Publish Time: 2025-06-25 Origin: Site
Polarized lens are the high-performance optical lenses that eliminate glare by physically filtering out polarized light in a specific direction, the core value of polarized lens is solving the problem of visual interference in highly reflective environments. This article will help you gain a comprehensive understanding of polarized lens and non-polarized lens.
So, what is the glare? Why is the gare so harmful to eyes? Glare is overly strong or disordered light taht interferes with visual perception, its sources are divided from natural and artificial.
| Glare Sources | Glare Classification | Glare Formation |
| Natural Glare | Direct Sunglight | Sunlight shines directly on the eyeballs |
| Natural Glare | Environmental Relection Glare | Water surface, snow field, sandy, clouds |
| Artificial Glare | Direct Artificial Light | Car high beam, shadowless operating lamp, welding arc |
| Artificil Glare | Mirror Reflector | Glass curtain wall, polished metal, LED screen |
| Artificial Glare | Diffuse Reflector | Light -colored walls, paper document |
The glare is not only the source of visual discomfort, but also a complex of safety hazards and health threats. Its harm will run through physical damage, behavioral risks and the decline of long-term health.
The strong glare such as the snow reflection contains the high-energy blue light, which can trigger oxidative stress in retinal pigment epithelial cells and accelerate macular degeneration.
The Ultraviolet galre can cause corneal photokeratitis like snow blindness, with vision dropping below 0.3 within 48 hours.
So, the core difference between the polarized sunglasses and non-polarized sunglasses is "wheather they have the ability to eliminate polarized glare", this is decide the essential differences in optical performance, applicable scenarios and protective effects directly. We will compare their differences from 6 main aspects.
* Different Core Principles
| Features |
Polarized Lens | Non-Polarized Lens |
Core Technology |
Multi-layer Composite Structure: 1. TAC / PET base materials 2. PVA polarization film 3. Surface-hardening coating |
Single-layer Structure: 1. Polycarbonate / Glass base material 2. Dyeing or film coloring |
Light Processing Methods |
1. Absorb ultraviolet rays 2. Block horizontal polarized glare 3. Choose useful light in vertical direction |
Only uniformly reduce the light intensity in all directions, like dimming the screen |
* Glare Elimination Ability
| Environments | Polarized lens Effects | Non-Polarized Lens Effects |
| Reflective Water Surface | POL lens can penetrate the water surface to see the fish school and reefs clearly | Non-POL lens can't eliminate the reflection, the view will be blocked and blurred |
| Reflective Snow Field | POL lens can eliminate the dazzling white light and make the terrain details more clearly visible | Non-POL lens can't eliminate the glare, thereby increasing the risk of snow blindness |
| Reflective Slippery Road Surface | POL lens can restore the ture texture of the road surface to make the driving safer | Non-POL lens can't eliminate the reflection, and there will be a hidden danger of covering up water stains and oil stains |
| Reflective Front Windshield | POL lens can eliminate the reflections in the dashboard | Non-POL lens can't eliminate the inverted image, will interfer with the line of sight |
* Color Authenticity Comparison
| Polarized Lens | Non-Polarized Lens | |
| Color Rendition | Neutral grey or brown base color of POL lens can show the true colors | Tinted non-polarized lens might be discolored, like bue grey distortion |
| Dark Details | POL lens can eliminate the stray light, the details in the shadow area will be enhanced | Non-POL lens will dim the overall light and lose the details of the vision field |
* Protective Performance Comparion
⚠ The risk of non-polarized lens in dark color is that the lens will dilate the pupil, but couldn't block harmful ultraviolet rays adequately, increasing the probability of retinal damage!
| Protection Types | Polarized Lens | Non-Polarized Lens |
| Block Ultraviolet Rays | POL lens can block 100% UVA / UVB | Non-POL lens relies on the film coating of lens, the ultraviolet blocking rate is usually between 90% to 99% |
| Filter Blue Light |
POL lens can block the blue light of HEV | Only few of tinted non-polarized lens can block HEV blue light |
| Impact Resistance | The impact resistance of TAC polarized lens is 100 times of glasses lens | Plastic lens can resist impact, but the function is weaker than TAC polarized lens |
In daily life, there will be various different usage scenes, so how should we choose the appropriate lenses for sunglasses?
| Usage Scenes | Recmmend Lens Types | Functions |
| Driving | Choose polarized lens in grey or brown color | The grey or brown polarized lens can eliminate the reflection on the windshield and the road surface |
| Fishing / Sailing | Choose polarized lens in amber color | The amber polarized lens can penetrate the water surface, allowing for a clear view of fish school and underwater structures |
| Skiing / Mountain Climbing | Choose polarized lens coated in rose gold | The rose gold coating polarized lens can eliminate the glare on snow field, and improve the contrast of terrain |
| Daily City Commuting | Choose non-polarized lens in light colors | The light color non-polarized lens has light shading effect, it will not interfere with the LCD screens |
| Electronic Screen Workers | Choose non-polarized lens | The non-polarized lens will not see the moire patterns or black screens on the LCD sreens |
* Wearing Comfort Comparion
| Polarized Lens | Non-Polarized Lens | |
| Visual Comfort Difference | Wearing POL lens sunglasses for a long time will not cause eye fatigue | The overall lighting of non-polarized lens is dim, and it can be dazzling under strong glare |
| Weight Comparion | TAC polarized lens is light weight, about 12-15g for each piece | The net weight of stained resin lenses is over 20g |
| Lens Thickness Difference | The thickness of polarized lens is ultrathin, about 0.8-1.1mm | The thickness polycarbonate lens is about 1,5-2.0mm |
* Price / Service Life Comparion
| Polarized Lens | Non-poalrized Lens | |
| Unit Price | The unit price range for polarized lens sunglasses is from $35.00 to $400, different brands have different prices, the famous brands will cost much more expensive | The unit price range of basic non-polarized lens is from $7.00 to $80.00, according to different brands and the material quality of polycarbonate lens |
| Service Life | The service life of polarized lens sunglasses is about 5-8 years, the PVA film in polarized lens can anti-aging | The service life of non-polarized lens sunglasses is about 2-3 years, the tinted colors of polycarbonate lens is easy fading |
| Maintenance Cost |
If the coating of polarized lens is damaged, it'll need to replaced the whole sunglasses | The damaged polycarbonate lens can be partially repainted and repaired, but for cheap price, we suggest to buy a new one will be more cost-effective |
In general, polarized lens and non-polarized lens will play their roles in various usage environments, please choose the sunglasses with different lenses according to your own needs.
If you have a need for polarized lenses like driving, skiing activities and snow field activities, please use polarized sunglasses to protect your eyes and make the sight clear.