The short answer
Commercial signs and logos: 3600 reflective vinyl in 23 colours. Non-critical road signs: engineering-grade prismatic. Work zones and traffic control: high-intensity prismatic. Critical traffic control: diamond grade. Truck and trailer outlines: the ECE-certified 6000 conspicuity tape.
Reflective vinyl
23 colours3600 series, 90–120 µm
Prismatic
3 gradesMEGP · MHIP · MDG5, 1.22 m × 45 m
Conspicuity tape
ECE certified6000 series, 50.8 mm × 45.72 m
Two ways a film sends light back
A reflective film is retro-reflective: it returns light towards its source, which is why a sign lights up in headlights. Two constructions do this, and the grade names come from them.
Conventional reflective vinyl
The conventional reflective sheeting: a PVC face with an embedded reflective layer, cut and applied like a colour vinyl. This is the 3600 series — 23 colours, 90–120 µm, on 0.61 m rolls (seven colours also in 1.22 m), 45 m long — plus the four 3700 hazard stripe patterns on 1.22 m. Made for safety signs, vehicle markings and logos where the reflection is part of the graphic. No ASTM grade is published for it — the grade names below belong to the prismatic sheeting.
Microprismatic sheeting
A layer of microscopic prisms moulded into the face returns far more of the light, at wider angles, than a conventional film. The Prismatic series is built on this construction in three sign grades — engineering grade (ASTM D4956 Type II), high intensity (Type IV) and diamond grade (full-cube prisms, Type XI) — plus a PET conspicuity tape. All sheeting grades run 1.22 m × 45 m.
The five grades side by side
| 3600 / 3700 reflective vinyl | MEGP engineering-grade prismatic | MHIP high-intensity prismatic | MDG5 diamond grade | MPET 6000 conspicuity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | Retro-reflective PVC vinyl | Microprismatic lens sheeting | Microprismatic lens sheeting | Full-cube microprismatic | PET prismatic reflective tape |
| Colours | 23 (white, yellow, lemon, fluorescent yellow, red, orange, violet, pink, magenta, blues, greens, black, brown, silver grey, gold, copper) + 4 stripes | 7: white, yellow, red, orange, blue, green, brown | 7: white, yellow, red, blue, green, fluo yellow-green, fluo orange | 5: white, yellow, red, blue, green | 5: white–red DOT C2, white, yellow, red, fluo yellow-green |
| Roll | 0.61 m × 45 m (7 colours also 1.22 m); stripes 1.22 m × 45 m | 1.22 m × 45 m | 1.22 m × 45 m | 1.22 m × 45 m | 50.8 mm × 45.72 m |
| Thickness | 90–120 µm | not published | not published | not published | not published |
| Published use | Safety signs and symbols for traffic and vehicles, logos | Non-critical road and safety signs, commercial signs, vehicle symbols | Non-critical road signs, commercial signs; traffic control and work-zone signage in the blue and green | Critical traffic control signs, work-zone signage | Vehicle conspicuity marking; white and colours ECE certified, white–red DOT C2 |
| Standard stated | — | ASTM D4956 Type II | ASTM D4956 Type IV | ASTM D4956 Type XI (meets and exceeds) | ECE certified (4 SKUs); DOT C2 (white–red) |
Which grade for which job
01Shop signs, logos, vehicle lettering
3600 reflective vinyl. Cut on a plotter like colour vinyl, 23 colours to match a brand, reflective at night without changing the daytime look.
02Hazard marking on vehicles, gates, posts
3700 stripes — red/white, yellow/black, red/yellow, white/yellow — pre-patterned on 1.22 m.
03Non-critical road signs, private roads, car parks
MEGP engineering-grade prismatic. ASTM D4956 Type II — a step up in brightness from vinyl, seven sign colours.
04Work zones and traffic control
MHIP high-intensity prismatic. ASTM D4956 Type IV. Fluorescent yellow-green and fluorescent orange for daytime conspicuity; blue and green published for traffic control and work-zone signage.
05Critical traffic control signs
MDG5 diamond grade. Full-cube prisms, ASTM D4956 Type XI, five sign colours, published for critical traffic control and work-zone signage.
06Truck, trailer and bus outlines
MPET 6000 conspicuity tape. 50.8 mm wide, ECE certified in white, yellow, red and fluorescent yellow-green; white–red DOT C2 pattern for North American markets.
For a printed reflective graphic — a logo that is reflective and full-colour — the print film is APR100 in the APM series: a 190 µm printable reflective face with its own published outdoor rating. See the print film + laminate guide before laminating it.
Ordering reflective by the roll
Pick the grade from the use, not the price
A work-zone sign on 3600 reflective vinyl is a callback. Match the published use column above; when the spec names a standard, send it to the desk first.
Check the width against the sign
Sign grades are 1.22 m; 3600 vinyl is 0.61 m with seven colours also in 1.22 m; conspicuity tape is 50.8 mm. A 1.2 m sign blank needs the 1.22 m roll.
One roll minimum
Reflective series have a one-roll minimum and colours can be mixed in one order; if a product is counted differently, the desk will confirm it — see MOQ & roll sizes.
Send the application with the SKU
Commercial sign, road sign or vehicle — and the standard, if a tender names one. The desk confirms the grade before the roll ships.