Pentax Exclusive HD Coating

A new multi-layer lens coating process developed for lenses used with Pentax digital interchangeable lens cameras.

Posted: 10/09/2012 - 23:12

Pentax are pleased to announce the launch of its HD (High Definition) Coating technology, a newly developed, multi-layer lens coating process.

Compared with conventional multi-layer coatings, the new multi-layer HD Coating*, exclusively developed by Pentax, offers much improved light transmittance and a much lower refractive index.

Because the coating minimises reflections, it delivers sharp, clear images free from flare and ghost images, even under demanding lighting conditions. This coating ensures optical performance, which is almost equal to Aero Bright Coating, another Pentax-exclusive lens coating process made possible by advanced nanotechnology and applied to high end lenses.

All future Pentax lenses equipped with this new coating will bear the name “HD Pentax,” instead of the conventional “smc Pentax.”

Major Features

50% reduction of reflections in visible spectrum - The coating reduces reflections by more than 50% over the entire visible spectrum, compared to conventional multi-layer coating.
High-rigidity coating layer - As the HD Coating materials have a stronger bond and a higher packing density, its coating assures exceptional high rigidity for extra durability.
Faithful reflection of design concept to actual coating layer - In conventional multi-layer processes, the coating layer is produced by the vacuum evaporation method, in which coating materials are dissolved and deposited in a vacuum. However, this method sometimes creates a coating layer with a density that is not sufficient enough to prevent disparity in the thickness and refractive index of the coating layer.

The new HD Coating effectively solves this problem by employing a Pentax-exclusive manufacturing process, which optimises the density of its coating layer and controls the thickness with results accurate to a nanometre (one millionth of a millimetre). The result is that the original design data on the lens coating is accurately applied to the actual coating layer to optimise the anti-reflection performance of a lens.

Comparison between conventional multi-layer coatings and HD Coating

Comparison between conventional multi-layer coatings and HD Coating.

The coating reduces reflections by more than 50% over the entire visible spectrum, compared to conventional multi-layer coating. The new coating allows an ideal control of colour balance thanks to stable reflection at Wavelength. For more information please visit the Pentax website.