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Glare and Polarized Lenses
Are you bothered by glare from automobile
windshields, snow and water? Polarized lenses offer great advantages to
the average person in virtually eliminating sunlight glare. They actually
allow fishermen to see below the surface of the water much better allowing
them to visually locate fish. I recommend polarized lenses to all my
patients desiring sunglasses.
Light is transmitted in the form of a wave. Light normally travels in all
360-degree orientations. Glare is caused from an enormous amount of light
that is traveling in a horizontal orientation (waves that travel in a way
like observing a sidewinder snake traveling toward you when you lying are
on the ground.) Horizontally polarized light is created naturally when
sunlight is reflected off a surface that is at a certain, exact angle
where you are viewing it. These light waves become horizontally polarized.
Polarized lenses have vertically-oriented polarizers that block
horizontally polarized light and allow light at other angles to pass
through the lens.
Polarized lenses are also tinted dark to reduce outdoor light. To reduce
indoor glare, like from computer screens, or to reduce night glare, clear
lenses are available with an anti-glare coating. Personally, all my clear
eyeglass lenses have anti-glare coatings.
There is one drawback to polarized lenses; they block out Liquid Crystal
Display (LCD’s) screens found on fish/depth finders and some automatic
teller machines.
Living in the Cortez area where we have so many outdoor activities on days
with bright, sunny days, polarized lenses will make your outdoor vision
much more comfortable. If you haven’t ever tried them, stop in to your
eyecare professional to try on a pair of non-prescription polarized lenses
to “see” the difference. ~RQ
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