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Digitally Customized Lenses: It’s High-Definition for Your Eyes

Think about the first time you saw high-definition television. Remember how it made your old analog TV picture seem drab and blurry? High-definition made colors brighter, shapes sharper, and brought everything keenly into focus. Now imagine having the same experience with your eyeglasses. Sure, you can probably see fine with the ones you have, just like watching analog TV was fine when that was all you had.

But what if you could upgrade to high-definition for your eyes?

Free-form Technology

The newest lens technology will change the way you see—forever. It's called "free-form," a digital manufacturing process that uses computer-aided design and surfacing to create high-level, customized eyeglass lenses with your unique prescription.

Think of it as a tailor for your eyes. Just like you can take an off-the-rack pair of pants and have it customized to fit your specific measurements, you can now have lenses made customized for your specific prescription and frames.

Benefits of Customized Free-form Lenses

Free-form technology is the next revolution in vision correction. In addition to the improved visual clarity that customized free-form lenses provide, you can expect: 

  • Exceptional night/low light vision: Free-form lenses can reduce glare and halo effects caused by light sources at night, such as car headlights. 
  • Exceptional contrast perception: Free-form lenses can sharpen vision. 
  • Exceptional color vision: Free-form lenses can maximize the optics built into your lenses, providing brighter and more intense colors. 

While everyone can benefit to a certain extent from customized lenses, people with complex prescriptions and progressive wearers will notice the greatest visual improvements.

Getting Your High-Definition Eyeglasses: The Step-by-Step Process

Step 1: The Prescription

Your eyes are digitally scanned by specialized equipment that collects a number of data points on each eye. This data helps the equipment’s software find the prescription that will not only account for your refractive error, but also the unique variations in the shape and surface of your eyes. The resulting prescription provides the best balance of vision, including improved night vision.

Step 2: Optimizing Your Lenses to Your Fit and Frames 

Once you select your frame, several new measurements are made, including how close the frame sits to the front of your eye, how the frame wraps around your face, and even how you tilt your head. These customized measurements ensure that when you wear your new high-tech glasses, your prescription will be as clear as it was meant to be. 

Step 3: Manufacturing 

Your order is sent to a lab where your lenses are created on a computer-driven, free-form generator. The generator can read and respond to your new, high-tech prescription written to 1/100th of a diopter. The lenses are created to account for variations in your eyes across the surface of the lens. This may not only help you see better, but help you see better across more of your lens. 

Ask your VSP network doctor if you can benefit from free-form technology and take your vision to the next level!