Week 11: Lens as Filters, Edging Process & Australian Standards Spectacle Delivery Flashcards
What is the purpose of filters?
- Reduce light transmission
- Protect eye against excessive solar radiation
- Reduce eye strain
- Increase visual perception
Electromagnetic Radiation and the Eye for UV vs IR
UV:
- < 380nm wavelength
- Potentially damaging
- Sunburn, snow blindness, welder’s flashburn
IR:
- > 760nm wavelength
- Less damaging than UV, heating
- High exposure leads to glassblower’s cataract
- Low exposure leads to ‘dry eye’
Describe Solar Radiation
- UVB (280-315 nm) absorbed by cornea
- UVA (315-380 nm): penetrate can reach lens & retina
- 380-780 nm gives rise to the sensation of light:
discomfort within this visual spectrum = glare
What are the Effects of Too Much Light?
Disability glare
- Excessive, intense light
- Significantly reduce contrast of retinal image
Discomfort glare
- Caused by direct or reflected glare
Distracting glare – ‘ghost images’ from lens
When light hits a lens it can be…
- Reflected
- Transmitted (transmittance, τ)
*If lens perfectly clear light will be transmitted through the lens to reach the eye - Absorbed
- Absorption = loss of light as it passes through a material
*Selective filters – selective absorption over part of visible spectrum
Measuring Tint Transmission
Spectral Transmission Factor (STF):
- Fraction of the original incident light transmitted by the lens for a given wavelength
- When STF is plotted against a series of wavelengths transmission curve produced
Luminous Transmission Factor (LTF):
- Overall effect of a filter on a standard eye viewing a standard light source
- Considers spectral sensitivity of the eye
Specifying Tints
Total energy of system is constant
- Transmission + Reflection + Absorption = 100%
- Light absorbed by material converted to heat
Describe Absorption
- Light is a photon or electron – many potential outcomes as energy is conserved
- Electron returns to the ground state
- Emits the photons of light resulting in reflection or scattering
- Makes a material dark or opaque to the wavelengths which are absorbed
Describe Tinted Lenses
- Lens that has a noticeable colour in transmission
- Fixed
- Variable / Photochromic
What are the factors to consider when prescribing a tinted lens?
- Type of tint
- Colour of tint
- Transmittance characteristics
What are the basic types of tint?
a) Solid glass tints
b) Glass surface tints
c) Laminated tint
d) Plastic lens dyes
Describe Solid Glass Tint
- The tint is included in the original glass manufacturing process, such that the lens is coloured throughout the whole of the lens
- Produced by adding a metal oxide to the glass mix –type of metal determines the colour
- Tint introduced during moulding stage by adding metallic oxides
What are the advantages vs disadvantages of Solid Glass Tint?
Advantages:
- Ability to absorb radiations, most notably infra-red
Disadvantages:
- Tint cannot be removed or changed
- Lens darker as gets thicker
- Graded tints not possible
- Expensive
Describe Glass Surface Tint / Vacuum tints
- Metal oxides are heated in crucibles beneath the lenses, which are rotating on a disc above
- The crucible & lenses are in a vacuum chamber, and the vapour produced by the oxide condenses to form a film on the back of the lens
Advantages vs disadvantages of Glass Surface Tint / Vacuum tints?
Advantages:
- Evenness of tint
- Tints can be removed
- Graded tints possible
Disadvantages:
- Back surface has a bloom
Describe Laminated /Bonding Tint
- Almost exclusively used for polarising filters, with the filter laminated between a front cover and the main lens
- Allows additional features
- Contrast enhancement
- Polarisation
- Photochromic
Advantages vs Disadvantages Laminated /Bonding Tint?
Advantages:
- Can incorporate filter that cannot be applied by dye
Disadvantages:
- Requires a thicker, and hence heavier lens
- Coat can split apart after lens is bevelled
Advantages vs Disadvantages Laminated /Bonding Tint?
Advantages:
- Can incorporate filter that cannot be applied by dye
Disadvantages:
- Requires a thicker, and hence heavier lens
- Coat can split apart after lens is bevelled
Describe Polarising Lenses
- Absorb visible light & plane polarised light reflected from a horizontal surface
- Thin film of polarising material bonded, laminated or sandwiched within lens
- Glazed so polarising axis is vertical
Disadvantages of Polarising Lenses
- Looking at LCD screens
- Flying/pilots
- Low light situations
- Not always good for skiing
- Not always suitable for motor cycle visors
- Cost
Describe Photochromic Lenses
- A lens which changes colour with a change in the intensity and wavelength of light falling upon it
- Darken with exposure to ultraviolet light (transitions)
- The transmission typically ranges from a minimum of 22% (darkest) to a maximum of 88% (lightest)
Factors Influencing Photochromic Performance…
- Light Intensity – exposure to red or infra-red light will act to ‘bleach’ the lens, or speed the return to the lens’s inactivated state
- Temperature – heating will act to bleach the lens, hence photochromic lenses do not darken as much on hot days as they do on cold days
- ‘Exposure Memory’ – photochromic will only display their full range and speed of change after being ‘broken in’. If lenses have not been used for some time, they will need to be broken in again
- Lens thickness – glass photochromic become darker as they get thicker. Plastic lenses show no such change
Advantages vs disadvantages of Photochromic Lenses
Advantages:
- Convenience
- Reduced cost
- UV protection
Disadvantages:
- Take longer to clear than darken
- Most require UV activation
- Temperature dependency
- Always a compromise
Polarised vs Tinted Lenses
Polarised:
- Reduce brightness
- Reduce disabling glare
Tinted:
- Reduce brightness (ased on absorption/transmission properties)
- Alleviate some distracting & discomforting glare