We offer only the highest quality lenses, coatings, and treatments including Varilux, Sola, Carl Zeiss, Transitions, Teflon antireflective, anti-scratch, and anti-UV coating. We use only those laboratories willing to guarantee their work and we back up our frames and lenses with a 100% satisfaction guarantee!
Eyeglass Lens Options:
Polycarbonate
Polycarbonate is an extremely durable lens. A sledge hammer would just bounce off the lens! Other advantages of polycarbonate is that it is lightweight, thinner, and filters UV light automatically. This makes polycarbonate ideal for children, safety glasses, sports goggles, and monocular patients (those with only one eye that functions well). It is available with an anti-reflective coating, Transitions, and progressive lenses.
The only downside to polycarbonate is that it may cause chromatic aberration in patients with real thick lenses. Chromatic aberration is when you see color ghosting on the edges of objects (usually yellow and blue). Interestingly, this chromatic aberration disappears to a great extent as your brain's perceptual system adapts to the lenses. This chromatic aberration does not occur in thinner prescriptions.
back to top
High Index Lenses
Like Polycarbonate, these lenses are thinner. The advantage to high index lenses is that they do not cause chromatic aberration in patients with thicker prescriptions. So these lenses are ideal for anyone with with ordinarily thick lenses. Usually we recommend high index with more than -/+ 2.50 diopters of power. "Super" high index is available for those with even more severe vision error such as beyond -/+ 5.00 diopters. Our patients seem to be very satisfied with these lenses. They are available with anti-reflective coating, Transitions, and progressive lenses.
These lenses are not unbreakable like polycarbonate lenses.
back to top
Anti-Reflection Lenses (AR)
Almost everyone gets an anti-reflection coating on their lenses these days. It eliminates reflections and the higher quality anti-reflection coatings also provide scratch resistance. It allows more light to get through your lenses to your eyes. Anti-reflection is ideal for anyone who wants to see well, especially at night. It is also ideal for those who work with the public in any way. People notice your eyes rather than the reflections off your eyeglasses. If you want compliments on your glasses, antireflection is for you. A good quality anti-reflection coating is scratch resistant, smudge resistant, dust resistant, and does not peel or wear off. We guarantee our anti-reflection for this reason.
You may be able to get a lower quality anti-reflection for about $20.00 less. However no one complains more about their glasses than people that have a "cheap" antireflection coating. For one, they are hard to keep clean. They smudge easily. They collect dust. They scratch easily, and make the lenses look hazy as they wear down. You definitely get more value by spending a little extra to get the better quality anti-reflected lenses.
back to top
Progressive Addition Lenses (PAL)
This is now the preferred lens for patients above 43 years old. You can see all distances from far away to up close. This is ideal for anyone that needs to switch from distance, near, and intermediate constantly all day long, and doesn't want to be switching glasses all the time. These lenses have no line bifocal in them, so no one knows you're wearing multifocal lenses. Progressive lenses are available also in polycarbonate and high-index materials and of course with anti-reflection.
The downside to these lenses is that you have to learn to find the clear zone for each distance. At first this can be a little frustrating because you're busy and don't have time to think about finding the zone. But as you wear the lenses, you begin to automatically find the zone without looking for it. After awhile you don't even remember that you're wearing glasses. Once you reach this point, within days to weeks of wearing the lenses, it is as if you didn't even have the problem of not being able to read at all distances! These patients absolutely love their progressive lenses and would never go to anything else.
It used to be you could not get these lenses in the narrower frames. There are now, however, many excellent options for those wanting to wear progressive lenses in narrower frames. No more limits!
back to top
Transition Lenses
These are lenses that get dark outside and clear indoors. They are ideal for people that don't want to change glasses when going outside, but are not super light sensitive. They "take the edge off" the sun. They work better in cold than heat and do not work as well in the car, since they are activated by UV light rays and windshields block a large portion of UV light. But many people swear by these lenses and will not get anything else. Transitions are available in all materials and with all coatings.
back to top
Computer Glasses
If you spend several hours on the computer, and have no demand for distance vision while at the computer, why not get glasses that maximizes your computer vision? These lenses are multifocal, but the top part of the lenses are for the computer and the bottom are for closer up vision. This is great because you don't have to raise your head to see the computer. This means less neck strain. We can do this in lined bifocal or progressive lenses. Lined bifocals are great if you have a lot of spread out near work. Dr. Quaranta can make your prescription for computer glasses. Just ask!
back to top
Aspheric Lenses
If you usually have thick plus lenses, then you know the peripheral vision can be more magnified in your lenses than the center vision. This creates all kinds of annoying distortions in your vision. Aspheric lenses minimize those peripheral distortions. When combined with a high-index lens, aspheric lenses create your most pleasant vision experience if you are very far-sighted. We will automatically consider this option if you have this kind of vision.
back to top
For more information or to make an appointment call 48... or e-mail us.
Back to Vision Correction Options