Products & ideas for the laboratory professional.
Issue link: https://opticallabproducts.epubxp.com/i/233472
FEATURE AR LENS COATINGS Shining a Light on Anti-Refective Lenses Labs and equipment manufacturers are seeing a lot more activity in the AR segment than in the recent past. BY ROBERT LEROSE THE anti-refective (AR) lens market seems to have come out of the recent recession in strong shape. According to The Vision Council's third quarter 2013 U.S. optical market overview and outlook, prices for AR lenses continued to jump signifcantly in the 12-month period ending in September 2013, partly due to a surge for AR coating in high-index and progressive addition lenses. More than 22.7 million pairs of AR lenses were sold—or 29.09% of total lens sales. Men, consumers under 35, and households with incomes of $60,000 or more were among the groups driving demand. With prices for AR lenses ranging from $45 to $100 and more per pair on average, the report estimates that AR sales during the 12-month period to September '13 topped $4.66 billion—a dollar volume increase of 9.2% from year-ago numbers. Independent eyecare professionals (ECPs) accounted for the majority of sales (41.6% of unit pair sales), with little new sales activity coming from conventional optical chains or department stores. Most of the observed growth in sales recently can be attributed to rising AR lens sales among mass merchant/wholesale club outlets. With this spike in demand for AR likely to continue, labs and AR equipment manufacturers are meeting the demand with a variety of equipment, products, and solutions. NEW TYPES OF COATINGS A new attitude toward AR lenses may be behind the rise in popularity. "I really think that for the frst time with the UV ARs and some of the other coatings that we're doing, it's starting to be understood in the U.S. industry that this is a scientifc medical device," says Norman Kester, president of Quantum Innovations, Inc. a manufacturer of coating and fnishing lab equipment. "Some things we're doing to affect light can really bring benefts to customers, instead of looking at this as an add-on that a consumer may or may not want. This is really an advantageous thing for the lens wearer." Since introducing its Fusion-M In-Line Coating System to the marketplace in December 2012, Quantum has seen a steady demand for it both here and abroad. The Fusion-M allows thin flm coatings to be used on a Quantum's Fusion-M In-Line Coating System features a fast cycle time, small footprint, and versatile coating process. 8 january 2014 Satisloh's new AR coater, 1200 MPX, can coat 6,000 lenses a day. single lens basis, allowing the ECP to have complete fexibility over the design of the lens. Because of the limitations of batch coating in the past, labs had to do a full run to adequately capitalize on their equipment. Not anymore. "Now when you take it down to a single lens piece, you can do whatever the consumer is requesting of you on a lens-by-lens basis—whether it's a blue or green or gold AR or whatever they want," Kester explains. "This also allows for linear processing of jobs, which is really the best way to manufacture overall. The Fusion has really taken off for us. We're pretty excited about it." The Fusion-M features quick startup and shutdown times, and can process a fully coated pair of lenses on both sides in less than 10 minutes. Privately branded AR has helped Quantum rack up fve consecutive years of double-digit growth. They are also seeing a lot of labs diversifying away from singular products and moving into different coatings. But for AR to continue growing, optometrists and opticians need to be better educated about the sophisticated qualities of coatings. "This is really a phenomenal device we're putting over the top of lenses," Kester states. "Once people really grasp this and see the medical and scientifc value— that we're blocking refection of light, increasing the transmission of light, and transferring energy from one photon to another to help the patient see better—AR will be prescribed more and we'll see a lot of growth in this area." Kester sees huge potential and opportunity in the expanded use of thin flm coatings to further refne issues on the lens surface. He cites Essilor of America, Inc.'s lead in this area, and applauds EnChroma Inc.'s thin flm design for helping to treat color blindness. "I think we're going to see some exploding technologies on the market in the next 12 to 18 months," Kester concludes. AR SEES STEADY GROWTH Despite the rosy results of The Vision Council's report, Leybold Optics USA sees a slow, steady growth in AR. While almost any pair of lenses will be vastly improved with an AR coating, the more modest growth may be attributed, in part, to outdated perceptions. "There is a valid reason that everybody should have AR, but we're still up against old perceptions of old AR processes from the past that, quite frankly, weren't that good," says totallyoptical.com