Smith Optics Media Punchbowl 2.0

Smith Optics Polarchromic™ lens technology is the ultimate in eyewear innovation.  This lens technology, combines the benefits of glare obliterating polarization with the advantage of photochromic light sensitivity which allows your shades to automatically self-adjust their tint in response to ambient UV light conditions. We start with either our photochromic Techlite or Carbonic lens blanks which are actually each compromised of two thin lens wafers.  We then take the highest quality polarized film in the world which is exactingly pre-shaped to perfectly match the curvature of our lenses and sandwich this film between the two lens wafers protecting it from scratching and the elements, ensuring distortion free polarization.    So what about all of this Polarchromic stuff?  What is it and how does it work?  Smith Optics Polarchromic™ lenses use either a unique silver halide crystal structure which is combined with the silica in the manufacture of Techlite™ glass lenses or, in the case of Carbonic lenses, a proprietary dye is mixed with the Carbonic slurry in the injection process.  Silver halide crystals change shape and orientation when exposed to UV light which adjusts the tint of the lens.  The dye in the Carbonic lenses chemically reacts to UV light much in the same way and darkens or lightens depending on UV intensity.  Thes lenses retain their photochromic properties indefinitely, certainly outliving the life of the frame itself.  Smith Polarchromic™ lenses have anecdotally endured the harsh light conditions of the Caribbean for over 18 years of daily use by some of our guides!Spanning a range of approximately 10%-35% VLT (Visible Light Transmission) Polarchromic™ lenses need only 10-25 seconds to fully transform from dark to light or vice versa depending on UV light intensity.  The result is a lens tint which is perfect at every moment of the day from dawn to dusk particularly at hours when the benefits of polarized are vital but the lens tint has to be light enough to see.  Smith Polarchromic is not only the most perfect lens for every use, it’s the smartest as well.

                                                   Without TLT Optics (left) vs With TLT Optics (right)

When light passes through anything whether it be water, glass, or plastic, its course is altered as all of these materials are denser than air and as a result slow the speed of the light rays.  When the medium happens to be a sunglass lens, the deviation is what leads to optical distortion.  Not a pretty sight.  And not a good thing for your eyes. 
Curiously, eyes are a little like feet.  Jam your feet into a pair of shoes which do not fit, your toes get cramped, arches ache and soon your dogs get tired.  The same goes with a pair of ill-designed shades.  Your eyes are essentially muscles.  When you wear a pair of sunglasses which have not compensated for the curvature of the lens and actively correct the path of the light rays passing through them, what you get on the other side is a distorted picture which your eyes have to strain to make any sense of.  At its most benign this leads to fatigue, headaches and the like.  Over time, however, more serious conditions can arise which actually lead to needing prescription eyewear.
Unchecked, the curvature of sunglass lenses can accentuate this distortion which is why the lab rats at Smith have developed something called Tapered Lens Technology, or TLT Optics.
TLT Optics takes into account the curvature of the lens and corrects the light rays by means of progressively tapering the lens.  Since the distance from the center or focal point of the lens to the pupil changes as you reach the edge of the lens, light must travel further to reach your eye from the edge than it does the center.  Thus, the rate at which light passes through the lens must be controlled such that the entire image captured by the lens reaches the pupil in all axes at the exact same moment.  From the center to the periphery the lens is precisely graduated or tapered in thickness (similar to how corrective eyewear manipulates light to accommodate for irregularities in the prescription wearer’s eyes)  the result being a lens which is slightly thinner at the edges than at the center.  To accomplish this, the lens must be precisely shaped to correct the image and deliver it to your eyes with crisp clarity.   TLT™ Optics is a precision lens grinding process which attunes lens thickness on the nanoscopic level to compensate for lens curvature, ensuring 100% distortion free optics. 
TLT Optics.  Precision optical technology ensuring what you see is what you get!

Smith Optics’ Techlite™ Glass is the premium in sunglass technology:  ultra light weight, super durable, scratch and shatter resistant, and optically precise. What does this mean to the layman, aka “Joe Sixpack”?  Take the weight and fragility out of your glass lenses and you have the best sunglasses your eyes have had the pleasure of looking through. Using ultra thin glass wafers chemically treated for shatter resistance, Techlite™ surpasses ANSI Z80.3 impact testing standards while remaining the lightest weight glass lens product on the market.  Techlite™ offers bomber scratch resistance thanks to its hard silica compound making it the most durable glass lens on the market.  Known for its optical precision and clarity, Techlite™ glass utilizes Smith Optics’ TLT™ (Tapered Lens Technology) Optics.  TLT™ Optics is a precision lens shaping process which attunes lens thickness on the nanoscopic level to compensate for lens curvature, ensuring 100% distortion free optics. So why wear sunglasses at all?  The sun, though it might be our friend has some nasty habits.  One of which is damaging your peepers with its UV light leading several maladies including cataracts, glaucoma, and the like.  Techlite glass blocks 100% of UV A/B/C light protection your eyes from the sun’s damaging rays and make sure that even in old age you have the eyes of a hawk.

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