We’ve all been there! Behind the wheel and facing beams of light reflecting off the dashboard, or at the beach squinting across illuminated water. Glare, an intense bright light vibrating horizontally, isn’t just annoying – it can be dangerous. When the angle of reflection is just right, it becomes blinding and impedes vision.
Here’s what you need to know about glare and how you can eliminate it:
How is Glare Created?
Light travels from the sun in the forms of waves to our earth. Upon reaching reflective surfaces, these waves change their energy and become scattered, travelling in all different directions. If the light hits a reflective surface such as water, cars or buildings at just the right angle, some of the light becomes “polarized”. This means that vertical light waves are absorbed while horizontal light waves bounce off the surface, causing glare.
What Does Glare Do?
Glare causes a reduction of contrast and brightness of the visual scene. This is caused by the constriction of the pupils and the scattering of light within the eye. Furthermore, the scattering of light in particles in the air, impedes vision at a larger distance, such as when the headlights of a car illuminate the fog close to a vehicle.
How Can You Eliminate it?
Only polarized lenses can fully block out dangerous, blinding glare. Polarized lenses contain millions of parallel rows of tiny iodine crystals or dichroic dyes that act in a manner similar to venetian blinds. Like venetian blinds, the horizontal rows of iodine crystals contained within the polarized lens block out horizontal polarized light waves, letting only non-polarized, vertical light waves reach the eye. This results in comfortable vision with no glare, and is the reason why only a polarized lens can block glare.
Want to block glare? NuPolar is the market leader in Polarized Lenses. Find out more here: https://www.youngeroptics.com.au/polarized/