Serving Washington D.C., Montgomery County, and Northern Virginia
When choosing a new pair of glasses, many tend to only think about the new frames they are purchasing and don't always consider whether the lenses will properly address their vision needs. At Voorthuis, we offer lenses at all different levels of performance – from the latest in digitally enhanced technological developments with tailor-made options for the best possible vision, to great value ranges suitable for all budgets and uses. Regardless of your budget, taking the time to choose the right lens is worth the time and money spent.
Not all lenses are made alike and our job is to help you choose a lens solution.
If your prescription is either for distance or near only, the type of lens you would require is called single vision. Single vision is used to describe lenses with one corrective power throughout the focal lenses are designed to provide both distance and reading in one lens and come in three different designs: bi-focal, tri-focal and progressive.
The bi-focal is a single vision lens with an area towards the bottom that is specifically added to create the correct reading power. Tri-focal lenses correct for three distances with two segments separating the distance vision from the intermediate and near vision. Both bi-focal and the tri-focal lenses separate the various vision segments with a distinctive line and while still in use today, are being replaced by progressives.
Progressive lenses are “no-line” multi-focal lenses that allow the user to see clearly at several different distances. This design has the distance portion of the prescription at the top and then it changes progressively into the intermediate in the middle and the reading at the bottom of the lens. The distance goes across the entire lens from one side to the other allowing for good peripheral acuity. Due to the progressive nature of the intermediate and near, this portion is similar to the bottom half of an hourglass.
One of the most important lens considerations has to do with what kind of coating or treatment to use on your lenses. When it comes to lens treatments, we offer a wide variety of options to meet your needs.
Anti-Reflective (AR) Coating is a special treatment that eliminate white light build up on the front and back side surfaces of lenses, which allows light to pass through the lenses, making them much easier to see through and reducing eye strain. In addition, AR coating improves appearance by reducing glare and providing scratch resistance.
At Voorthuis, we offer premium AR coatings such as Crizal Saphhire, Crizal Avance and Alize, Zeiss Purecoat, and Carat Advantage.
Scratch Resistant Coating is applied to the lenses to reduce the risk of abrasion and scratching and improving durability. In previous years when people wore glass lenses, scratching was not as much of an issue, but these days, since the vast majority of the population now wear plastic lenses it is very important to have a scratch resistant coating whether or not you get AR.
Photochromic lenses are lenses that are virtually clear when worn indoors and become dark when exposed to ultra violet rays from the sun. These lenses work very well for people who are in and out of buildings and do not want to carry a second pair around or have to change frequently. We offer various Transition and Zeiss photochromic lens options, primarily in brown and gray.
