Ten blinds,
one table.

The motorised three

All three are operated by a wireless remote handset, and all three take an optional Orvibo hub that adds phone app control on top. None of them uses a wall switch or a crank. What separates them is span and pelmet size. Choose Luna for a window up to 2.7 m. Choose Galaxy for an opening up to 4.5 m where the smallest pelmet matters. Choose Universal once the opening passes 4.5 m — six metres in one join-free sheet, at the cost of a 130 mm pelmet instead of 100 mm. Past six metres none of the three reach, and the answer is Zipscreen.

How wide can you actually go?

This is the question that decides more specifications than any other, so here is the whole range in order. Luna to 2.7 m. Galaxy to 4.5 m. Crank handle to 5.84 m. Universal, Ziptrak and fixed screens to 6 m. Zipscreen and wire guide to 7 m. Past six metres the range narrows to exactly those last two — everything else needs a centre post, and the post lands in the middle of the view. Heights matter too: on fixed screens and on wire guide the maximum width comes down as the drop goes up, so the figures above are ceilings rather than promises.

And the pelmet, which nobody asks about until it is installed

The pelmet is the box the fabric rolls into, and it sits in plain view all day whether the blind is down or not. Galaxy runs the smallest in the range at 100 mm, with Luna the same. Universal is 130 mm. Zipscreen comes in 120, 160 or 190 mm and Ziptrak in 135, 165 or 175 mm — or with no pelmet at all, which is the cleanest line under an existing roof. Crank handle and fixed screens have no pelmet by design. Nobody picks the size: it is set at the measure by the drop and the fabric, because the box has to swallow the rolled blind.

Zipscreen against Ziptrak

Both seal an opening on all four sides, both beat an unguided blind in wind, and both can be had manual or motorised. Zipscreen spans to 7 m, is built around the Automate® platform, and takes the wind and sun sensor — so it is the one for the widest openings and for anything that should run from a phone, a voice assistant or a schedule. Its manual version is a crank drive, and it is mesh only. Ziptrak uses a spring balance that holds at any height with one hand and no power at all, takes clear PVC as well as mesh, and offers a fire-tested configuration for multi-storey balconies certified to ISO 13785-1:2002 — that certification covers specific fabric and frame builds, so confirm what an apartment project requires.

When neither track will fit

Both of those need something solid down each side of the opening to fix a channel to. On a floor-to-ceiling opening, a glass reveal, or a span where the posts are too far apart, there often is not. Wire guide replaces the channel with a tensioned cable held by compression springs. It controls the fabric so it will not flog in wind, but it does not seal the edges the way a zipped channel does — choose it when a track genuinely cannot be fitted, not as a cheaper Zipscreen.

Clear PVC against woven mesh

Clear PVC blocks weather completely and holds winter warmth in, but it does not breathe, so a sealed alfresco can overheat on a hot afternoon. Woven mesh gives nearly the same wind reduction and lets the space breathe, at the cost of letting a fine mist of rain through in strong conditions. Mesh cuts up to 95% of UV either way. Note that Zipscreen is mesh only — if you want clear PVC, that is Ziptrak or café blinds.

Reading the fabric numbers

The number in a mesh name is how much it blocks, so the scale runs from most open to nearly solid: 85, 94, 95, 97, 98, 99. The range covers HVG View 85, Plus 94, Perform 97, Ultra 99 and Extreme, and Nolan Vistaweave 85, 95, 98, 99 and MAX. An 85 keeps the view and the breeze; a 99 is the one for a west-facing opening that cops the afternoon sun. Above the numbered range sit two unnumbered meshes — Vistaweave MAX, a closed mesh giving total view block, and HVG Extreme, a tight weave built for wide spans — and beyond those, a 100% blockout fabric that is available right across the range. on NSS Luna. The full range is on the colours page.