPro in different lightning conditions today, so that everyone can see the mirror in action.

bkost

Great work, Ivanov! I’m working on a similar build. (Frameless, LEDs, Motion Detection).

I’m curious, how are you powering the LEDs and Pi?
Right now I’m running a 5v10a PSU, splitting it to power both: Pi 3b+ and a strip of Ws2812b.

Getting a low power draw (lightning bolt symbol) signal on my Pi. I’m also running a separate PSU to power my monitor. Do you happen to be powering everything from one power supply?

Cheers

Ivanov_d

@bkost I am using three different PSUs - A 5V 3A for the RPi, a separate 5V 30W for the LED strip and the original PSU for the display, but it all depends on your setup and the length of the LED strip. However, I would advise you to have separate PSUs as the LED strip draws quite a lot of current especially if all channels, including the white are used.

Ivanov_d

https://youtu.be/wqJNxCwOmck - the latest video of my mirror showing the different artificial lights that I have in the bathroom and how the light is reflected.