PAL advice for low-moderate mixed astig

[EYE-EYE Captain]

My 61yo dad needs some new glasses and I'm looking for input on the best PAL design for him. He's functionally monocular (20/50 OD so he patches it because it gives him headaches), so I'm just getting the OS Rx as good as possible and want to get him in a lens that's going to work the best for him. Within reason, price isn't an issue, though I'd like a few good options. He spends a lot of time either at his computer, where he uses D/I/N (TV/computer/phone), or reclining in his chair, where he uses D/N (TV/phone). He typically sits ~50cm from his computer monitor, but in his current glasses he often has to get very close (~20-30cm) to see and then he can only see a small area clearly. With the new script, even though it's not much different, he can see the screen much more clearly when sitting back and about the same up close, though he can see a much larger area clearly. My goal is a lens that will work well at distance, of course, as well as providing him as wide an area as possible to see the screen when sitting back as well as to see the screen and his phone up close. I would say it's more important to provide a wider intermediate area and if he really needs to see some small detail he can get closer, but it would still be nice to have a bit wider near area than he currently does. I'm hoping there are some newer designs that will perform better than what he's in. I'm sure this has been asked elsewhere, but I'll go ahead and throw it in: I'd also like to know opinions on the best AR. A previous employer really like Prevencia, but I'm wondering if you guys would recommend something else. I like the idea of the blue-light blocking with Prevencia, especially with all the computer use, but I have my doubts how effective it really is, since it only blocks a fairly small percentage of those wavelengths. I also really like how hydrophobic it is and how it seems to stay clean longer. He'll most likely want to do Transitions again, too. And I'm thinking Trivex would be a better material not only for the better Abbe value, but in the event we decide to do a drill mounted magnet (see next paragraph).

In addition to that, another thought I had was doing an Rx clip-on or magnetic snap-on for him to wear when in his recliner. The reason for this is that currently he has to drop his glasses way down on his nose so he's not looking through the bifocal, and of course not only is that less than ideal for comfort reasons, the vertex change is going to alter the Rx. So my thought was to have the clip-on be a minus lens that would negate the bifocal so he could look through the bifocal and see the TV clearly. I figured this would be easier than switching back and forth between two pairs of glasses, which he's tried before and didn't really care for. I realize that if the clip-on is SV if he were to look higher or lower through the glasses it would become less clear, but I'm hoping it wouldn't be a big enough change to bother him. A possible solution to this, if such a thing even exists, would be to make it a minus progressive, but I suspect that would be very difficult to have it match up properly so the bifocal in the main lenses would be canceled out properly throughout (admittedly, this part is as much about learning and experimenting for me).

And finally, I'd also like to figure out the ideal way to make some glasses for him for shooting pool, where he'd need more plus higher up in the lens. It seems a reverse (upside-down) PAL or maybe even anti-fatigue lens would work well for this, and again, it would be nice to be able to do this as a clip-on.


Here's his Rx:
OD: +1.25 -1.50 x 140
OS: +1.00 -1.87 x 180
Int add: +1.12
N add: +2.12

His current lenses are Supercede Poly TriGy 14
Frame A size: 56
Frame B size: 26

Thanks for any thoughts/advice, and let me know if I left out any needed info. I realize some of my ideas might be a bit out there, but if possible, I think it could work out well. But feel free to tell me if I'm nuts.

[rbaker]

KISS - A nice FT Tri in CR-39 will make him a happy camper.

[EYE-EYE Captain]

Ha. I almost mentioned KISS in my post (and how I'm going the complete opposite direction of it). I'm just not sure if he would do well in a tri after being in PALs all these years. I doubt he'd care much about the aesthetics, but the loss of range would probably not be appreciated. He even commented on how little he could move his phone before it got blurry when I was determining his near add. I'm not opposed to trying it, in fact I think I might, but I'm still interested in PAL options.

[Robert Martellaro]

Ha. I almost mentioned KISS in my post (and how I'm going the complete opposite direction of it). I'm just not sure if he would do well in a tri after being in PALs all these years. I doubt he'd care much about the aesthetics, but the loss of range would probably not be appreciated. He even commented on how little he could move his phone before it got blurry when I was determining his near add. I'm not opposed to trying it, in fact I think I might, but I'm still interested in PAL options.

A trifocal won't work if the object distance (desktop monitor) is 50cm.

On the table:

1) A general purpose pair with a less aggressive corridor so he can tilt the chair back without too much blur when watching the TV (it would help if the panel is large and fairly level with the eye).

2) If the above is not satisfactory, supply TV task glasses with a low set FT28.

3) Another task pair with a high set FT35 with the segment level with the top of the monitor, powered for 50cm, with the the top optimized for room distance as needed. Assuming the add is 2.25@40cm, something like +1.25 -1.87 x 180 add +1.50 or +1.75 would be a good starting point. He can drop his chin to glance at the TV.

For billiards, choose a frame similar to shooting glasses, that is, with the narrowest bridge possible, superior eyewire above the brow, with +.25 to +.50 over the distance Rx, multifocal as needed.

Trivex for safety.

Hope this helps,

Robert Martellaro