# Sunglasses see through outdoor cooking smoke?



## hueberttix (May 7, 2020)

I was cooking outside on a sunny day and so wearing some sunglasses (blocking the UV 400nm light spectrum) when I noticed it easier to see the food in the cooking pot compared to the naked eye.

Has anybody else noticed this?

Is there something about the 400nm light spectrum that makes it easier to see through smoke?


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (May 7, 2020)

It makes sense.  Smoke scatters, reflects, and blocks light, as do clouds.  The sunglasses you were using were probably polarized, wichwould block the scattered light, making it easier to see the direct light from what you are looking at.  That's my hypothesis.

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## hueberttix (May 8, 2020)

Thanks for the info.

Actually, the pair I got came with several lenses, one of which was specifically polarised, so I can try with a number of different combinations.

I will get back when I have done so..


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## hueberttix (May 16, 2020)

*Anything UV blocking and coloured works*

Hardly scientific, and with the wind blowing and at times overcast the lighting and smoke will be off, but I tried my best to capture the smoke coming from the pot to contrast the difference.

I have five lenses:

• Blue
• Yellow
• Clear
• Rainbow
• Parallax


All of these lenses block out the 400nm lightwave range (I have confirmed this with a 395nm wavelength UV torch (TANK-007)), but only one seems to have a parallax lens. I don’t know how to confirm this, but I found it to be the only lens of which distorted an LCD (passively) and expect it to be different.

Of all the lenses I found little difference, they all seemed to make it easier to see the poultry beyond the smoke, of course if the smoke was to thick then it would be obscured, so the glasses only helped.

I didn’t find that he parallax lenses did anything more than the coloured ones, I think the colour seems to define the texture of the meat (which is diced - in this case shredded, like pulled pork in some instances) better, I don’t think it matters if the lens is parallax or not ?

I have a preference for blue, I think it works best, but anything that dims the light works well i.e. parallax or rainbow (which blocks out the most light from all five). However, I stay away from yellow as it tints the meat too much and makes it harder to judge whether the meat is browning, although clear works as well, tinted is the way to go.


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## hueberttix (May 16, 2020)

*Lens comparison uploads*

Here are decent sizes of the coloured lenses:

• Blue : https://imgur.com/mKfg6BQ
• Yellow : https://imgur.com/PiyfiwX
• Clear : https://imgur.com/w28gliN
• Rainbow : https://imgur.com/ZdJzXtz
• Parallax : https://imgur.com/csPxPSm


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## Termy (Jul 16, 2021)

Are you sure the glasses are not polarised ? Polarised lenses do this. They have a filter I believe...goes vertical. What happens usually is like sunlight hits something and it reflects to you, the light is mostly horizontally polarised because the reflecting surface is at an oblique angle. 

That is what is reflecting off the rear window of the car in font of you. Put polarised glasses on and the glare is gone, you can see inside the car. And the road, ever been out there with thousands of miles to drive ? Some places look like ice in front of you, but as you near it backs off. That is some tightly polarised light there, and is removed by the lenses. 

To test whether your lenses ar polarised, put the glasses in front of you pointing at a TV set. Turn them. When you get to a certain angle the picture will disappear. 

T


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## taxlady (Jul 16, 2021)

Termy said:


> Are you sure the glasses are not polarised ? Polarised lenses do this. They have a filter I believe...goes vertical. What happens usually is like sunlight hits something and it reflects to you, the light is mostly horizontally polarised because the reflecting surface is at an oblique angle.
> 
> That is what is reflecting off the rear window of the car in font of you. Put polarised glasses on and the glare is gone, you can see inside the car. And the road, ever been out there with thousands of miles to drive ? Some places look like ice in front of you, but as you near it backs off. That is some tightly polarised light there, and is removed by the lenses.
> 
> ...



The OP wrote, 





> Actually, the pair I got came with several lenses, one of which was specifically polarised, so I can try with a number of different combinations.


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## hueberttix (Jul 18, 2021)

I do not have a TV, but I do have a computer monitor (iMac) and the screen turns a deep blue !


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## Termy (Jul 20, 2021)

So it does show. Most turn all the way black but some are a little off. 

T


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