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Explain the Advantage of Polarized Sunglasses Over Normally Tinted Sunglasses

Sunglasses are a must for anybody who spends a lot of time outdoors be they driving, fishing or just sunbathing. There are countless number of designs, styles and colors of sunglasses to choose from, but the most significant difference is between polarized and tinted glasses. Polarized sunglasses are treated to elimnate the polarized rays of sunlight from reflections, whereas standard tinted glasses makes the image through the lenses darker.

  1. UV Protection

    • As a general rule polarized sunglasses offer better protection from ultra violet (UV) rays. These rays can be very damaging to both eyes and skin and exposure to them needs to be regulated. Tinted glasses will still offer a level of protection, but not to the same extent. This is not true of all polarized sunglasses as there are cheap versions of mirrored glasses which offer little extra protection than a good pair of tinted ones.

    Horizontal Glare

    • The main advantage of all polarized lenses is the reduction in horizontal glare. All glasses reduce the glare from the sun, which is why they improve vision in bright conditions. Polarized lenses will also eliminate reflective glare as the treatment of the lenses acts a little like a venetian blind on a window. For example, on a sunny day the reflection of the sun off a car bonnet when driving will be dimmed by tinted glasses, but eliminated to a greater extent by polarized lenses.

    Improved Vision

    • This reduction in glare offers better vision during sunny conditions in a range of situations. It makes all tasks where clear vision is necessary a lot easier. Completing a task in tinted glasses is similar to turning down the lights, whereas with polarized glasses the glare from the sun is reduced without having a detrimental effect on vision.

    Situations

    • There are a number of situations where polarized glasses are clearly better than tinted versions. Driving a car, fishing and any other task where reflective surfaces, like car bodywork or water, are present require polarized lenses. If maintaining high quality vision is not essential then normally tinting will be sufficient as long as they have good UV protection.

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