Products & ideas for the laboratory professional.
Issue link: https://opticallabproducts.epubxp.com/i/233472
FEATURE AR LENS COATINGS The Mini Coating System from Leybold Optics is ideal for labs with tight space requirements. '' "There is a valid reason that everybody should have AR, but we're still up against old perceptions." of AR vacuum chambers now at levels we have not seen since the early 2000s." Over the next fve years, Peterson sees the most growth in AR and digital surfacing as independent wholesale, and integrated retail labs become more active in this segment. Like OptoTech and Leybold, Satisloh has a range of options for every kind of lab, from systems that coat two pairs of lenses at a time in 10 minutes to large box coaters with a 200-lens capacity. Satisloh has also pioneered its time-saving "On The Block" manufacturing technology. "With this, we can hardcoat and AR coat lenses while they are still on the surfacing block in either a manual micro system or by using an automated production line without operator handling," Peterson explains. At SLUGfest last June, Satisloh launched a new AR coater for mass production, the 1200 MPX, which can coat 6,000 lenses a day. In the future, Peterson sees "lens manufacturers supplying semi-fnished frontside and AR coated lenses, both unblocked and preblocked, to labs, and the labs will only apply the backside AR to the lens after surfacing." As old perceptions die and new realities set in, AR could become a new growth area in the U.S. for labs to rival the market penetration in other parts of the world. Robert Lerose is a freelance writer in New York. LAB OWNERS SPEAK OUT ABOUT AR "Today most people spend a great deal of time on "We are seeing a greater demand for AR on packages, such as computers, video games, and a wide variety of digital devices. Many getting a frame, lens, and AR together. We include AR on many of these devices have an intense LED blue light that can cause eye- of our free-form designs. It is a natural enhancement that is strain and fatigue.The big trend now is anti-reflective treatments being very well received." that combat this HEV Blue-Violet light. Luzerne Optical Laboratories - LLOYD YAZBEK, president, Central One Optical ® produces a product called BlueScreen and also provides Crizal Prevencia™ UV and BluTech lenses as protection from this light." "We have seen a large increase in the number of AR-coated - NEIL DOUGHERTY, GM/owner, Luzerne Optical Laboratories lenses being ordered by eyecare professionals. We attribute this growth to the excellent quality and choice of available "We have plenty of capacity for more AR. We are running three AR coatings at reasonable price points. AR coatings will continue top-of-the-line coaters with the most efficient processes 16 hours to soar in the U.S. and US Optical is a day, five days a week. That means we have 88 hours where we continuing to prepare itself for are not running. AR is now at 51% of all orders compared to that growth." 42% last year at this time." - RALPH COTRAN, vice president, - GREG RUDEN, president, Expert Optics 10 january 2014 US Optical totallyoptical.com