What's New in Eyeglass Lenses

New Varilux Comfort Lenses Designed for Easier Switching From Near to Far Viewing

DALLAS, August 2010 — You may already know about Varilux Comfort progressive lenses for presbyopia. Now Varilux has launched New Varilux Comfort, with updates to the lens design to make it easier to move your eyes from the far vision zone to the near.

The idea is to make it easier to quickly change your focus from distant objects to an up-close object, such as your cell phone or other mobile device.

Also, the near vision and distance vision fields are wider by up to 25 percent. According to the company, this could mean more relaxed vision for you, since you won't need to move your head as much to see from side to side. The intermediate zone has less distortion, too, for quick adaptation to the lenses and less swim.

The company has also released New Varilux Comfort Short lenses, meant for the small frames currently in style. Also, New Varilux Comfort Enhanced lenses are a customized design with minimal peripheral distortion and even wider fields of vision.

New Varilux Comfort progressive lenses are available from eye care professionals nationwide.

The Darkest of Them All: New Transitions XTRActive Lenses

PINELLAS PARK, Fla., May 2010 — Transitions Optical has just released its darkest everyday lenses: Transitions XTRActive photochromic lenses. They are designed for people who prefer extra dark lenses outdoors.

In normal and hot temperatures, Transitions XTRActive lenses are darker than Transitions VI lenses.

Behind the windshield of a car, the lenses activate moderately to a comfortable tint level.

Indoors, the lenses provide a slight tint, whereas Transitions VI lenses appear completely clear.

This is because Transitions XTRActive lenses activate under both visible and UV light.

The lenses provide UV 400 protection and block 100 percent of UVA and UVB rays. They are compatible with anti-reflective coatings from major manufacturers.

Transitions lenses are designed to be worn every day and all day as primary prescription lenses and are not intended to replace sunglasses.

iZon SL Polarized Lenses Custom-Made for Wearers

VISTA, Calif., May 2010 — Newly released iZon SL Polarized Lenses by Ophthonix provide high-definition vision in sunny or low contrast conditions. They are designed for optimal vision during outdoor activities on land, water or snow.

The high-definition lenses are custom-made to each person's "iPrint," or optical fingerprint, and can address problems associated with higher-order aberrations.

The polarized lenses provide 100 percent UVA and UVB blocking.

Its coatings are anti-reflective, scratch-resistant and super-hydrophobic (which means water does not stay on the lenses).

Tints are available in gray and brown.

New Progressive Lenses Provide Sharp Vision in Low-Light Conditions

DALLAS, February 2010 — Essilor of America has just released Varilux Physio Enhanced lenses, the company's most advanced progressive lenses to-date.

The lenses are designed with WAVE Technology 2 to provide sharp vision at any distance and light condition.

WAVE Technology 2 addresses four factors that can reduce sharpness: variation in pupil size, patient prescription, light conditions and viewing distance.

These distortions can lead to eye strain for the lens wearer.

The lens design manages these distortions to preserve 93 percent of image sharpness in even low-light conditions.

According to the company, these new lenses are the best in the industry for minimizing distortions.

Varilux Physio Enhanced lenses are dual-sided digitally surfaced and offer wider fields of vision than Varilux Physio lenses.

Shamir Releases Ultra Wrap for Wraparound Frames

SAN DIEGO, February 2010 — Shamir has introduced Ultra Wrap to its SuperLite 1.60 and SuperLite 1.67 lens material lines. With a redesigned back curve, Ultra Wrap accommodates a wider range of nearsighted and farsighted prescriptions for wraparound frames.

The high-index lens material can be used for single vision or progressive lenses, such as the company's Autograph II. It is available in both clear and Transitions lenses.

According to Shamir, it was the first company to create a progressive lens designed specifically for wrap frames. The expanded prescription range of Ultra Wrap means more people can wear wrap frames.

Shamir lenses are available at optical stores nationwide.

Ice-Tech Introduces Thin-Tech Prescription Lenses
for Wraparound Sunglasses

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla., January 2010 — Wraparound sunglass frames have long posed a problem for prescription lens manufacturers: How do you make a corrective lens that is highly curved, yet provides good vision without distortion and bulk?

According to the Ice-Tech people, they've figured it out, using a patents-pending digital process to make a thin sunglass lens with reliable optics in a wide field of view.

One goal of the Ice-Tech research team was to reduce the weight of the lenses, in some cases by up to 50 percent. In one test, for a farsighted prescription of +4.00 diopters, a conventional lens weighed 19.7 grams, with a center thickness of 9.5mm. For the same prescription, the Thin-Tech lens weighed 12 grams, with a center thickness of only 6.2mm. A benefit for nearsighted wearers is the reduced edge thickness at the temples.

Thin-Tech lenses can accept mirror and anti-reflective coatings, too. You can order Thin-Tech sunglass lenses from optical stores nationwide.

Shamir Debuts SuperLite 1.74 Thin Lens Material

SAN DIEGO, January 2010 — Fans of thin lenses will appreciate this new high-index lens material from Shamir. Called SuperLite 1.74, the material can be used in several Shamir single vision and progressive lens designs, including the Autograph line of progressive lenses.

The idea behind high index lens materials is that they are optically denser, providing more vision correction with less lens material. So even if you have a high prescription, you can enjoy thinner, lighter lenses.

Shamir is well known in the optical community for high-quality lens materials and designs, especially in progressive lenses for presbyopia. Shamir lenses are available at optical stores nationwide.

iZon Wavefront-Guided Lenses Now Available
in Transitions Photochromic Tint

VISTA, Calif., October 2009 — iZon SL Lenses in Transitions VI have a UV light-activated (photochromic) tint that make them convenient for many situations, such as shopping and travel, when you don't want to carry around both eyeglasses and sunglasses.

As with all iZon lenses, the new version in Transitions VI is made to your optical fingerprint, to reduce or eliminate the higher-order aberrations that can cause vision problems in low light and reduced contrast conditions, as well as halos and starbursts surrounding lights.

iZon SL Lenses in Transitions VI have a scratch-resistant coating, as well as anti-reflective and moisture-resistant coatings. They come in gray and brown tints and can be used in single vision and progressive addition lens prescriptions.

Self-Adjustable Glasses Let You Fine-Tune Your Vision for All Situations

VAN NUYS, Calif., September 2009 — If you've ever used binoculars, it may have struck you that one of their advantages is the ability to focus the lenses as needed.

TruFocals self-adjustable eyeglasses. Click here to see closeups.

Now the same feature is built into new eyeglasses called TruFocals.

By adjusting a slider on the bridge of the eyeglass frame, you can change your focus from near to intermediate to far, and back again. And you can fine-tune the focus to overcome slight changes in your prescription that may have occurred since your last eye exam.

TruFocals were designed especially for the needs of people with presbyopia, the age-related reduction in near-focusing ability.

Instead of switching from reading glasses to distance glasses and back again, with TruFocals you can wear one pair of glasses that provides the right lens power for your needs — all day long.

According to the company, they overcome problems of distortion and limited areas of focus that occur with traditional bifocal lenses as well as progressive lenses. For example, you don't have to move your head or your eyes to focus on your reading material, as you would with bifocals. You just move the slider.

How do they work? TruFocals are composed of an outer hard lens that is created to your existing eyeglass prescription and an inner flexible lens that contains fluid. As you move the slider, it pushes the fluid to change the shape of the flexible lens, which changes the power of the lens.

Besides the regular lenses, you can also get contrast-enhancing lenses, as well as glare-reducing tinted lenses to use outdoors.

You can order TruFocals through participating eye doctors or by visiting the company's website. You do need a prescription that is less than a year old, to ensure that the lenses will work for you during the full life of your prescription.

Please click here for closeup photos.

Improved Definity Progressive Lenses Now in Durable Trivex Material

DALLAS, July 2009 — Definity progressive lenses now come in the shatter-resistant Trivex material. Trivex is a mid-index plastic that is similar to polycarbonate in its lightweight durability.

Manufacturer Essilor of America says the new version of Definity has improved design symmetry for a wider view of distant scenes, better alignment to see wider in the intermediate range and inset variation to see wider close up.

The lenses come in clear, as well as Transitions VI photochromic gray or brown.

Improve Your Golf Game in Varying Light Conditions

PALM HARBOR, Fla., June 2009 — If you're a golfer who wears multifocal lenses, new Definity Fairway Transitions SolFx lenses were designed to meet your needs, whether you're in the sun or the shade.

Definity Fairway Transitions SolFx lenses compared with other sunglasses. Click here to see larger photos.

In sun or shade, Definity Fairway Transitions SolFx lenses (left) are designed to improve contrast no matter the light conditions.

Definity lenses by Essilor of America have a multifocal design with Dual Add 2.0 Technology, which creates a fourth zone of vision for clearer vision when you look down.

In a study, golfers preferred Definity lenses by seven to one during course play. They reported less peripheral distortion, a 30 percent wider intermediate zone and smoother transitions between distance, intermediate and near vision zones.

Essilor has paired the Definity lens with the SolFx sunglass technology by Transitions Optical. The sun-activated lenses adjust their degree of darkness to variable outdoor light conditions automatically, changing from amber to a darker brown and back again, as the light changes.

Contrast and depth perception improve, according to the company, so you can see the ball and the contour of the greens better.

Definity Fairway Transitions SolFx lenses also protect eyes against UV rays and come with Crizal Sun Mirror coatings to reduce back-side reflections and improve scratch resistance and cleanability.

Please click here to see a comparison with other sunglass lenses.

New Crizal Sun Lenses With Scotchgard Protector

DALLAS, April 2009 — Newly released Crizal Sun lenses with Scotchgard Protector provide freedom from annoying scratches and smudges, for optimal clarity.

The scratch-resistant layer has a slippery surface to reduce grease, dirt, smudges and water adhesion. A super-hydrophobic top coat allows for easy cleaning on both sides of the lenses; and a double-sided hard coat with glass-like silica particles heightens durability of the lenses.

Crizal Sun uses an anti-reflective technology on the backside of the lens to eliminate glare, reducing eye strain and discomfort. This is particularly important in bright environments where water, snow, sand and pavement may be present. The anti-reflective technology is not applied to the front side of the lens, so there is no undesirable color change. The lens coating technology also prevents peeling and fading over time.