Janus™

Type

Diffractive — wide windowed security thread with parallel, tramline or diagonal bands of contrasting and complementary colours, supporting integration of liquid crystal colour-shift, holographic effects, demetallised text, UV fluorescence and Mag3™ third-generation magnetic coding.

Overview

Janus™ is a windowed security thread developed by Portals, the UK-based banknote paper and security thread specialist. The feature's defining characteristic is its multi-band layout — Janus™ is designed in dynamic parallel, tramline or diagonal directions, creating bands of eye-catching colour that complement and contrast with each other across the thread's width. The thread is built on Portals' broader thread platform and is offered as a configurable design surface rather than a single fixed-effect product: customers can specify combinations of liquid crystal colourshift, customised holographics, demetallised Cleartext-style text, UV fluorescence, and Portals' third-generation Mag3™ magnetic coding within the Janus™ format. The product sits alongside Portals' Prisma™ (liquid-crystal colourshift) and Prisma Duo™ (LC colourshift combined with customised holographics) threads in their windowed-thread portfolio. Janus™ takes its name from the dual-faced Roman god of beginnings and transitions, reflecting the thread's design principle of combining two or more complementary visual states across its surface.

Technology & Effects

The Janus™ thread carries multiple parallel optical regions arranged in dynamic layouts — parallel bands, tramline structures (two parallel bands separated by a gap), or diagonal arrangements — with each region capable of carrying a different colour or optical effect. The contrast and complementarity between adjacent regions is the feature's primary visual signature, providing an immediately distinctive Level 1 cue when the banknote is observed in reflected or transmitted light. Within this multi-band structure, Portals offers full customisation of colour combinations (red-green, gold-green, gold-orange, green-blue, blue-dark blue, dark blue-purple are example pairings) along with optional integration of liquid-crystal colour-shift effects, holographic micro-structures, fine-line demetallisation for negative-text Cleartext-style elements, and UV fluorescence. Mag3™ third-generation magnetic coding can be integrated for Level 2 machine readability — a complex multi-layer magnetic construction designed to be embedded during thread manufacture and survive normal circulation. Effect types: Diffractive (primary, given the customisable holographic component); secondary effects depending on configuration may include Colour shift (where LC is integrated), Demetallised (where Cleartext is integrated), MR-magnetics (where Mag3™ is integrated), and MR-UV (where UV fluorescence is integrated).

Form Factors & Application

Janus™ is supplied as a windowed security thread embedded into banknote paper during the paper-making stage, rather than applied at the printing stage. Portals describes the thread as suitable for hard-working denominations with a proven durability track record. Specific thread widths are not stated in the public product description but the dynamic multi-band layouts (parallel, tramline, diagonal) imply a wider thread format than narrow conventional windowed threads. As a paper-substrate-integrated feature, Janus™ is naturally compatible with Portals' broader paper substrate offerings, and the integrated Mag3™ magnetics are produced as part of the thread manufacturing process — ensuring the magnetic coding is durable through circulation regardless of how the thread experiences wear.

Security Levels

• Level 1 (public): Eye-catching multi-band colour layout in parallel, tramline or diagonal arrangement, immediately distinguishable from conventional single-band threads. Supplemented as configured by liquid-crystal colour-shift effects on tilt, demetallised Cleartext-style text visible in transmission, and customised holographic motion or imagery.
• Level 2 (cash handler): Mag3™ third-generation magnetic coding (where specified) provides a complex multi-layer magnetic signature for sorting and authentication machinery. UV fluorescence (where integrated) provides additional cash-handler verification under standard UV illumination.

Name

Janus™

Category

Security Feature

Effect Types

Diffractive

Company

Portals
Company Website

Product Page

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Linked Features

1 security feature