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When shopping for new glasses, you may have heard the term “AR Coating” or “Anti-Reflective Coating”; but what does that mean? Great question! In the Optical Business, we know AR Coatings as a specific type of thin film coating; and while there are many different AR coatings with many different purposes, the single most important thing they all do is let more light get to your eye (also known as ‘light transmission’).  Even when you have what appears to be a crystal-clear lens, some light is still lost due to the reflection of light off its surface; meaning you will literally see less. It’s been estimated that uncoated lenses transmit between 85%-96% of available light to the eye. But when light interacted with an AR-coated lens, 98%-99.5% was transmitted. That is the power of an AR thin film coating.

But what is a “thin film coating”? As the name implies, a thin film coating is essentially an invisible stack of thin layers applied to your lenses. These layers are incredibly important because they control how light interacts with your lenses before it reaches your eyes; primarily, bringing more good light to your eye while blocking the harmful light. It is through these thin film coatings that we at Quantum create products you’ve likely heard of, like blue light coatings or UV-blocking glasses.

How thin is a thin film coating? A single layer of a thin film coating is usually a few hundred nanometers thick. That sounds like a lot, until you realize a human hair is at least 80,000 nanometers! Isn’t it crazy that such a thin coating can have such a big impact on how you see?

Think of your lens coating like a light filter: it helps manage different types of light, allowing certain wavelengths to pass through while reflecting or absorbing others. Thin film coatings are often used for less glare, improved clarity, or reduced blue light from digital screens.

There’s a wide variety of coatings and benefits you can add to your glasses, especially if you spend a lot of time in front of screens, drive at night, want your glasses to look as clear as possible in photos, or want to reduce distracting reflections. When choosing your next pair of glasses, ask your eye-care professional which coating options are available, and which benefits may be most useful for your everyday visual needs.

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