Lens Coating - What Everybody Ought To Know

"I have cultivated my hysteria with joy and terror."

- Charles Baudelaire

Lens coating - give it some thought

Lens coating.

The next time you're at the opticians searching for glasses, stop and think. Lens coating can improve the operation and look of them. It can make them look better, it can make you see better, it can give you protection, yet don't be swayed by over-enthusiastic sales blurb. Think it out logically before you visit.

If you ARE thinking of lens coating for your next pair of spectacles, spare a moment to consider a few things.The coating the prescription lens have will vary the quality and price of your glasses considerable.

Lens coating - Scratch resistant.

No lens material is absolutely scratch proof. However, plastic lenses -  ophthalmic lenses that are processed with a hard coating - do become more resistant to scratching such as from minor falls or the occasional cleaning with a kitchen towel.

A low viscosity coating solution is applied on ophthalmic lenses made from plastic materials and cured to form a scratch resistant lens coating .

The lens coating is an easy process and can be used with typical dip and spin coating apparatus and air circulating ovens. Treatment with this results in a veneer of homogeneous depth (2-4 microns) on the lens. Lens coating is generally resistant to commonly used eyewear cleansers.

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Lens coating - unaltered

With a scratch resistant lens coating, the ocular value of plastic lenses remains unaltered.

Glasses coated with scratch resistant solution are up to six times more resistant to abrasive damage than uncoated lens.

Lens coating - Children benefit from scratch resistant lens coating

Children’s glasses in particular profit from a scratch resistant hard lens coating. The everyday bumps and scratches that children subject them to, would quickly damage untreated lenses. Since scratch resistant lenses are discretionary, make sure your optician knows you want them.

Given that a resistant lens coating can’t wholly shield your lenses from abrasion, do keep your glasses in a proper case, and clean them with a recommended cloth and cleaning solutio.

For example, scratches in an arc on both the front and back surfaces, happens when they haven’t been washed with water before cleaning. Washing with water removes any build up of tiny grit particles. Scratches that are horizontally across the lens, often come from putting them into a case that has grit in it. Scratches clustered in the middle, and only on the front side of the lens, are the consequence of putting the glasses, lens downward, onto a hard surface. Scratches in the corners come from using clip-on shades.

Lens coating machine

Lens coating - for night time driving

Each stratum of anti-reflective coating is carefully calculated to prevent reflected light. The effect is a lessening of glare.

It also reduces bothersome reflections and corona around lamps, which is a benefit when driving at night

Lens coating - Anti-Fog Coating

It can be annoying when your glasses fog up when you come into a warm room from the cold. It can be a safety concern as well, since it limits potential to see until the fog clears. Lens mist can be potentially dangerous for fire officers or police in emergencies.

Anti-fog is a thermally cured coating that reduces the condensation on lenses, keeping vision clear when you make the transition from a cold environment to a warm one.

Lens coating - Anti Reflective.

To enhance both the ability to see through the lens and the look of the glasses, an anti-reflective coating (AR coating) is useful.

AR lens coatings are analogous to the coatings found on camera lenses. They are made up of a number of layers of metal oxides applied to both sides of the lens surfaces.

Because of this layering, AR coatings sometime have a suggestion of green or purple colour, depending on the manufacturers prescription.

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Lens coating - Ultraviolet Treatment

A further lens coating treatment that is valuable but invisible to the eye is ultraviolet (UV) protection. Just as we use sunscreen to keep the sun's UV rays from harming our skin, UV cure in lenses prevents those rays from being detrimental to our eyes. Exposure to ultraviolet light is considered a cause of cataracts, retinal impairment and other eye trouble.

Ultraviolet treatment is straightforward and fast to put on to most plastic lens, and does not modify the look of the lens. The exclusion is polycarbonate lenses, which don't need anti-UV treatment because it is an inherent property of the material.

Lens coating - Mirror Coatings

To draw a distinction there are also reflective lens coatings, which are quite clear, but offer no eye protection. Mirror lens coatings are simply an audacious statement. As the name suggests, the coating is very reflective.

Options comprise many colours including silver, gold and copper mirror coatings.

Mirror coatings are solely decorative: the wearer notices no change in ability to see no matter what colour the lens coating is. Only those looking at the person with the glasses will see the colour of the coating. Mirror coatings are commonly used in conjunction with sunglass lenses.

Think carefully before buying that lens coating

So, 'you pays your money, you takes your pick'. Think carefully, choose your lens coating wisely. Don't waste your money on something you might not want. Spend your money where it's most needed.

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Lens coating - End of article - Lens coating