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