When it comes to motorcycle lighting design, the lens is more than just a protective cover. It’s a crucial component. It shapes how the light is distributed, directed, and diffused. One of the most fascinating features of lenses is their facets. In this blog post, we’ll explore what facets are, their role in product lens design, and how they enhance motorcycle lighting products.

What Are Facets?

Facets are flat surfaces with geometrical shapes to create specific angles and effects within a lens. When light passes through these surfaces, it is manipulated in various ways. Becoming focused, spread out, or redirected. This ability to control light is essential for achieving the desired effect of each product.

Types of Faceted Lenses

In motorcycle lighting, faceted lenses play a crucial role in visibility, safety, and appeal. Here are some of the most common types of faceted lenses utilized in street legal & auxiliary lighting applications:

Prismatic Lenses: Feature geometric facets that bend light in specific directions. They help enhance visibility by spreading the light across a broader area. This ensures that signals are seen from various angles.

Textured Lenses: Have a surface pattern that diffuses light. The texture helps to soften the light output. It minimizes glare while ensuring consistent illumination across the lens surface.

Fresnel Lenses: Use a series of centralized grooves to direct light when focusing light.

Zoomed in view of Custom Dynamics’ Low Profile LED Saddlebag Lights illustrates faceted lens with narrow vertical lines. These distribute the light for a more consistent illumination.

Shark Demon® SAE Selective Yellow Turn Signals for Road Glide motorcycles are designed with wide vertical facets in the lens.

Faceted lenses in lighting are essential for optimizing motorcycle riders’ visibility and safety. By using various types of lenses, lighting solutions can meet regulatory standards. Likewise, they can enhance the aesthetic appeal of the motorcycle.

The Role of Facets in Lighting Design

Light Distribution. Facets allow control of how light spreads in a space. By manipulating the angle and shape of the facets, you can create a lens that emits smooth, event light or in a specific direction.

Glare Reduction. One of the biggest challenges in lighting design is glare. It can be distracting and uncomfortable for both riders and oncoming traffic. Faceted lenses can cut glare by redirecting light away from the viewer’s line of sight. This is achieved by designing facets that scatter light at different angles. This makes the light more comfortable and visually appealing.

Aesthetic Appeal. The design of facets can also contribute to the look of a product. Whether through a sleek, modern design or intricate patterns, facets elevate the visual impact of products.

Custom Dynamics’ Tombstone Taillight LED Board is paired here with the Smoked Tombstone Taillight Lens. The raw LED board displays individual dots. The lens with facets, disrupts the individual LEDs. This spreads out the light evenly when illuminated and provides a high-end aesthetic when the light is off.

Color Distortion in Faceted Lenses

It’s important to understand how these faceted lenses can influence color perception. Facets are essential for controlling light distribution and minimizing glare. They can also cause color distortion, especially with white light sources.

How Faceted Lenses Cause Color Distortion

Color distortion happens when the color of light shifts from its intended hue due to various factors. Those factors include lens material, shape, and surface characteristics. The way light interacts with the facets can lead to unexpected changes in color. Particularly in white light. Here’s a closer look at how this occurs.

Refraction and Dispersion. When white light (which is made up of many colors) passes through a faceted lens, each color can refract differently. The facets may cause certain colors to bend more than others, leading to a separation of colors. This phenomenon is known as dispersion. Which can result in a rainbow-like effect or color fringes around light sources.

Surface Texture. The texture of the faceted surface can also influence how light scatters. Rough or uneven surfaces can cause light to scatter , too. Potentially distorting colors as the light exits the lens. This can be particularly noticeable with LEDs, which emit light in a broad spectrum.

Angle of Incidence. The angle at which light hits the facets can affect the perception of colors. If light strikes the facets at varying angles, it may further alter the way colors are refracted. This leads to minor inconsistencies in color appearance across the illuminated area.

In this video of our LED Center Fairing Vent Trim, you can see how the white light takes on a more yellow, white, or blue hue depending on the angle and viewing distance.

Conclusion

Color distortion caused by faceted lenses is quite common in lighting design. Particularly, when it comes to maintaining the integrity of white light. But, this distortion often becomes less noticeable when viewed from a distance.

As light travels, it spreads out. This means that color distortion caused by facets may become diluted over distance. The farther away you are, the more uniform the light appears. Reducing the impact of any localized color changes.

While facets in lenses offer many benefits in lighting design, they also introduce complexities. Particularly color distortion with white light. As technology continues to evolve, advancements in lens design will likely further minimize these challenges. Ensuring high-quality light output across various applications of aftermarket motorcycle lighting.

Understanding Facets in Lenses : Motorcycle Product Manufacturing