Both polarized and tinted lenses will have a tint to them, but they’re not the same. Tinted glasses do help reduce brightness and come in a variety of colors, but they don’t eliminate glare by blocking the horizontal light like polarized glasses do.

Tinted Lenses

Tinted lenses are treated with a pigment that can range from brown or gray to red and pink. Many times, people choose these tints based on personal preference, but it’s important to remember that the tints themselves can be made darker or lighter, and darker tints offer more light protection. For maximum sun protection, we recommend at least a 75% density tint.

Tinted glasses can enhance contrast and image resolution, reduce glare and minimize eyestrain. The different tint colors are good for different activities. See the list below.

When purchasing tinted glasses, make sure they offer ultraviolet protection.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized lenses block out the reflective light that bounces off of water, windshields, wet roads, cars and other shiny surfaces. That glare comes from horizontal light waves, which are blocked with the filter applied to polarized lenses. It’s helpful to think of polarized lenses in the context of horizontal blinds. They block out the horizontal light, but let the vertical light come through, making it easier to see.

Polarized glasses minimize eye strain from trying to see through glare, and improve color saturation and contrast. We also recommend ensuring that your polarized glasses offer protection from the sun’s ultraviolet rays. The different tints are helpful for different activities:

• Gray and black tints are good for all-purpose wear in bright-light conditions.
• Brown and amber tints are better for variable light conditions and are a good choice for fishing, hunting and cycling.
• Green tints are also a good all-purpose choice. They help dim glare while brightening shadows, and are often chosen for precision sports like golf.
• Yellow lenses perform best in low-light conditions, such as dawn and dusk, and are often chosen for snow sports.
• Pink and red colors provide the most contrast and improve visual depth. They’re great for road visibility.
• Blue and purple tints are trendier colors. They enhance contours around objects and improve color perception.

There are some cases in which polarized glasses are not recommended. Since liquid crystal display (LCD) screens like televisions, monitors and phones are so polarized, polarized lenses tend to obstruct the view of them. Therefore, a pilot would not do well to wear polarized glasses, since they must monitor a number of displays while flying. Also, skiers and snowboarders may want to avoid polarized glasses, since head movement can cause changes in brightness and make it difficult to judge snow conditions.

Tinted and polarized glasses at Payne

Payne Glasses offers a wide variety of prescription and non-prescription tinted and polarized glasses for women, men and kids, all at competitive prices. Our sunglasses selection is all designed with 100% ultraviolet protection. We also offer standard and gradient tints, photochromatic lens that darken when exposed to sunlight, photochromatic blue light blockers, clip-on sunglasses and polarized and non-polarized sunglasses.

Read more about how to order sunglasses from Payne.

Feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.