Polarized sunglasses: why and where

An article by Lucy    No Comments

Edwin H. Land from Zürich, Switzerland invented his Polaroid filter in 1929 and began experimenting with making lenses with this filter, thus creating polarized sunglasses in 1936.  His first sunglasses with polarizing filter were the so called Polaroid Day Glasses. Among the first who popularized this type of lenses where the boaters and fishermen because they needed the reduction of reflected glare from the water.

Today all outdoor enthusiasts, such as skiers, bikers, golfers and joggers, but also car drivers  benefit from polarized sunglasses. Besides outdoor activities and driving, polarized sunglasses can also be used indoors by light-sensitive people or those who underwent eye-surgery.

Polarized lenses contain a special filter that blocks reflected light, thus reducing glare and improving visibility and comfort.

Polarized lenses may reduce the visibility of images produced by LCDs or LEDs found on the dashboards of some cars or on automatic teller machines and self-service gas pumps. You may also be unable to see your cell phone or GPS device. Boaters and pilots also have reported similar problems when viewing LCD displays on instrument panels.

For most other sports and activities, polarized sunglasses are the right choice.

Today polarized lenses are available in combination with other features to improve outdoor experiences. The presbyope people engaged in outdoor sports benefit form the polarized bifocal sunglasses or progressive lenses. There are also photocromic lenses that change from light to dark depending on the illumination suitable for the light-sesnsitive people.

Most sunglasses come in polarized and the non polarized variety. The polarized lenses, unlike non polarized ones offer exclusively 100% protection against UVA and UVB rays. They also offer an almost complete protection against the sun’s horizontal glare, so the sun’s reflection becomes almost unnoticeable. The non polarized lenses have a dark shade they reduces the intensity of light and cannot prevent  the effects of horizontal polarization.