RE-DISCOVER POLYCARBONATE
The polycarbonate lens of today is not the same lens that it was five years ago, not even two
years ago. The advancement of lens technology has vastly improved the optical quality of
polycarbonate lenses, dramatically reducing color dispersion and chromatic aberrations within
the lens. To be successful in optics today, people have to discard old myths about polycarbonate.
Knowing the history of polycarbonate will help you to better understand this material and
realize the many benefits it has to offer. Polycarbonate was originally designed for canopies that
cover cockpits in fighter planes. It offered an impact-resistant optically clear window to allow
the pilots a full-field of vision without compromising his/her safety. Polycarbonate was also
used for bullet-proof windows for armored cars and trucks. The leading manufacturer of
polycarbonate, also known as Lexan, is General Electric. GE supplies the many different
industries with polycarbonate material. One of the most popular users of polycarbonate is the
music industry, who uses it to create compact disks (CD’s). Optical manufacturers of
polycarbonate lenses were not happy with the initial quality of the material, so they went to GE
to voice their complaints. Because there was not a high demand for polycarbonate in the optical
industry (not enough money involved), GE would not listen. However, a short-time later, the
music industry complained to GE about the quality and threatened to not use polycarbonate for
compact disk manufacturing. Because of the music industry’s huge buying power, GE listened
to their complaints and began to research polycarbonate. Soon afterwards, the quality of
polycarbonate increased dramatically, thus increasing the quality of polycarbonate optical
products.
At the same time, the lens manufacturers were working on improving their won
polycarbonate manufacturing techniques. They were using the same molds to process both
CR39 and poly. The pressure was not strong enough, so the lens surface of poly was not coming
out smooth and clean. There were microscopic pits on the lens surface that reflected light
causing color dispersion and aberrations. Over the years manufacturers worked hard to correct
these errors. With newer more advanced technology, they were able to improve their processing
methods. Now they use separate molds and even separate manufacturing plants to produce poly.
Some companies specialize in solely polycarbonate products and nothing else. Now that
polycarbonate is a cleaner, more pure material and manufacturing methods have advanced, the
lenses no longer have the negative traits of the past. Today’s polycarbonate is dramatically
different from the first generation of products. It is far superior in all aspects, old myths
regarding optical acuity no longer apply.
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ADVANTAGES OF POLYCARBONATE
FEATURES
BENEFITS
1) Light-weight
1) More Comfortable
2) Thinner than plastic and some
2) More Cosmetically Appealing
high index lenses
3) Scratch guard and UV Protection
3) Added protection for patients
4) Value Priced
4) More features and performance
for the money
AVAILABILITY
SINGLE VISION – spherical, aspheric, transitions III and polarized
FLAT-TOP 28 – spherical and aspheric
FLAT-TOP 35 - spherical
7X28, 8X35 - spherical
PROGRESSIVES – Adaptar, Comfort, Panamic, Percepta, XL, VIP, Varivue and Outlook
POLARIZED PROGRESSIVE BY VARIVUE OR KBCO FUSION II
SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE
CR39
SV - $60.00
SRC- $15.00
UV - $15.00
TOTAL
$90.00
WHOLESALE
$30.00
GROSS PROFIT
$60.00
POLY
SV $110.00
SRC- $0.00
UV $0.00
$110.00
$28.75
$81.25
1.60
SV $125.00
SRC- $0.00
UV $0.00
$125.00
$57.50
$67.50
Polycarbonate has the highest profit margin of any lens. This means that you can make more
money with poly than any other lens. When offering this lens to a patient, be sure to explain all
of the benefits and features of polycarbonate. These features include scratch resistant coating,
UV protection and superior impact resistance.
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