Antireflection coating standards of ophthalmic resin lens materials

Current estimates of the percentage of anti-reflection coated lenses verses uncoated in the market today range from 3% in the United States (US.), to 60% in Europe, to 80% in Japan. Currently upwards of 80% of all prescription eyewear lenses dispensed are resin. Glass lenses lose market share yearly, as scratch resistant coatings on resin lenses are improved. Photochromic resin materials are also improving and will shortly equal the performance of glass photockromics. Until recently, the performance characteristics of ophthalmic lenses were divided into two schools. In Europe, the emphasis was on keeping the reflections to an absolute minimum, while in the Asian market the emphasis was on producing a lens, which had exceptional scratch resistance. A typical European lens may average .4% reflection across the visible spectrum (400 to 700 urn.), while the Asian lenses averaged in the 1.5% range. The growth ofAR coating in the U.S. 80 million pair a year total ophthalmic market has been lagging foreign markets for several reasons.