Eyewear Lens Technology Makes Wearing Eyewear a Pleasant and Fashionable Experience

Modern eyewear technology gives more eyewear lenses and eyewear frame options. Whether you wear fashion eyewear, designer eyewear, prescription eyewear, non-prescription eye wear, sport eyewear, sport specific eyewear or discount eyewear there is a pair of eye glasses and eyewear lenses to suit your every need.

The eyewear lenses available today are thinner and lighter than ever before, making wearing eyewear a much more pleasant and fashionable experience than it used to be. Some of the different types of eyewear lenses to be found can include; high index eyewear lenses for people who don't like wearing thick prescription eyewear, these lenses offer superior optics in a thinner and lighter lens; aspheric lenses, flatter and thinner, these eyewear lenses are great for strong prescriptions providing better vision than ordinary eyewear lenses, better looking and much more fashionable; multi-focal eyewear lenses, bifocals and trifocals available in many different configurations for a variety of activities from golf, hobbies, crafts and computer work; progressive eyewear lenses do the same thing as bifocal eyewear lenses and trifocal eyewear lenses but without the lines through the lenses.

The coatings that are added to your eyewear lenses can make all the difference in the activities you do, the appearance of your eyewear lenses and the way you see things. Some of the eyewear lens coatings available can include anti reflective eyewear lens coatings which can improve your vision and the appearance of your eyewear lenses (these coatings are similar to coatings found on microscopes and camera lenses). Anti reflective coatings consist of several layers of metal oxides applied to both the front and the back of the eyewear lenses. Anti reflective eyewear lenses help to block reflected light, this makes seeing easier as you will get a reduction in glare (also helpful for driving at night). The anti reflective lenses also look better cosmetically as there won't be any unpleasant glare when people are looking at you (especially helpful for people on television or for those getting their photos taken).

Scratch resistant eyewear lenses although not completely scratch resistant (as no eyewear lens material is completely scratch proof) do help the lenses to be more resistant. Scratch resistant eyewear lenses are treated in the front and back of the lenses with a clear, hard coating. Mirror coatings unlike anti reflective coatings that are clear are available in a wide variety of colors to include silver, gold, copper, blue, hot pink and green to name a few. Mirrored eyewear (often seen on state troopers) do not change the way you see, they are for purely cosmetic reasons only. Lastly UV (ultraviolet) eyewear lenses coatings help to block the harmful UV rays that are thought to cause cataracts, retinal damage and other eye problems. The UV coatings do not change the appearance of the eyewear lenses.

Along with the coatings that can be applied to eyewear lenses there are eyewear lens options that help to reduce glare and protect the eyes from the suns harmful UV (ultraviolet) rays. Polarized eyewear lenses have been one of the most popular choices for boaters and fishermen for years by reducing the glare from the water.

Now you can find polarized eyewear lenses being used by a wide variety of eye glass wearers to include drivers, skiers, golfers, bikers and joggers as they eliminate glare for several outdoor activities. For driving they help to reduce the glare that comes off a long, flat surface of a road giving you better vision. Polarized eyewear lenses work by taking the light that is horizontally polarized and blocking the vertically oriented polarizers in the lenses.

Photochromic lenses change from light to dark depending on the amount of UV (ultraviolet) light they are exposed to. The lenses used to be made of glass but are now made with regular plastic, polycarbonate (impact resistant) and high-index glass and plastic. Silver halide in the eyewear lenses causes them to darken when exposed to UV light. Available in a wide variety of eyewear lenses that are thinner and lighter than ever before, with some photochromic eyewear lenses changing from clear to dark in as little as sixty seconds. The eyewear lenses can be found in nearly every lens design, refractive index and prescription with one hundred percent UV protection.

Another option in colored eyewear lenses is tints which do not change as do the photochromic eyewear lenses but stay the same color at all times. Available in plastic eyewear along with glass lenses in nearly every color imaginable. The lighter tints are usually for cosmetic reasons only and found in colors such as light pink, brown, gray, blue and red to name a few. The darker tints are most often used as sunglasses and found in gray, brown or black tints. Tints found on eyewear can either be solid with the entire lens in the same colored tint or gradient with the tint from light to dark (from bottom to top). Yellow tints are an excellent choice for target shooters because the objects can appear sharper, it's also helpful for tennis players as the tennis balls can be seen more clearly.

Green tints are a popular option for golfers as the sport eyewear can help you see the subtle breaks in the green without squinting, helping you to play the fairway in low sun angles. The green tinted golf eyewear can also aid in seeing the hole flag and golf ball making for a better played golf game. Rose and pink tinted eye goggles are an excellent choice for skiers and snow boarders allowing them to see the shadows and edges on a ski hill.

Whatever your eyewear needs may be from sport eyewear, prescription eyewear, nonprescription eyewear, children's eyewear, sports specific eyewear, fashion eyewear, designer eyewear or discount eyewear there have never been more options available than there are today. There are eyewear frames and eyewear lenses to suit every face shape, lifestyle and personality.

Valerie Giles owns and operates Eyewear-4U http://www.eyewear-4u.com, an eyewear site featuring fashion eyewear, sports eyewear, prescription eyewear, discount sunglasses and contact lenses as well as accessories. The accompanying article is copyrighted. It may be reproduced only if the hyperlinks here are left intact.