Tint "speak"

[stargazer]

Hoping to get a general feeling of how those in the industry speak "tints".

Percentages? IE, 10% pink, 20% gray, etc.

or

Numbers? IE, Pink #1, Gray #2, etc.

For those of you who "speak" numbers . . . could you give us some kind of an idea as to what you "expect" from a pink #1, for example? For instance, do you expect a 10% density from a pink #1, etc.

We know lens materials factor in, but are just curious as to how you speak and what you expect?

TIA

[Chris Ryser]

For those of you who "speak" numbers . . . could you give us some kind of an idea as to what you "expect" from a pink #1, for example? For instance, do you expect a 10% density from a pink #1, etc.
TIA

When you measure a tint with a spectrometer you get reading in whatever you want out of 2 possibilities:

transmission....................or....................absorb tion

The reading is in exact percentage points.

Opticians in Europe have always ordered or made tinted lenses in the terms of absorbtion. The number system has always been North American and is actually a very primitive way to identify the darkness of a tint. Have you ever ordered or made a grey 1 1/2 or 2 3/4 ?

However it is easy to order and measure 70% brown (absorbtion), and you can even measure on a light transmission meter if the lenses have been made the same density.

They used to make lenses in glass and called them Cruxite (AO) A =10% ,B =15%, C =25%, B&L had Softlite and so forth.

It also sounds a little more sophisticated to patients wanting tinted lenses by offering a shade in percentage points instead of asking if they wanted a 1 or a 2 or a 3 in whatever color. These days when tinting is simple and you can do any color in any absorbtion or transmission wanted you might also make a better impression towards your customer when you know what you are talking about.
:idea:

[Spexvet]

I've always had the understanding that manufacturers offered pretinted lens tints in numbers. If you want glass or polarized, I order 1, 2, 3. Any lenses that are tinted after-the-fact I order by the amount of light I want blocked.

[drk]

Would someone knowledgeable post a translation between the two systems?

[Spexvet]

I don't think there is a translation. I'm looking at the KBco polarized lens transmission data chart. Here's an example:


plastic
grey C = 85% absorption
brown C = 81%
high contrast amber (no letter designation)=70%

I've seen other manufacturers with different values than those, but they're not at my finger tips.

Of course with glass lenses, thickness is a big factor in absorption.

[Jim Schafer]

...and in my world we always speak of % Transmission. Once we were turned loose on the public we defered to absorbtion or tint.

At trade shows it can be tricky, we determine who we are talking with, normally from their first question. If it is someone from an r&d science background we go %T and with marketing types we go with %tint or absorbsion.

Jim

[EyeManFla]

I stopped using terms like Cruxlite "A" and Kalichrome "B" al long, long time ago!