Polarized Sunglasses

Light reflected from surfaces such as a flat road or smooth water is generally horizontally polarized. This means that, instead of light being scattered in all directions in more usual ways, reflected light generally travels in a more horizontally oriented direction. This creates an annoying and sometimes dangerous intensity of light that we experience as glare.

Polarized lenses contain a special filter that blocks this type of intense reflected light, reducing glare. As a result, object viewed through a polarized lens are clearer and more vivid in color,  as illustrated below.