What Is the Difference Between No-Line Bifocal & Progressive Lenses?

No-line bifocal, or progessive, lenses offer a smooth transition for vision correction.

Often as we age, we develop presbyopia, or the loss of near vision. In the past, presbyopia meant that you needed bifocal glasses, but that is no longer the case.

Definition

"No-line bifocals" and "progressive lenses" both refer to the same type of corrective lense. These are multifocal lenses that to other people look like single-vision lenses, and they offer a more natural correction of presbyopia. However, these lenses are more expensive than traditional bifocals.

Description

No-line bifocal or progressive lenses progress from distance correction to close-up correction, with a neutral section in between. This allows the wearer to look up to see objects at a distance, to look straight ahead to see objects at middle distance, and to look down to see small print or nearby objects.

Benefits

With traditional bifocals, not only is there a visible line indicating to other people that your glasses have different vision-correcting powers; some wearers complain of "image jump"--the power of the lenses changed so drastically that images appeared to jump when shifting from distance to near viewing. Progressive lenses provide a smoother transition that eliminates this problem.

References

• Master Eye Associates: No-Line Bifocals, Progressive Lenses and Presbyopia
• WebMD: Eyeglasses and Your Eyes