Lens coatings to reduce glare

[ColinM]

OK, no photos here but a bit of an optical connection.

Do any of you find oncoming headlights dazzling when driving at night?
Have any of you tried special glasses that are supposed to help with this?

Not yellow lenses, but things like these

https://www.zeiss.co.uk/vision-care/eye-care-professionals/lenses/lenses-for-every-need/lenses-for-driving.html

Did you notice much benefit?

[ColinM]

Note, I already have quite high spec Zeis varifocal lenses with coatings.
So I'm curious what else they do coating-wise for this model

(the website above gives interesting info on pupil size & things for varifocal zones)

[pluton]

Out of curiosity, I have often flipped off my glasses momentarily when faced with a glare/flare effect and 99% of the time, my eyes are creating more flare than the glasses....unless the glasses are very dirty.  They are made from normal optical polycarbonate with multi-layer AR coating.
I don't believe it is possible that eyeglass lenses can reduce the flare created in the human eye.
My hypothesis: Zeiss's marketing department or ad agency is suggesting that their products do something that is not physically possible.

[Erik Lund]

Reading up on this i found the below, I really like Oakley Prizm lenses made specifically for different activities:

https://www.oakleyforum.com/guides/prizm-vs-polarized-lenses-oakley-differences-explained/
 Polarized lenses have a filter that absorbs incoming horizontal light waves from glare, while still allowing normal vertical light.
While all sunglasses use tint to prevent some light and reduce the overall amount of light you see, only polarized glasses prevent harmful horizontal light.
Horizontal light is usually made when sunlight reflects off surfaces like a wet road or another car. By preventing these horizontal rays, polarized lenses allow you to still see through your lenses while blocking harsh glare that causes eye fatigue.

[ColinM]

Interesting

Pluton, I was worried about the same thing.
Luckily I was able to talk to a different Optician who I trust and he said he'd tried the equivalent lenses from Essilor and found them so much of an improvement for driving that he now wears them all the time.

Based on that, I went ahead. My pair should turn up in another week's time

Erik, your quote is really interesting.
Apart from the spiel from Zeiss, the two main things other I found when googling were

• Yellow tinted lenses
• Polarised lenses

Each seem to have some benefits. I'm unsure about light coming directly from an oncoming car's headlights being more horizontal than any other axis, but I've not looked into it.

Polarised sunglasses have been useful in the daytime for years (and I liked them for photographic use too!).
Many players of sports have experimented with wearing yellow lenses, to help them pick out the ball etc

However several people who talked about actual benefits of either type to assist when driving at night came to the same conclusion:
- Glare can be a problem at night
- But you also need to be able to see the darker areas of the road (the part you're actually driving along)
- In their opinion, both polarised and yellow tinted lenses reduce the amount of light reaching the eye by enough to negate any other benefits they provided.

[Erik Lund]

Looking forward to your evaluation!

The Oakley's for bicycling for instance are not polarized lenses, that would mask some cases where you actually want to see clearly without polarization masking anything,,,
They have some other proprietary way of producing the lenses to enhance vision even in shady conditions, btw they are not coated it's cast into the lens itself,,,

Try either their Trail or Trail Torch for the optimal vision you will be quite surprised how much better you see contrast and details even in shadows!
many Pro bicycle teams use these even during winter Cycle Cross.

There are others but more for daylight; Road lenses for bicycling, many Pro bicycle teams use these during summer.

Jan Anne has a pair of Adidas that are very similar to Oakley Trail's he uses them for driving as well.