Polarized Lenses

When enjoying the outdoors, it’s important to protect the eyes from the harmful UV rays. Sunglasses are a great start to protecting your eyes, but a better alternative is getting polarized lenses on your sunglass lenses. Polarized lenses are made to not only reduce the glare from sunlight, but they also provide an additional layer of protection from the harmful UV rays.

Understanding How Polarized Lenses Work

Polarized lenses are made to reduce glare caused by sunlight. The lenses are coated with a special chemical that helps reduce the glare caused by light from the sun that is reflected off of water or solid surfaces.

When light reflects off of a surface such as water, or a flat road, the reflection is horizontally emitted. When this light is reflected, it travels in a horizontal direction versus a more scattered direction. This horizontal direction is what causes the bothersome glare that is experienced when wearing sunglasses. The glare caused by the light reduces your depth perception, distorts your view and color perception, and in some instances can temporarily blind you.

The polarized lens is coated with a special chemical film which blocks this horizontal light, and reduces the glare seen. Adding the polarized tint to your sunglasses increases comfort and improves visibility when outdoors.

Types of Polarized Lenses

When it comes to types of polarized lenses, there are two types. These two types  are:

• .75mm Polarized Lenses – These lenses are made from thin sheets of film, and are best suited for casual sports, and are low impact resistant.
• 1.1 mm Polarized Lenses – These lenses are the thickest polarized lenses available. These thicker lenses are made to withstand more impact than the .75mm lenses, but do not provide added glare reduction.

When deciding which type of polarized lens to choose for your sunglasses, you should consider the amount of outdoor activities you’re involved in and the impact level of these activities.

How to Determine if Your Sunglasses are Polarized

If you’re unsure if your sunglasses are polarized, here are some ways to test them and find out:

• If you’re near water, look into the water with your sunglasses on. If they are polarized, you should be able to see better into the water.
• When driving on a sunny day, the light reflected off of cars and asphalt should be reduced if wearing polarized sunglasses.
• Polarized lenses also help reduce haze. If the day is hazy, and your sunglasses are polarized, you should be able to notice an improvement in your visual acuity.
• When looking at a computer screen, polarized lenses will make the monitor’s brightness seem to go up and down if you tilt your head left and right.
• Polarized lenses are usually darker than a normal lens, but they also come in an array of different colors such as gray, brown, green and other colors.