What Is The Purpose Of Anti-Reflective Coating?

"Why do I need anti-reflective coating on my lenses?"

A question that often comes up when someone is purchasing prescription eyewear is what is the purpose of anti-reflective coating?

Anti-reflective coating gives you crisper vision. With an uncoated lens you can loose between 10 - 12% of the available light rays. The purpose of AR coating is to remove the barrier between the lens and the atmosphere. Having an uncoated lens causes the available light to bounce off the lens, but with an anti-reflective coating more light gets through resulting in clearer vision.

"AR coating is especially beneficial when used on high-index lenses, which reflect more light than regular plastic lenses. Generally, the higher the index of refraction of the lens material, the more light that will be reflected from the surface of the lenses.

For example, regular plastic lenses reflect roughly 8 percent of light hitting the lenses, so only 92 percent of available light enters the eye for vision. High index plastic lenses can reflect up to 50 percent more light than regular plastic lenses (approximately 12 percent of available light), so even less light is available to the eye for vision. This can be particularly troublesome in low-light conditions, such as when driving at night."

- Taken from "Anti-Reflective Coating" by Gary Heiting, OD

We look forward to helping you find your new eyewear and answering your questions about your vision needs!