At Eyewear Canada we offer a wide variety of lenses and add-ons for your eyeglasses.
Single Vision Lenses
Single vision glasses are designed to help people who require correction of farsightedness, nearsightedness, or astigmatism. These eyeglasses have just a single optical prescription correction and they distribute focus evenly over the entire surface area of the lens. Most people that wear glasses usually get this type. If you have multiple prescriptions you would require bifocal or multifocal eyeglasses.
What Are Multifocal Eyeglass Lenses?
If you're in your mid 40s or older, you probably have glasses with multifocal lenses, like bifocals or trifocals. These have two or more prescriptions to correct your vision. In the past, you could spot this type of lens by the line between the two sections. But today’s products often look seamless.
Progressive Lenses
Progressive or varifocal lenses provide a smooth transition from distance correction to near correction, eliminating segment lines and allowing clear vision at all distances, including intermediate, near and far. Progressive lenses are also known as no-line bifocal lenses. With these specialty lenses, the prescription at the top of the lens is different from that at the bottom of the lens. It differs from a bi-focal as there is a gradual shift in the prescription instead of a blunt line made in the lens. The very top part of the lens works well for distance. The bottom portion gets progressively stronger ending with the strongest portion at the very bottom for reading. A progressive lens allows the wearer to view all ranges of vision from near to far. Additionally, the lenses look identical to single vision lenses, with no lines, allowing others to only see your eyes!
Bifocal Lenses
The primary purpose of glasses bifocals is to provide the optimal balance between distance vision and near vision focusing needs. Eyeglasses with bifocal lenses are available with the reading segments in a variety of shapes and widths including bifocal sunglass options.
Trifocal lenses
Trifocal lenses are similar to bifocals, except that the two focal areas are separated by a third middle area with intermediate focus correction. This area is used for intermediate vision; roughly at arms’ length, e.g. computer distance. This lens type has two segment lines, dividing the three different correcting segments.
What Types of Lenses Are Available?
As technology advances, so do lenses. In the past, they were made exclusively of glass. Today, most are made of high-tech plastics. These new ones are lighter, don’t break as easily as glass, and can be treated with a filter to shield your eyes from damaging ultraviolet (UV) light.
The following lenses are lighter, thinner, and more scratch-resistant than glass or the older plastic types.
Polycarbonate. These impact-resistant lenses are a good choice if you play sports, work where your eyeglasses could easily get damaged, or have kids who are tough on their specs. They also have built-in UV protection.
High-index plastic. If you need a strong prescription, these lenses are lighter and thinner than the old-school super-thick ones you may have had in the past.
Photochromic. Sunlight changes these from clear to tinted. You may no longer need sunglasses, although they may not darken in your car if the windshield blocks UV rays. They can be either glass or plastic.
Polarized sunglasses. These lenses reduce glare from a surface like water, so they’re great for sports and driving. But they can make it hard to see the liquid crystal display on your car’s dashboard.
Blue-Light-Filtering Lenses
These lenses filter more blue light than our standard polycarbonate or high-index lenses and can be added when you select the lenses for your frames.
Eyeglass Lens Coatings
There are almost as many coatings as there are lenses.
Anti-reflective. It can help with glare, reflections, halos around light, and make for a nicer look.
Scratch-resistant and ultraviolet protection. Most lenses today have these built in.
Tinted lenses. Sometimes, a light or dark hint of color on the lens can help you see better. A yellow tint may increase contrast. A gray tint to your sunglasses won’t change the colors of things. A light tint can hide signs of aging around your eyes.
Mirror coatings. This is purely for looks, but it does hide your eyes from view. You can find them in a range of colors like silver, gold, and blue.
