What Is The Difference Between Polycarbonate And Plastic Lenses
The soft feature of plastic glasses makes them vunerable to scratching from the sharp object and why scratch-resistant coating is put on form an additional protective layer. Often, optometrists recommend polycarbonate lenses when safety can be an issue. Polycarbonate lenses are 10 times more impact-resistant than ordinary plastic lenses. Thus, the lenses tend to be found in safety goggles, sports glasses and children’s eyewear.
Eyeglass lenses tend to be categorized by their refractive index . Most people can’t perceive the color distortion at these levels.
- Glass is much more scratch resistant than any sort of optical plastic.
- We make the assumption that all category has the same weight that is not true.
- In fact, because of the high index plastic lens material, they can cost about 2 times more than plastic lenses.
The volume of darkening that most photochromic lenses undergo depends upon how much UV radiation they’re exposed to. Warranty redemptions may only be utilized for a lens of exactly the same value and for exactly the same frame as the original purchase. If your lenses become damaged at any time during the warranty time period, simply contact customer support from our Help Center to obtain a fresh set of lenses.
Polycarbonate lenses are slightly more costly than standard plastic lenses. However, given that they have UV protection built-in, there is no need to cover added protection. Additionally, they have a superior degree of impact resistance and so are suggested for both children’s glasses and safety eyewear. Plastic surfaces are soft making them vulnerable to scratches and therefore, yet another scratch-resistant coating is applied on the lenses as a protective layer. However, even with the coating, plastics remain not 100% protected from scratches.
Before then, opticians used glass lenses to fabricate prescription lenses. Plastic lenses were an excellent innovation because they offered high optical quality, lower cost, lighter weight, and much more impact resistance in comparison to glass. After some time of its introduction, polycarbonate started to gain traction because of its durability and additional properties. It isn’t necessarily a one size fits all solution as it pertains down to eyeglass lens material.
For this reason, there’s been a push to build up better materials that may provide an added level of protection for the eyes. Polycarbonate lenses provide excellent UV resistance without the eternal coating . The lens is capable of resisting a significant level of UV rays from a variety of sources.
there though with polycarbonate being thinner, more lightweight and more resistant to scratches aswell. Polycarbonate does have less Abbe value so are there more chromatic aberrations, this could be reduced by adding an excellent anti-reflective coating to the lenses.
When you want to choose a couple of glasses, you have to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the lens materials. They vary in weight, flexibility, thickness, scratch resistance, and so on.
- However, glass will likely shatter on impact, with the lenses splitting into smaller pieces.
- For Fuse +Plus lenses, this add-on is for one extra lens replacement on the duration of your lenses.
- There are numerous lens materials, lens coatings, tints, etc. and it will often feel overwhelming.
- Like polcarbonate, Trivex is a wonderful lens material for safety applications and children’s eyewear.
- Also, they are lab favorites for use in rimless frames, because polycarbonate lenses can be easily drilled and resist cracking round the drill holes.
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[newline]However, should you have a higher prescription (above +/- 3.00), polycarbonate lenses are thinner and lighter and can result in a much nicer-looking couple of eyeglasses. On the upside, glass’ optical clarity is the foremost and therefore glass lenses could have little to no distortion. Adding to that, it’s the most scratch resistant optical material. This makes it the material of choice for a number of prominent manufacturers of lenses. However, glass will almost certainly shatter on impact, with the lenses splitting into smaller pieces. This is the reason glass isn’t recommended for active sports eyewear due to the threat of injuries to the eyes.
