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Any artists here that can answer concerns with Panoptix vison results?

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Guest
Guest

I can't find answers to my question so far, and desperately want to know the experience of an artist. I have my 1st cataract surgery next week for my left eye. My Dr. suggested the Panoptix tri-focal and says it's a clear lens, which is all he uses. Other cataract lense replacements have a yellow tint to them. My concern is that, as an artist, will my world of color, so to speak, change? Will I see true colors so I can correctly create my painting and portraits, or will everything be forever changed? I did tell the Dr. I'm an artist and he said "colors will be brighter". If that's true, then fine. However, I saw photos depicting how you see colors with yellow vs clear lenses. While I don't want a yellow hue on everything, I also don't want everything appearing in all cool hues, either. I'm very concerned about this.

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  • RonAKA
    RonAKA Guest

    Edited

    The Alcon blue light filtering lens option is designed to restore the colour profile a young person would see with a natural lens. A clear lens will result in a more blue colour compared to a natural lens. If you want to know what your work looks like to a younger person with natural lenses then you would be better off with a blue light filtering lens. It is available in the PanOptix lens. You should also look for the Clareon PanOptix version as it uses a newer material. Blue light filtering is also said to improve contrast sensitivity in twilight conditions, as well as reduce optical side effects like halos. A blue light filter is not going to make everything seem yellow. In fact if you are getting a lens to correct a cataract condition, everything is going to look brighter and more blue, because cataracts do cause a yellow brown effect, which will be gone after surgery.

    .

    Have you been advised about the optical side effects of the PanOptix lens? They tend to have halos and starburst effects around bright lights especially at night.

    • Guest
      Guest RonAKA

      Edited

      Thanks for the info. I have been advised of the possible halos, starburst effects, etc., and after much research, I find that the majority of people say the worst of those issues decrease over time; that's the hope in my case as well. I've been more worried about the cool vs warm hues on all colors, feeling I may not be able to see colors with a natural balance of both. David spoke to that in his comment, and I hope the difference will be subtle for me as well. Thanks again.

    • RonAKA
      RonAKA Guest

      Posted

      Why would choose the clear version of the PanOptix? From what I understand the blue light version is much more popular, and is the default choice of most surgeons.

    • Guest
      Guest RonAKA

      Posted

      My doc's default choice is the clear lens, so I'm leaning towards his suggestion. However, I also did not opt for the yellow lens with the blue-light filtering because 1) I def do not want a yellow hue over everything and 2) a yellow-tinted lens can cause low-light issues, for example, trying to watch TV in the evening will be dimmer than normal. (I can always wear sunglasses outside; not an issue there). Still, what I'd like to know what another artist may have experienced with the change in color hues as related to creating art from a client's reference. Thank you for commenting.

    • RonAKA
      RonAKA Guest

      Edited

      Your assumptions are not correct.

      .

      1. Blue light filtering does not put a yellow hue over everything. In fact if you are older and have cataracts you will be seeing a yellow brown hue over everything now. When you get a blue light filtering lens you will get the colour balance of a young person in their teens. You will be amazed when you get one eye done, how much brighter and blueish things will look with a blue light filtering lens.
      2. No, viewing a TV screen at night will not seem dimmer than normal. I have blue light filtering IOLs in both eyes. I have my 4K large screen LED TV adjusted to normal brightness instead of the default VIVID. I find the Vivid setting so bright that it seems unnatural.
      3. And if outside in dimmer light blue light filtering actually improves contrast sensitivity. The Alcon lenses use a high index material, and one of the side effects is chromatic aberration. All the colours do not refract at the same amount, and this creates a "fuzz" of colours on the edge of objects that reduces contrast sensitivity. The blue/violet colours are impacts the most, so if you filter some of them out, the contrast is restored. Think about ski goggles and shooting glasses. They are often yellow tinted, but way more than a blue light filtering IOL.

        .

        I would not call myself an artist, but I do digital darkroom work, and I find the most difficult process is getting skin tones just right. It is a delicate balance. If you get clear IOLs you will see an overly blue view of skin tones and will naturally adjust to a warmer colour balance to compensate for your blue view. To others that still have natural eyes, your skin colours in prints will look overly warm. If you are the only one that looks at your prints, they will look fine to you though.

    • Guest
      Guest RonAKA

      Posted

      Everything I've found about the yellow lens with blue-light filtering says you will get a yellow hue on things - my ophthalmologist told me the same. I had asked him because a friend of mine has the yellow lens and yellow hue and is not happy; she, too, is an artist. I appreciate all your feedback, and will update with my personal consensus later.

    • RonAKA
      RonAKA Guest

      Edited

      Colour is relative. If the reference point is the colour balance of a young (20 years old or so) person with pristine eyes and vision, then the colour balance of an Alcon blue light filtering lens will look the same, not warm nor cold in comparison. And a clear lens with the same young adult reference point will be cool in appearance. The reason is that the colour of the natural lens in a young adult is not clear. It is yellow in colour. It is worthwhile keeping in mind that the difference is very subtle. You do not mention what kind of artist you are. I think that if you are in the business of doing wedding photography then it would be a bigger issue. Getting a blue light filtering lens would let you see what your young paying customers are seeing. But, probably for most things the difference is so subtle it really does not matter which lens you pick. And for sure there is not going to be any perceptible yellow hue to the appearance with the blue light filtering lens. That is simply wrong information.

      .

      This said as was mentioned earlier this is a very minor aspect in selecting a lens. In comparison a much bigger issue is the choice of a multifocal lens. For sure that is going to cause night time driving issues with halos or worse. It is also going to reduce the light transmission because the light is divided three ways; near, intermediate, and far. The impact on brightness and visual acuity will be more significant, and especially at night.

  • ka76787
    ka76787 Guest

    Edited

    If you want the best possible vision and value that more than independence from glasses then you should consider monofocal IOLs. PanOptix is an IOL choice for those who highly value spectacle independence and are willing to sacrifice some visual quality

    • Guest
      Guest ka76787

      Edited

      That certainly seems to be the popular answer, and I have looked at it quite a bit. However, the reason I went with this lens is to more closely match the vision I've been used to with my tri-focal glasses...the correction of near, middle and far vision, while also correcting astigmatism. With monos I would not get all of that, so would also have to re-learn how to use the addition of glasses - opposite from the way my glasses have been used all my life. Everyone I know who got mono agrees it's quite confusing; even 1 and 2 years out they still try to do things by rote..the old way. Based on that, monos are just not going to do. Just can't teach this old dog new tricks, so to speak. Thank you so much for taking the time.

    • RonAKA
      RonAKA Guest

      Edited

      Actually monofocals in a mini-monovision configuration (one eye for distance and one eye for near at -1.50 D) you can get a full range of eyeglasses free vision, without the optical side effect risk of multifocal IOLs. I have two monofocals and am essentially eyeglasses free.

  • Guest
    Guest Guest

    Edited

    I am a designer. I have one clear JnJ implant and the other eye still has a cataract. The white point of the IOL eye is indeed a little cooler but honestly, to me anyway, it's extremely subtle. It's not like the whole world looks blue. And I can only tell when looking at a white wall and comparing each eye. If I compare while looking at blues and greens I'd be hard pressed to tell much difference. That said, manufacturers claim that a blue light filtering lens will give you more natural colour and spectrum analysis confirms that of course. But to my eye and brain at least, the difference is quite subtle.

    • Guest
      Guest Guest

      Posted

      Thanks very much for taking the time. I am praying this new lens will have very subtle changes for me as well. When I look at a photo shown in cool tones (blue), created by the clear lens vs warm tone (yellow), I don't like the idea of everything looking like either one, but the one with the yellow hue gives some people a problem in dimmer lighting - say, watching TV with a desk lamp on, vs daytime. I don't want that kind of difficulty. Thanks again.

  • RonAKA
    RonAKA Guest

    Edited

    If you really do decide on the PanOptix, there is a recent study that found blue light filtering reduced the halos and starburst side effects. It does not eliminate them, but the size is apparently reduced in comparison to a clear lens. And, there is no downside to a blue light filtering lens. When there is a blue light filtering option it makes no sense to choose the clear lens version. Many lenses are only available in clear and that is mainly why they get used. Even the J&J lenses are now becoming available with the OptiBlue option. Google this to find the study.

    .

    The Effects of Blue-Light Filtering Intraocular Implants on Glare Geometry

    Billy R. Hammond Colin R. Gardner & Lisa Renzi-Hammond

    • Guest
      Guest RonAKA

      Posted

      From what I understand the blue-light filtering has the yellow lens with the yellow hue on everything I don't want. I'll look at the web reference later today.

    • RonAKA
      RonAKA Guest

      Posted

      Again, a blue light filtering lens is designed to be as close as possible to the natural lens of a young person. The natural lens of a young person does not have a clear lens. It is a slightly tinted yellow lens. I posted an image that shows the colour balances of a natural lens, a clear lens, and a blue light filtering lens. The post with the image will go into moderation but should be available to see tomorrow. It tells the whole story.

    • Guest
      Guest Guest

      Edited

      I know you are more concerned with colour balance but from an overall vision quality point of view I think the downsides of a multifocal is probably a bigger issue. And the halo are not "some people" its 100% of people. Most people get used to it but perfectionist type personalities (if that's you… I don't know) often never get used to it.

      .

      You mention wanting the same vision as you get now with trifocal glasses but it's NOT the same at all. With glasses your eyes are always using 100% of the incoming light and you just look through a different part of the lens. With a multifocal IOL you can't can choose which part of the lens to look through because it's inside your eye. What they do it to split the incoming light into 3 separate images… a focused image for near, intermediate, and far. Your brain then learns to choose which of the three images to use depending on what you are looking at. Which is bizarre but apparently it works. The issue though is that, remember, none of those 3 images are using 100% of the incoming light. So the overall image quality in all lighting situations (halos aside) is lower vs. a monofocal, especially in low light.

      .

      If you already use trifocal or progressive glasses and like those and they work well for you, you might be happier getting two monofocals set for distance and simply continuing to use glasses after surgery.

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