Most hunters, when they read HD binoculars, they immediately associate it with better quality. More than 15.6 million hunters bought licenses in 2018. If you are one of these guys, you might want to read on and find out more about ED and HD binoculars and how you can decide between the two.
What is ED Glass?
What’s so special about ED glass? A lot, actually. Firstly, the composition of the glass is different from regular glass. Instead of regular fluorite glasses, the ED glass is manufactured using calcium fluoride. This is what enables it to control chromatic aberration.
Chromatic aberration is when you see those colored fringes around things that you are trying to view under high contrast situations. This is how ED can improve the images you see through your binoculars. In simpler words, when you use ED glass, you can get cleaner images with better quality. When using binoculars with normal glass, the images will be tainted by colorful fringes. These fringes will also deteriorate the resolution of the pictures you see, making it hard for you to analyze the smaller details.
What is HD Glass?
Now that you understand ED glass let’s look into HD glass. These are contrast-friendly glasses with exquisite lens coating. The coating on HD glasses enhances their anti-reflection properties, which effectively reduces glare.
Which is Better, ED or HD?
Many brands use the term HD as a marketing gimmick to convince consumers that their product is high quality. Hence, it might be safer to buy ED binoculars unless you prefer HD and you are buying from a reputable brand. ED is better than HD in high contrast situations, and this gives a high-quality image with high image sharpness, resolution, and color fidelity. Unfortunately, because HD is used loosely, there are no set characteristics of HD glass. It all depends on who is using the term. If you are getting them from a reputable supplier, you might get impressive HD binoculars.
While most people are conditioned to think HD is always better when it comes to binoculars, it might not be so. ED binoculars offer some impressive qualities that can make your viewing easy. If you are a hunter and you are looking for something to under high contrast situations, ED glass is your best bet.
