Polaroid, polarized sunglasses.. have you got your pair yet?
Most of us probably have at least one pair of sunglasses. More than likely, we would have different pairs in different shapes and sizes, for different occasions and different fashion styles. Do you know what type of lenses you have on your sunglasses? There are the regular tinted lenses which dim the sunlight, and then there are the polarised lenses which the helps reduce or eliminate glare that causes our eyes to squint, preventing us from having crystal clear vision. Both tinted and polarised lenses come in a variety of colors and different shades but not all are of the same quality or offer the same protection level for our eyes.
Tinted lenses only reduces the sunlight entering our cornea, and might not protect our eyes from all the harmful UV rays (UV-A/UV-B/UV-C). Some tinted lenses don’t even filter any of the UV rays. Prolonged exposure to UV rays may risk us developing macular degeneration, cataracts on the cornea, photokeratitis/snow blindness, skin cancer of the eyelid, pterygium growth on the conjunctiva, collagen fibre damage, and will accelerate crow’s feet wrinkles around your eyes. Scary. So before grabbing a pair of sunglasses off the shelf because it adds to your swag, be sure to check with the optometrist on the level of protection offered.
The image on the left is an illustration of a vision without polarised lenses while on the right shows a clear view of the road ahead with polarised lenses.
Polarized lenses work by filtering out the reflection of light off a surface. The glare from the sun is usually reflected horizontally into your eyes impairing your vision. Polarized lenses corrects this with a special filter blocking out the horizontal rays giving you clear vision.
Photo credit – blog.erosunglasses.com – Glare is caused by sunlight reflecting off horizontal surfaces and entering our eyes. Glare increases on shinier surfaces.
How can you test if a pair of sunglasses are polarised? Find a reflective shiny surface, and hold the sunglasses so that you are viewing the surface through one of the lenses. Slowly rotate the glasses to a 90-degree angle, and observe if the reflective glare diminishes or increases. If the lenses are polarized, the glare will reduce significantly.
There are now many types of polarised lenses available on the market but there is a difference in the level of protection provided, shock absorption, durability, and the level of visual acuity (clearness, preciseness of vision). This quality is derived from the technology used to make the polarised lenses.
glare is significantly reduced via polaroid sunnies, without compromising on clarity
We were recently introduced to a pair of Polaroid branded sunglasses which come standard with their UltraSight premium polarised lenses. Most of us, know of Polaroid as the classic instant camera maker, instead of being the pioneer of polarised lenses, which is equally ground breaking. Well, Polaroid eyewear is now in Malaysia, distributed by Safilo Group, another world leader in lens and optics technology. They aim to accessorize all of us with premium polarised eyewear which has helped many performance aviators, athletes especially in sea sports, and drivers perform better by cutting out the glare and harmful rays to excel further in their profession, and look cool while doing those things.
Polaroid begun commercially manufacturing polarised lenses in the late 1930s, allowing us to keep the glare out of our eyes whenever we go fishing, fly, walk, run, drive, or for the hipsters of today, to be fashionably worn at the dance clubs. The man behind the technology was one, Edwin Land, a smarty pants Harvard progeny whom, after patenting the synthetic filter technology, started up Polaroid (portmanteau for Polarised Celulloid) company in the late 1920s. Instantly, Land’s invention changed the way how the world sees and how the visual images are captured on film. Fame and fortune is bestowed upon him and his offsprings forever lead the bright golden life donning on Polaroid eyewear or not.
The Polaroid UltraSight premium polarized lenses 9 lenses created by the Thermofusion Technology hence a superior finish that is scratch resistant and will last longer.
Polaroid’s UltraSight polarised lenses claims glare-free vision, clear contrasts, natural colors, reduced eye fatigue, 100% UV400 protection, and a resists strongly to scratches. There are variety of Ultrasight lenses. There are 5 levels of filter strength on different colored lenses. Different tint colors and shades cut off different levels of glare interfering our vision besides dimming the harsh sunlight. Our pair came in level 3 so it wasn’t too dark to use for driving.
Polaroid antique glasses.. gorrrjus!
We have several pairs of polarised sunglasses. When compared with UltraSight lenses, the Polaroid lenses provided better vision with less glare and clearer sight. Check them out for yourselves.
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