Polarized Lenses: How They Work

Polarized Lenses: How They Work

To fully understand what are polarized lenses, how they work and what are their characteristics and uses, you would first need to concentrate on the science behind how polarized sunglass lenses work with light.

What are Polarized Lenses?
All of us are aware of the fact that sunlight is reflected off many different materials. But it looks like flat surfaces such as a newly paved road, a calm flat lake or a hill overlaid with snow has the most harmful glare. The light which is shone from these flat surfaces is normally polarized in a horizontal manner. The truth is that this reflected light can be easily obstructed by a vertically oriented polarizing lens. The significant result of using polarized sunglass lenses is a substantial decrease in the damaging and harmful glare from the sun reflected off plain, flat surfaces. This contributes to clearer vision, lesser eye strain and also reduced chances of permanent impairment to the eyes. And when you are carefree about damage to your eyes when you are outside, you can be more relaxed and savor the great outdoors.

Polarized Lenses - How they Work
When sunlight falls on the sea or any such partly reflective surface, the light which is reflected becomes polarized. This simply means that a substantial amount of light moves in one plane, but not all of the light. Normal light tends to move on different planes. Polarized lenses are responsible to allow only light which is in one plane to go through the lens, so some of the glare can be obviated.

Though the light which comes from the sun is not polarized, it can be split up into two polarized constituents that are reflected and beamed in different amounts by a water surface. More of the horizontal constituent would be transmitted than the vertical constituent, thus partly polarizing the reflected rays. For the purpose of getting rid of the glare, we need to utilize a lens which is polarized in a vertical direction. It we happen to polarize a lens in both vertical and horizontal directions, it would in no way transmit any light. Read more on how do polarized sunglasses work.

Polarized Lenses - The Other Side
There are many people who do not agree on the virtues of polarized lenses. There are a few who doubt the usefulness of these lenses on surfaces that are covered with snow. While some professional researchers say that polarized lenses decrease the glare which is reflected off snow, others argue that the lenses are not able to render the essential protection for sports, like, downhill snow skiing. Those individuals who are on the negative side claim that these lenses provide less contrast between ice patches or moguls which can lead to dangerous consequences for the skier.

Uses of Polarized Lenses
If you are an enthusiast of outdoor sports and are presbyopic, then polarized sunglass lenses are just appropriate for you. These lenses are mostly used by outdoor sports professionals in activities such as boating or water sports, in-line skating, mountain biking, driving, jogging, etc. When driving a vehicle, you normally experience reflection from the road, engine hood and from oncoming automobiles. As long as those light reflections are coming between the 30 to 60 degree angle, the polarized lenses will cut down on the glare. If you are very sensitive to changing lighting situations, like, when entering or leaving a building, polarized photochromic lenses are usually recommended. Read more on safety glasses.

Polarized lenses are mostly used by outdoor enthusiasts who are engaged in sports, like, biking, golfing, trekking, boating, and many other outdoor activities. I hope after reading the above article, you would have learned something about polarized lenses, how they work and their uses and characteristics.
By Stephen Rampur