

They can’t monitor things like eye pressure or the condition of your retinas. They can also help your local Department of Motor Vehicles determine who needs corrective lenses to drive and who shouldn’t drive due to legal blindness.īut eye charts don’t measure your peripheral vision, depth perception, color vision or ability to perceive contrast. Since eye charts only measure visual sharpness, they can help your eye doctor figure out whether you need prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses. It’s believed that most birds of prey have 20/5 acuity - or better. Not many humans have 20/10 vision or better, but some animals do. The 20/20 line of letters is usually fourth from the bottom, with 20/15, 20/10 and 20/5 below that. You must have at least 20/40 vision after vision correction to obtain a driver’s license. You are considered legally blind if your visual acuity is 20/200 or worse after any vision correction. This means that your visual acuity is very poor. Generally, if you can read the big “E” at the top of the chart, but none of the letters lower than that, your vision is considered 20/200.Ģ0/200 vision means that you can read a letter at 20 feet that people with “normal” vision could read at 200 feet. However, since many eye doctors have offices shorter than 20 feet long, the eye chart may hang behind the patient chair and reflect onto mirrors to simulate a distance of 20 feet.Įye charts can be configured in various ways. In the United States, the standard placement of the eye chart is on a wall that’s 20 feet away from your eyes. It means that, while standing 20 feet away, you can read a letter that most human beings should be able to read from 20 feet. On some Jaeger cards, the J1+ paragraph is the 20/20 equivalent.ĭownload a Jaeger eye chart What does “20/20” mean in an eye test?Ģ0/20 vision is considered “normal” vision. The J1 paragraph on a Jaeger card is usually considered the near vision equivalent of 20/20 vision on a distance eye chart. Some Jaeger charts have an additional paragraph labeled J1+ that may be even smaller than the J1 block of text. The font size on a modern Jaeger eye chart usually ranges from J10 (about 14-point type in Times New Roman font) to J1 (about 3-point type in Times New Roman). Modern Jaeger charts are not standardized, so the letter sizes on different Jaeger cards can vary slightly. There have been several modifications of the Jaeger chart (or “Jaeger card”) by different manufacturers since its invention in 1867. The chart is moved forward and back until you are able to read a certain type size.

The chart is held at a specific reading distance (such as 14 inches) and you are asked to read the passage with the smallest type you can see. Studies have shown that the measurements taken using a tumbling E chart are virtually the same as the measurements from a standard Snellen eye chart.Ī Jaeger eye chart contains several blocks of gradually larger text and is used to test near vision.Ī Jaeger eye chart can be used in two different ways, depending on what your eye doctor is trying to measure: The tumbling E chart features the same scale as a standard Snellen eye chart, except all characters on the chart are a capital letter “E,” rotated in different increments of 90 degrees.ĭuring a tumbling E test, the eye doctor will ask the person being tested to use either hand (with their fingers extended) to show which direction the “fingers” of the E are pointing: right, left, up or down. The patient has a handicap that makes it difficult or impossible to recognize letters or read them aloud. This test may be used in the following scenarios:Ī young child is having an eye test and either doesn’t know the alphabet or is too shy to read letters aloud. In these situations, the doctor might use a modification of the Snellen test called a “ tumbling E ” chart. Sometimes eye doctors can’t use a standard Snellen eye chart. If you can read the bottom row of letters, your visual acuity (sharpness) is very good.ĭownload a Snellen eye chart “Tumbling E” eye chart Lower rows that also contain letters, but get progressively smaller.ĭuring an eye exam, your eye doctor will ask you to find the smallest line of letters you can read, then ask you to read it. Most of them include:Ī top row with only one letter, often a big “E.” Other letters can also be used. Today, there are many variations of the Snellen test. How a Snellen chart and a "tumbling E" chart might look at your eye doctor's office.
