Question about AR:

[EyeFitWell]

A customer asked me today about a price on plano AR lenses. I was intregued so I asked her why? She said she has trouble seeing at night, and was told AR would help, but didn't need a prescription...

OK, now doesn't that seem a little off? The only purpose of AR is to reduce reflections caused BY LENSES, and plano AR (even if it had a transmission rate of 100% which none do) will not improve your vision over natural 20/20 eyesight. Right? Or am I missing something here?

[CME4SPECS]

A customer asked me today about a price on plano AR lenses. I was intregued so I asked her why? She said she has trouble seeing at night, and was told AR would help, but didn't need a prescription...

OK, now doesn't that seem a little off? The only purpose of AR is to reduce reflections caused BY LENSES, and plano AR (even if it had a transmission rate of 100% which none do) will not improve your vision over natural 20/20 eyesight. Right? Or am I missing something here?

You are correct.

[Dave Nelson]

No, your'e not missing anything, and you are correct, the ar may help night vision if you already wear glasses. If anything, a pair of plano ar lenses worn at night will hinder vision. We have had a couple people make the same request after having refractive surgery, after being told it will help night vision. Chalk it up to "unclear on the concept." Tell people who ask that crutches help people walk: if you already have a broken leg, and will not help someone who does not have a broken leg to walk any better.
Also, while on the subject, there seems to be little or no support to the widely held belief that yellow or amber lenses improve night vision. The "brightening" effect from wearing these lenses is an illusion, but has given rise to the widespread belief that they can actually imrove night vision, as opposed to blocking a bit of glare from oncoming headlights. People ask me for them nearly everyday, and are genuinly surprised to hear that an automatic improvement in night vision is not a given.

[EyeFitWell]

Dave, thanks, that's a really good way to explain it!
(The best I had come up with was something about intentionally infecting yourself with a disease and then taking the cure, but that sounded gross and is the very principle of vaccines...so I thought it best to keep that one to myself)!

[EyeFitWell]

I posted this in the misinformation thread, but I thought it had a better chance of being seen here:
Just because your computer monitor is anti-reflective does not mean you don't need AR. I hear this ALL the time, often with the patient saying they were told that by another optician. AR on your monitor keeps reflections off your monitor (like when you're trying to watch TV at home and all you see is the reflection of your lamp over whats-her-name's face!) However, even an AR monitor sends light at your lenses, which is in turn reflected! Thus, you still need AR lenses.
That's my two cents!

[AWTECH]

Eye Fit Well said:

A customer asked me today about a price on plano AR lenses. I was intregued so I asked her why? She said she has trouble seeing at night, and was told AR would help, but didn't need a prescription...

You are correct on a clear lens for plano; you are decreasing light transmission. A great lens for night driving is our new YELLOW POLARIZED. The film inside the lens is yellow and this lens meets all standards in the US and Europe to be used for night driving. On this lens front and backside AR are applied. This technology is gaining popularity in Europe.

[keithbenjamin]

Allen, don't you think you are decreasing light transmission with yellow polarized lenses? This is the last thing you want while driving at night.

I wrote an article on this a few years back:
http://www.laramyk.com/learn/night_driving.html


-Keith

[AWTECH]

keithbenjamin said:

Allen, don't you think you are decreasing light transmission with yellow polarized lenses? This is the last thing you want while driving at night.

Yes there is a slight decrease in transmission but the benefits to this hue of yellow and the glare reduction are tremendous for some patients. What makes our product unique is that our yellow is not a tint in the lens itself but rather a very light hue applied to the polarized film.

[chip anderson]

Seems to me I remember something about yellow light activating visual purple which stimulates rods for night vision. However, it's a very, very old memory.
Chip

[Scott R]

I have used the yellow polarized lenses for a number of people usually with good results. It also comes Rx and I remember getting a pair of Ft28s for someone last year.

[HarryChiling]

I have always heard that yellow helps, because we fixate centrally when looking at things and this is where thee cones are densly located, which see the reds and yellows better than the greens and blues. Long time since I have read this and will try to find where or what it was that I read.

[Chris Ryser]

I
Long time since I have read this and will try to find where or what it was that I read.

Dr DeLand inventor of Polaroid

[cocoisland58]

A customer asked me today about a price on plano AR lenses. I was intregued so I asked her why? She said she has trouble seeing at night, and was told AR would help, but didn't need a prescription...

I suppose that would be creating the illness to sell the cure.

[EyeFitWell]

HAHA!
Plano AR lady called today...I had told her to try cleaning her windshield INSIDE and OUT. (She's a smoker) Turns out, it made a huge difference!

[Fezz]

Great news!.

That leads into how often we all say how AR helps with night driving: But, consider how scratched most windshield are. Talk about scattering light, halos, etc! The best AR in the world can not help a dirty, scratched, or streaked windshield!!