Photochromic lenses
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If you need clear prescription lenses indoors or when driving at night, but you want the comfort of sunglasses as well...without having to change back and forth...then photochromic lenses may be "just what the doctor ordered."
Most photochromic lenses are clear indoors and at night but will darken when exposed to sunlight. They also provide full ultraviolet (UV) protection, so they help keep your eyes both safe and comfortable. |
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Sunglasses or prescription eyeglasses that darken when exposed to the sun were first developed by Corning in the late 1960s. The original PhotoBrown and PhotoGrey products are still available today. They are made of glass, with the color-changing material distributed evenly throughout the lens thickness. A potential problem with this method is that the thicker part of a prescription lens can appear darker than the thinner part. Strong nearsighted lens corrections can have a lighter central "bull's-eye", which is surrounded by a darker lens periphery. Today, Corning also offers the Thin & Dark photochromic glass lenses, which are thinner and up to 30 percent lighter in weight than traditional glass lenses. How do Photochromics work?
In the simplest terms, a photochromic lens changes color because of a chemical reaction. When someone wears their lenses outside, exposure to UV rays affect a silver chloride compound that was added to the lens material. When triggered by UV, the silver chloride molecules undergo a chemical reaction that turns them a blue-grey color (other colors Photochromic lens varieties
"Transition" Lenses - With the increasing popularity of plastic lenses, a new tinting
![]() Sunglass-only photochromics - These lenses are not meant to be worn indoors. They change from a medium sunglass color to a darker sunglass color when they are exposed to sunlight. They're a good choice for wearers who are especially light sensitive and want a tint darker than the "clear-to-medium" tint that standard photochromics provide. An additional advantage of "sunglass-only" photochromics is, when they are in their unchanged state, they are still dark enough to wear when driving. Regular photochromic lenses don't darken behind car windshields because the glass blocks UV rays needed to trigger the lens color change. Unique tints - Some plastic photochromic "fun" lenses are available in unusual colors. These lenses are one color when UV light is not present but change to a totally different color when activated by UV. There are teal-blue lenses that change to green, yellow lenses that change to orange, and red lenses that change to purple.
Medical Applications - some photochromic lenses even have medical applications. Corning's CPF series consists of glass photosensitive lenses with colors in the red family. They are used to enhance the vision of patients who have various ocular pathologies. According to Corning, people with severe light sensitivity are likely to benefit from these lenses, especially when the sensitivity is due to: cataracts, macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy or retinitis pigmentosa.
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