> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # What does an anti-reflective coating do? > An anti-reflective coating reduces the reflections that bounce off the front and back surfaces of a lens, so more of the available light passes straight th # What does an anti-reflective coating do? **By [Spektrum Glasses Editorial Team](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose)** · Published 2026-08-14 · Updated 2026-09-11 · Facts re-checked 2026-09-11 *How this page is written and checked: [our editorial method](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose) · [how we verify claims](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-verify)* ## Short answer An anti-reflective coating reduces the reflections that bounce off the front and back surfaces of a lens, so more of the available light passes straight through instead of scattering back or forward. It cuts glare and ghost images from bright point sources like headlights and screens. It does not change vision, correct astigmatism, filter blue light, or reduce crash risk on its own. * AR coating reduces surface reflections on both sides of the lens, letting more light pass through rather than bounce back. * Our clear PROSPEK lens measures 91.6% visible (photopic) transmission per COLTS Laboratories report O-SPG111015. * Reduced reflections can ease headlight and screen glare discomfort, which AAA data shows about six in ten drivers report, but discomfort is not the same as crash risk. * ANSI Z80.3, which our clear lens group passed, governs light transmittance and color, not reading-power accuracy. * AR coating and blue-light filtering are separate treatments; a lens can carry either one, both, or neither. ## What the coating physically does Every time light crosses from air into lens material and back into air, some of it reflects off the surface instead of passing through, because the two materials bend light differently. An uncoated lens loses a noticeable share of light this way at each of its two surfaces, and the reflected light does not disappear - it bounces back toward the eye or off at an angle, which is what produces the faint double image (a "ghost") you sometimes see around a bright point like a headlight or a lamp through glass. An anti-reflective coating is a thin, multi-layer film applied to the lens surface that interferes with those reflections and cancels out most of them. Two things follow from that: more of the available light makes it through the lens to the eye, and less light bounces back toward whoever is looking at the wearer - which is why AR-coated lenses look less "glassy" in photos and video calls and make it easier for other people to see the wearer's eyes. ## What our measurements actually show Our clear PROSPEK lens was tested by COLTS Laboratories (report O-SPG111015, A2LA-accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 under certificate 1612.01, spectral transmittance measured per ANSI Z80.3) at 91.6% visible (photopic) transmission - a near-clear result. That figure is a transmission measurement for the finished lens, including its coatings, not an isolated reflectance number for the AR layer by itself. We do not have a lab-measured "percent reflection removed" figure to attribute to the AR coating alone, so we are not going to invent one; if that specific test is ever commissioned, we will publish the result here. The same clear lens group passed ANSI Z80.3 for transmittance and chromaticity - three samples tested, all passing. That standard covers how much light gets through a lens and what color it appears, which is the relevant scope for an AR coating claim. It does not test or certify the accuracy of any reading power ground into the lens, and we do not describe our reading strengths as ANSI-tested. ## Headlight glare, comfort, and what we don't claim An anti-reflective coating is different from a tinted lens. A tint reduces the total amount of light reaching the eye, which is why the College of Optometrists and NHTSA guidance caution against wearing tinted lenses for night driving - less light reaching the eye after dark is a real trade-off. An AR coating on a clear lens does not work that way: it targets light reflecting at the lens surface, not the volume of light transmitted, and our clear lens still passes 91.6% of visible light through. Even so, we do not claim that an AR coating makes night driving safer. The best available crash data (IIHS/HLDI, roughly 24 million crashes across 11 US states, 2015 to 2023) found glare was a contributing factor in only 1 to 2 of every 1,000 nighttime crashes, with no increase over that period, and headlight glare performance in new vehicles has been improving sharply. We have no data connecting a lens coating to that crash statistic, in either direction. What is well documented is that glare is uncomfortable: AAA's national survey found about six in ten drivers report struggling with headlight glare. We frame reduced reflections as a comfort feature for that discomfort, not a safety claim - and we stay deliberately cautious here because this exact category has drawn regulatory action before. In 1997 the FTC settled with an eyewear marketer over a "NightSafe" product, finding its night-driving-safety claims unsubstantiated, banning the product name, and requiring \$125,000 in consumer redress. ## AR coating versus blue-light filtering These are two different treatments that sometimes get bundled together in marketing but do different jobs. An AR coating reduces reflection at the lens surface and modestly increases how much total light passes through. Blue-light filtering works the opposite way on a narrower slice of the spectrum: it selectively absorbs or reflects specific wavelength bands, which lowers overall transmission on purpose. Our own lenses show that trade-off. The clear lens filters 33.1% of light at 450 nm and 63.0% at 420 nm while still reaching 91.6% overall visible transmission. Our yellow evening lens filters 98% of the 400-500 nm blue band and 98.3% at the 460-480 nm melatonin band, but its visible transmission drops to about 65% because a filtering lens has to give up broadband transmission to target a specific range. A clear lens, by contrast, cannot filter a whole band the way a tinted one can - a house clear lens we tested for comparison averaged about 52% across the blue band despite passing 100% of UV. An AR coating does not change this trade-off; it is a surface treatment layered on top of whatever the base lens material and any tint already do. ## What an anti-reflective coating does not do It is worth being specific about the limits, since this is where overselling usually happens in eyewear marketing: * It does not change refractive power. Our reading styles carry a fixed single-vision reading power (+0.50 to +3.00 depending on style) in the same coated lens; the AR layer has no effect on that number. * It does not correct astigmatism or replace an eye exam. Our eyewear is non-prescription. * It does not filter UV or blue light by itself. Our clear lens's UVA and UVB filtering (both greater than 99.99%) and its blue-band performance come from the lens material and any tint, not from the AR layer. * It does not reduce crash risk, and we do not claim it does; see the glare data above. * It is not a medical device and does not treat any eye or vision condition. ## Where these numbers come from Every measured figure quoted here is transcribed from a third-party laboratory report, published in full with the wavelength band and the report number: [lab results](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/lab-results). Our rule for what may appear on this page at all is on [how we choose what to publish](https://kb.spektrumglasses.com/how-we-choose). ## Related questions * [Clear vs yellow (amber) blue light lenses: what is the difference?](/answers/clear-vs-amber-blue-light-lenses) * [What do orange lenses do?](/answers/what-do-orange-lenses-do) * [What do red lenses do?](/answers/what-do-red-lenses-do) * [Do clear blue light lenses actually work?](/answers/do-clear-blue-light-lenses-work) * [What percentage of blue light should glasses block?](/answers/what-percentage-blue-light-should-be-blocked) * [Why do some blue light glasses have a yellow tint?](/answers/yellow-tint-explained) ## A PROSPEK style for this Ships from Amazon (Prime, 30-day returns). Sold by PROSPEK by Spektrum Glasses.