http://www.lensociety.com/polarized-lenses/
What Are Polarized Lenses and Why Do I Need Them?
Polarized lenses are mainly employed for use in sunglasses, they provide protection from the sun and decrease glare levels thereby enabling better vision in certain conditions. The ability of polarized lenses to decrease glare from a reflective surface, such as the sun shining on to the hood of your car,or the surface of a body of water has made them invaluable to many who spend time outdoors for either business or leisure. Where as they were once something only those working on the water required, the ability to eliminate glare has now made polarized lenses widely used and commonplace.
So how exactly do they work?
Sunlight is absorbed by that which it shines upon, as it is not in and of itself polarized. In instances when it is not absorbed, it is reflected in one of the ways: vertically, horizontally or diagonally. This dictates how the light is reflected; when sunlight shines on a horizontal surface, the resultant light wave reflection will also be horizontal. The reflection will in turn hit your eyes in a similar manner and with the same type of angle, resulting in obscured vision. Polarized lenses are manufactured with a special filter that is specifically made to reduce glare by blocking reflected light as it hits your eyes. The filter is actually a series of small strips in a vertical pattern, similar to a set of venetian blinds. These strips in the filter serve to block horizontal light and allow only vertical polarized light to enter, thus eliminating glare.
A simple example of this (*and in turn a great way to verify that polarized lenses are indeed polarized as advertised) is to look at a reflective surface (example: the hood of your car) when wearing polarized lenses. If you slowly change your viewing angle by tilting your head either to the left or the right, you should observe a noticeable decrease in the glare being given off.
While polarized lenses may be of great assistance to some people in certain conditions and scenarios, it should be noted that the ability to reduce horizontal light may not be applicable in all situations where sunglasses or protective eye wear are worn.
Best uses?
The use of polarized lenses was introduced to the general public when fishermen discovered that glasses with polarized lenses enabled them to not only see just below the surface of the water, but also the lenses eliminated the glare produced when sunlight reflects off the surface of the water. Soon after, many other people in both professional and civilian situations began using polarized lenses. Eventually polarized lenses became a standardized item in the eyewear industry.
Essentially, polarized lenses can be put to use anytime there is a need to reduce or diminish exposure to reflected sunlight in order to maintain clarity. Typical uses would be when you are fishing, driving, running or jogging, boating and cycling.
If you’ve gone to the cinema to take in a 3D feature film in the last two years or so, then you’ve used polarized lenses. Where the effect of three dimensions was once achieved by using the familiar looking red and blue lenses as part of the stereoscopic process, new 3D technology utilizes polarized lenses. The biggest difference is that instead of one red lens and one blue lens, 3D glasses now use vertical polarization in one lens and horizontal polarization in the other lens, hence the reason the new 3D glasses use shaded gray lenses. The different polarization in each eye means your brain processes each type of polarization to create a realistic sense of depth in the image on screen. This is how the hyper-realism and three dimensional depth perception of films such as Tron: Legacy, Avatar and Up! is achieved.
About the Author
At Eyewear Pros we take the business of selling authentic designer eyewear very seriously. We carry thousands of different styles of designer sunglasses and eyeglasses from top name brands. To view our full line of sunglasses, visit us at http://www.eyewearpros.com today!
How to Pick Sunglasses : Polarized Sunglasses
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Body Glove Oahu-A Polarized Aviator Sunglasses $30.00 Classic style meets sport technology in the Oahu from Body Glove. The metal alloy frame is ultra-lightweight and durable, while the polarized UV lenses deliver optimum optical quality and sun protection. The rubber nose pads are adjustable to ensure a custom and comfortable fit…. |
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Tifosi Optics Tyrant 2010 Sunglasses Replacement Lenses – Polarized Sunglasses Replacement Lenses… |
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Body Glove Bora Bora Polarized Sport Sunglasses $30.00 The Bora Bora from Body Glove is bold style that has the attitude to match. The polished logo detailing on the ear pieces is the perfect complement to the single-shield design, while the polarization and UV coating is there to ensure an optimum optical performance…. |
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Global Vision Escort over-prescription Glasses Sunglasses with Smoked Lenses Has Matching Side Lens Meets ANSI Z87.1-2003 Standards for Safety Eyewear $7.10 These premium quality glasses have smoked lenses and a matching side lens…. |
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Jackson 3000358 Glasses Nemesis Black Frame Blue Mirror Lens $4.25 Jackson 14481; spec nemesis bmr/blk [PRICE is per EACH]… |
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Polarized Clip-on Flip-up Plastic Sunglasses – Lo Oval – Polarized Grey Lenses – 55mm Wide X 35mm High (120mm Wide) $12.95 The Traditional Lens (Grey) These lenses allow in 87% of visible light. Grey lenses transmit light evenly allowing the wearer to see colors as they naturally occur. All of our Polaroid lenses are made of optical grade plastic polarized lenses with a 7 layer back side anti reflective coating to reduce back side glare. All Polaroid sunglasses block 100% of harmful ultraviolet light. The Brown Lens … |
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Mitsubishi 3DC-1000 3D HDTV Starter Pack $399.00 Experience TV programs, movies, games, and other video content with a 3D stereoscopic effect when you combine your compatible Mitsubishi HDTV with this 3D Starter Pack, which includes everything you need to start watching 3D video at home. It comes with a 3D Adapter with remote, two pair of Active 3D eyewear with matching emitter, and an HDMI cable. The Starter Pack also comes with a Disney Blu-ra… |
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Vintage Black Wayfarer Style Sunglasses – 15 Colors (Red, White, Black, Pink, Blue, Green) Adult & Kids Sizes Available $1.10 These fantastic glasses fit most people and they’re perfect for Blues Brother’s costumes…. |
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New Sealed – RealD Compatible 3D Circular Polarized Glasses for Legend of the Guardians, Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D, Piranha 3D, Toy Story 3 3D $0.01 Take your own 3D Glasses to the Movies!! In a movie theater, the reason why you wear 3D glasses is to feed and separate two different images into your eyes. Two projectors are synchronized and project two respective views. The screen actually displays the two images, and the glasses cause one of the images to enter one eye and the other image to enter the other eye. Our Circular Polarized 3D glas… |
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Coraline 3D GLASSES Only – for Blu-Ray and DVD $0.01 These are the 3D glasses you need for the home DVD of Coraline. They are magenta/green and NOT red/blue…. |
