Coated spectacle lenses are a complete scam

jpaul said:
LOL - if you get the decent hard coatings you put glasses in the dishwasher for a full clean/auto-clave, mine have inadvertently been in the washing machine,
haven't tried using a hot air gun to dry them yet.
Click to expand...

You are very supportive of lens coatings.

Let them go.

Yes, you've paid lots of money for them over the years and evidently learned lots about them, but they're a big scam and the cat is out of the bag.

Let lens coatings go
 
Lens coatings and lens thickness are value added options.

However they're not upfront about side effects.

Polarised coatings can make it almost impossible to look at a screen due to the mechanics of screens and the mechanics of polarising.

Anti glare means people looking at you see a weird purple light on your lenses and sometimes you see it too when light is at certain angles.

Thinner lenses is done by changing the material but other properties are different too. Polycarbonate can easily create obnoxious visual artefacts from chromatic aberration so the light you see bouncing off an object is split as it passes through your lenses giving you a personal view of that object with an incredible split light aura, mostly blue/purple to one side and yellow/red to the other. It will be a larger glow the more you look towards the edges of the lenses and brighter if the object itself matches the rainbow glow colour. This is down to what it's Abbe number is. Polycarbonate is an upsell over standard CR-39 lenses by being thinner and differently resistant to damage but its Abbe number is worse.

You're not going to see this posted at the point of sale or mentioned in the spiel.
 
Last edited:
i have coated lenses and the coating is coming off. glasses are 10 years old from boots. not impressed. next time will not bother with this anti glare coating scam. also the lenses are plastic and not really glass so dunno why they are called glasses?
 
Hotwired said:
Anti glare means people looking at you see a weird purple light on your lenses and sometimes you see it too when light is at certain angles.
Click to expand...
yes at a very acute angle to the normal - but usually other people can see your eyes, to mutual benefit, you get the contract.

I don't want a car HUD until they deploy the laser based solution that works with polarised glasses, and, I suspect, many of the car screens show reduced brightness/colour shift when using polarized glasses.

yes I had to send back some polycarbonate glasses about 15 years ago(only pair i ever returned) - lesson learned , who cares if they will stop a ball bearing (for my job anyway)

jpaul said:
Unlike the car market, say where you could test drive different brands ... it's a blind purchase -
when I come to replace the 10year old varifocals I have, if I choose specsavers and the lense quality is, subjectively worse, than what I have now when new, I'll reject them.
even if the prescription is right.. (scratch resistant coatings are definitely invaluable for lense life)

I rejected some rimless, PolyCarbonate varifocals in the past, because they have an execssive prismatic effect (chromatic eberration due to PC ) looking off axis .. and went to a different store.
Click to expand...
 
visibleman said:
Did Specsavers hand out your measurements/PD's etc?
Last time i got my eyes done at my local they wouldn't :(
Click to expand...

Legally they are obliged to give you a copy of the prescription:

www.nhs.uk

Visiting an optician

Find out what to expect when you visit an opticians, including having an eye test, what happens after the test, and how to make a complaint if you're not happy with the service or treatment provided.
www.nhs.uk www.nhs.uk

IIRC everything needed to order glasses was in the prescription except the PD, but I measured this myself.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
i have coated lenses and the coating is coming off. glasses are 10 years old from boots. not impressed. next time will not bother with this anti glare coating scam. also the lenses are plastic and not really glass so dunno why they are called glasses?
Click to expand...

Mine are called a pair of plastices ;)
 
You anti-coating lot are crazy :p

Last time I got glasses many years ago I used glasses direct, got one pair with a bunch of options (anti-glare, 'reactions', thin lenses etc) and the second/'free' pair with nothing, sure they work as a backup but the ones with all the coatings are significantly better all around.
 
bainbridge said:
That's want they want you to believe.
Click to expand...

What's not to believe? They are definately coated as you can see it. They are so much cheaper than a optician does it really matter if they build in a fee for the coatings?


visibleman said:
Did Specsavers hand out your measurements/PD's etc?
Last time i got my eyes done at my local they wouldn't :(
Click to expand...

They have to give your prescription to you but they will withold the PD. I already measured mine and my wifes myself and it was confirmed when we went to a local optician a few years (Specsavers couldn't get us both in together for several months) back as they said the measurement out loud when taking it.
 
I had to start wearing glasses a few years ago as ive developed astigmatism, I went to specsavers and got a cheap pair with no coatings and they were terrible, all i could see was my own eyes reflected at me plus they were to magnified and gave me bad headaches.
I went to vision express next and got another eye test that had different results, got some cheap glasses but this time with the coatings and they're fine. Still wearing them now after 2 years with no problems.
 
Last edited:
I get the polarised filter on my prescription sunglasses lenses, and blue light filter on my reading/computer glasses, and they're both invaluable to me.
 
As a glasses wearer on a night (wear contacts during the day) I like the anti glare, it makes a nice difference to me. Not sure I'd get polarised glasses though, could be annoying depending on polarisation of tvs/monitors. Well worth getting polarised on sunglasses though (although I use none prescription sunglasses as they're miles cheaper).
 
I buy mine from Specsavers 2 pairs for 1.

I thought I'd get a new fancy pair so splashed out on the 99quid frames. By the time they had sold me the magic coatings it was closer to 200 quid. ( I changed money to £, not weird Sweden money)

I felt ripped but I thought I'd try it.... At least once....
I think I'll just get 4 pairs next time instead.
 
Cyber-Mav said:
i have coated lenses and the coating is coming off. glasses are 10 years old from boots. not impressed. next time will not bother with this anti glare coating scam. also the lenses are plastic and not really glass so dunno why they are called glasses?
Click to expand...

Because the original material for spectacle lenses was glass. They became casually known as glasses and the name stuck. You could use the proper name instead - spectacles. They're unlikely to ever be renamed "plastics".

10 years isn't bad for a coating on a product to last.

Efour said:
I buy mine from Specsavers 2 pairs for 1.

I thought I'd get a new fancy pair so splashed out on the 99quid frames. By the time they had sold me the magic coatings it was closer to 200 quid. ( I changed money to £, not weird Sweden money)

I felt ripped but I thought I'd try it.... At least once....
I think I'll just get 4 pairs next time instead.
Click to expand...

That's the real issue with coatings - they're usually sold at a vast markup to increase the overall profit margin. Neither the material or the application process is particularly expensive.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom