Dichroic Glass vs. Gel Filters
Dichroic glass vs. gel filters.
Both add colour to light. But for a permanent installation, the choice between Rosco Permacolor dichroic glass and a plastic gel filter is really a choice between a material and a consumable.
For anything permanent, choose glass
Gel filters are inexpensive, come in hundreds of colours, and are perfect for temporary use — a stage, a shoot, an event. But they colour light by absorbing the wavelengths they block, which turns that energy into heat. Under a hot fixture and long hours, that heat fades and eventually destroys the gel, and the colour drifts along the way.
Permacolor is dichroic glass: it reflects unwanted wavelengths instead of absorbing them, so it stays cool and its colour doesn’t fade. For a fixed architectural installation — where the light runs for years and no one wants to re-access a fixture to swap a filter — that difference is decisive.
The rule of thumb: temporary or budget-driven, use a gel; permanent, high-duty, or colour-critical over time, specify Permacolor.
Permacolor (dichroic glass)
- Colour does not fade over time
- Stays cool — reflects, not absorbs, heat
- Repeatable, consistent across fixtures
- Built for years of continuous duty
- Saturated colour and precise correction
Gel filters
- Very wide colour range
- Low cost per filter
- Ideal for stage, film and events
- Easy to change frequently
- Fades and shifts under heat over time
Which fits your project
A quick guide — CFATS can confirm the right choice and supply either for your Australian project.
Need colour that lasts?
Tell us the installation and how long it needs to hold its colour, and we’ll confirm whether dichroic glass or gel is right — and supply it in Australia.