How can polarized lenses improve visual clarity?

Polarized lenses improve visual clarity primarily by reducing glare from reflective surfaces. This type of glare often originates from horizontal surfaces such as water, roads, or snow, which can obscure vision and lead to discomfort while looking at bright environments.

When light reflects off these surfaces, it can become polarized, meaning that it oscillates predominantly in one direction. Polarized lenses are designed with a special filter that blocks this horizontally polarized light, significantly minimizing the amount of glare that reaches the eyes. Consequently, this reduces eye strain and increases comfort while enhancing the overall quality of vision, particularly in bright conditions.

While enhancing color visibility and increasing brightness of images may provide some benefits in visual perception, these effects are not the primary function of polarized lenses. Similarly, magnification is not a characteristic of polarized lenses; rather, it is obtained through different optical means.