Remember that a genuinely safe solar viewer does more than reduce the Sun's visible light to a comfortable brightness level. It also blocks potentially harmful UV and IR radiation. The only way to tell whether your viewer does that is to be certain that it meets the ISO 12312-2 safety standard, and the only way to know that is to be certain that it came from a reputable vendor.

A lens which has been treated with an anti-glare coating transmits 99.9% of the light which can provide benefits such as:

An Anti-reflective coat can provide drivers with an increase in safety with faster recognition of potential hazards on the road, particularly at night-time. The reflection of a streetlamp or headlights on your lenses is practically eliminated.

An Anti-reflective coating can increase the quality and the value of your prescription glasses. Anti-reflective coatings can also help to reduce disturbing or annoying reflections. It will also make your lenses appear much more attractive due to the lack of reflection. You will experience much clearer, sharper and more natural vision with a brilliance that is quite simply not possible with uncoated lenses.

If we don't list a supplier, that doesn't mean their products are unsafe — there are just too many brick-and-mortar and online sources of solar viewers and filters for us to vet them all. But they all get their products from a relatively small number of manufacturers, and we list as many as we can that have convinced us their products are safe.

The AAS Solar Eclipse Task Force has been working diligently to compile a list of such vendors, now posted on our Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters page. We've checked companies' lab-test reports to make sure they're complete and that they come from properly accredited testing facilities, and we've personally examined many companies' products. We've asked manufacturers, importers, and distributors to identify their authorized resellers, and we've asked dealers to identify the source of the products they're selling. Only when everything checks out do we add a vendor to our list.

Anti reflectiveglasses

We used to say that you should look for evidence that they comply with the ISO 12312-2 international standard for filters for direct viewing of the Sun. But then we discovered that some eclipse glasses and other solar viewers are labeled as ISO-compliant when in fact they have not been properly tested and shown to be safe. So we pivoted to suggest that you make sure you get (or got) your eclipse viewers from one of the suppliers listed on our Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters page.

Anti glare glasses, or lenses treated with Anti glare coatings, also known as anti reflection, reflection free, AR or MAR coatings, were developed to reduce reflections for camera lenses and have now become available for prescription glasses lenses.

Unfortunately, you can't check whether a filter meets the ISO standard yourself — doing so requires a specialized and expensive piece of laboratory equipment called a spectrophotometer that shines intense UV, visible, and IR light through the filter and measures how much gets through at each wavelength. Solar filter manufacturers send their products to specialized labs that are accredited to perform the tests necessary to verify compliance with the ISO 12312-2 safety specifications. Once they have the paperwork that documents their products as ISO-compliant, they can legitimately claim to meet the standard on their products and packaging.

Standard anti reflectivereddit

"Special-purpose" means designed exclusively for looking directly at the everyday Sun. Filters for direct viewing of the Sun are typically sold in the form of wearable “eclipse glasses” or as solar viewing cards (typically the size of 3-by-5-inch index cards) that you hold in your hand. What makes them special is that they reduce sunlight to safe levels so that you don't injure your eyes. Our daytime star shines about a half million times brighter than the full Moon in visible light and emits potentially harmful ultraviolet (UV) and infrared (IR) radiation too. Looking directly at the Sun through anything that isn't specially made to deal with all that visible light and invisible radiation is a recipe for serious eye injury, perhaps even blindness. Note that special-purpose solar filters are at least 1,000 times darker than ordinary sunglasses!

Anti reflectivecoating disadvantages

Ordinary sunglasses (or multiple pairs of sunglasses), neutral density or polarizing filters (such as those made for camera lenses), smoked glass, photographic or X-ray film (unexposed, exposed, or developed), "space blankets," potato-chip bags, DVDs, and any other materials you may have heard about for solar viewing are not safe. In some cases these homemade filters may seem like they dim the Sun to a comfortable level, but that doesn't mean they do so across the whole electromagnetic spectrum to which our eyes are sensitive. While you're enjoying a "comfortable" view of the "dim" Sun, solar infrared radiation could be cooking your retinas. And you wouldn't know till later, because your retinas don't have pain receptors. Only after the eclipse, when you notice blind spots or other vision problems, would you realize you'd made a catastrophic mistake.

As noted on our main safety page, with one exception it is not safe to look directly at the Sun without a special-purpose safe solar filter. That exception is during totality, when the Moon completely blocks the dazzlingly bright face of the Sun. This happens only within the narrow path of the Moon's umbra (dark inner shadow) during the brief total phase of a total solar eclipse. During the North American solar eclipse of April 8, 2024, the roughly 115-mile-wide path of totality stretches from Mexico to Texas to Maine to eastern Canada — and at any location within that path totality lasts at most about 4½ minutes. Before and after totality, and at all times outside the path of totality, you must use a special-purpose safe solar filter when looking directly at the Sun.

Anti-reflective coatings improve the clarity of your lenses and virtually eliminate reflections others see in your prescription glasses. By having a pair of anti glare glasses, you'll enjoy direct eye contact, unhindered by distracting reflections!

How to make your glassesantiglare at home

False light in office surroundings can quickly cause eye fatigue and working on a computer can also put significant strain on the eye. Having an Anti-glare coating will protect your eyes whist working due to the decreased glare, and therefore result in less eye strain.

• Improved vision at night• Reduced glare from computers• Reduced strain on the eye• Your eyes are more visible• And fantastic looking glasses

Anti reflectivecoating glasses price

How can you tell if your solar viewer is not safe? You shouldn't be able to see anything through a safe solar filter except the Sun itself or something comparably bright, such as the Sun reflected in a mirror, a sunglint off shiny metal, the hot filament of an incandescent light bulb, a bright halogen light bulb, a bright-white LED bulb (including the flashlight on your smartphone), a bare compact fluorescent (CFL) bulb, or an arc-welding torch. All such sources (except perhaps the welding torch) should appear quite dim through a solar viewer. If you can see shaded lamps or other common household light fixtures (not bare bulbs) of more ordinary brightness through your eclipse glasses or handheld viewer, and you're not sure the product came from a reputable vendor, don't use it. Safe solar filters produce a view of the Sun that is comfortably bright (like the full Moon) and in focus. If you glance at the Sun through your solar filter and find it uncomfortably bright, don't use it. You should contact the seller and demand a refund or credit for return of the product, then obtain a replacement from one of the sources on our Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters page. (For more about this, see the AAS press release linked at the top of this page.)

What about welding filters? The only ones that are safe for direct viewing of the Sun with your eyes are those of Shade 12 or higher. These are much darker than the filters used for most kinds of welding. If you have an old welder's helmet around the house and are thinking of using it to view the Sun, make sure you know the filter's shade number. If it's less than 12 (and it probably is), don't even think about using it to look at the Sun. Many people find the Sun too bright even in a Shade 12 filter, and some find the Sun too dim in a Shade 15 filter — Shade 13 and 14 filters are the best ones for solar viewing. But welding filters generally give a sickly green image of the Sun, whereas special-purpose solar viewers give a white, yellow, or orange image, which is much more pleasing and natural. If you really want to get a welding filter, we recommend that you buy it from a welding supply company; we've heard reports of people ordering "Shade 14" welding goggles from random online stores and receiving much lighter filters than they were promised. Our Suppliers of Safe Solar Viewers & Filters page doesn't list sources of welder's filters, only suppliers of filters made exclusively for viewing the Sun. But we do link to a couple of sources of Shade 14 welder's filters from our main safety page.

In addition to making sure your eclipse shades or handheld viewers come from a reputable source, make sure they're in good condition:

Note that on this page we're talking only about filters made for direct viewing of the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun with your eyes. Eclipse glasses and handheld viewers should never be used when looking through telescopes, binoculars, camera lenses, or other optical devices. For tips on using solar filters with optics, see Solar Filters for Optics: Telescopes, Binoculars & Cameras. To find telescopes and binoculars specially made for observing the Sun, see our Telescopes & Binoculars page (look for the Special-Purpose Solar Binoculars & Telescopes section).

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Even more unfortunately, unscrupulous vendors can grab the ISO logo off the internet and put it on their products and packaging even if their eclipse glasses or viewers haven't been properly tested. This means that just seeing the ISO logo or a label claiming ISO 12312-2 compliance isn't good enough. You need to know that the product comes from a reputable manufacturer or one of their authorized dealers. (In fact, the International Organization for Standardization prohibits the use of its logo on products or packaging, but almost everybody ignores that fact, and there's no mechanism to enforce the prohibition anyway.)

Standard anti reflectiveprice

If you bought or were given eclipse viewers at a science museum or planetarium, or at an astronomy trade show, again you're almost certainly in possession of ISO-compliant filters. As long as you can trace your filters to a reputable vendor or other reliable source, you should have nothing to worry about. What you absolutely should not do is search for eclipse glasses on the internet and buy whatever pops up in the ads or search results. Make sure any vendor you buy from is either on our list of suppliers or gets their products from another company that's on the list.

Anti reflectivecoating glasses

Please don't hesitate to contact us should you require any further information and one of our advisers will be happy to assist you in selecting the correct  options & lenses for your prescription, lifestyle and budget.

How do you know if your eclipse glasses or handheld solar viewers are truly safe? You need to know that they meet the ISO 12312-2 (sometimes written as ISO 12312-2:2015) international safety standard. Filters that are ISO 12312-2 compliant not only reduce visible sunlight to safe and comfortable levels but also block all but a tiny fraction of solar UV and IR radiation.

Anti reflectivecoating spray

What if you received eclipse glasses or a handheld solar viewer from a relative, friend, neighbor, or acquaintance? If that person is an amateur or professional astronomer — and astronomers have been handing out eclipse viewers like Halloween candy lately — they're probably ISO-compliant, because astronomers usually get their solar filters from sources they know and trust (in other words, from the ones listed on our suppliers page). Ditto for professional astronomical organizations (including college and university physics and astronomy departments) and amateur-astronomy clubs.

Standard lenses only transmit about 91% of light to the eye. The rest is lost to surface reflections. Anti glare glasses, or lenses treated with Anti glare coatings, also known as anti reflection, reflection free, AR or MAR coatings, were developed to reduce reflections for camera lenses and have now become available for prescription glasses lenses.See below two different images which show lenses with or without a coating and the difference it makes to your vision:A lens which has been treated with an anti-glare coating transmits 99.9% of the light which can provide benefits such as:Whilst Driving: An Anti-reflective coat can provide drivers with an increase in safety with faster recognition of potential hazards on the road, particularly at night-time. The reflection of a streetlamp or headlights on your lenses is practically eliminated.For Your Appearance: Anti-reflective coatings improve the clarity of your lenses and virtually eliminate reflections others see in your prescription glasses. By having a pair of anti glare glasses, you'll enjoy direct eye contact, unhindered by distracting reflections! Whilst Working: False light in office surroundings can quickly cause eye fatigue and working on a computer can also put significant strain on the eye. Having an Anti-glare coating will protect your eyes whist working due to the decreased glare, and therefore result in less eye strain.For Increased Durability: An anti-glare coating can further improve the quality and increase the lifetime of your lenses by offering greater scratch resistance, durability and a significant resistance to dirt and water.An Anti-reflective coating can increase the quality and the value of your prescription glasses. Anti-reflective coatings can also help to reduce disturbing or annoying reflections. It will also make your lenses appear much more attractive due to the lack of reflection. You will experience much clearer, sharper and more natural vision with a brilliance that is quite simply not possible with uncoated lenses.We supply free anti reflection coatings to all of our glasses which benefit you with:• Improved vision at night• Reduced glare from computers• Reduced strain on the eye• Your eyes are more visible• And fantastic looking glasses Anti reflection coatings are available for all lens options and designs, such as varifocal lenses, high-index lenses, polycarbonate lenses, photochromic lenses and polarised lenses.Please don't hesitate to contact us should you require any further information and one of our advisers will be happy to assist you in selecting the correct  options & lenses for your prescription, lifestyle and budget.Freephone:0800 690 6220sales@onlineopticiansuk.comFurther Information:https://www.allaboutvision.com/en-gb/eyeglasses/anti-reflective-coating/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-reflective_coatinghttps://science.howstuffworks.com/innovation/science-questions/question615.htmhttps://www.zeiss.co.uk/vision-care/better-vision/health-prevention/lens-coatings-anti-reflective-hard-layer-cleancoat-etc.htmlhttps://ecp.essilor.co.uk/lenses/coatingshttps://www.hoyavision.com/en-us/discover-products/for-spectacle-wearers/anti-reflective-coatings/superior-scratch-resistance/

An anti-glare coating can further improve the quality and increase the lifetime of your lenses by offering greater scratch resistance, durability and a significant resistance to dirt and water.

Note: If your eclipse glasses or viewers are compliant with the ISO 12312-2 safety standard adopted in 2015, you may look at the uneclipsed or partially eclipsed Sun through them for as long as you wish. Furthermore, if the filters aren't scratched, punctured, torn, or coming loose from their frames, you may reuse them indefinitely. Some glasses/viewers — even new ones — are printed with warnings stating that you shouldn't look through them for more than 3 minutes at a time and that you should discard them if they are more than 3 years old. Such warnings do not apply to eclipse viewers certified to meet the ISO 12312-2:2015 standard and may be ignored. Then again, why would you stare at the Sun for more than 3 minutes? A partial eclipse progresses so slowly that there's no point in looking at it for more than a few seconds every few minutes.

Anti reflection coatings are available for all lens options and designs, such as varifocal lenses, high-index lenses, polycarbonate lenses, photochromic lenses and polarised lenses.