Ocular Edge · The Buyer's Guide
Visual Acuity
Testing Software.
Any screen can show letters. Very little software earns the right to test vision with them. Here are the seven things to demand before trusting an exam lane to code — and how Ocular Edge answers every one.
The Checklist
1 · Calibration you can physically verify.
The single question that separates clinical software from a letters app: how does it know how big a millimeter is on this screen? Software that trusts the display's self-reported dimensions inherits every manufacturer's rounding error. Ocular Edge calibrates each lane against a physical ruler held to the glass, computes letter sizes from the measured testing distance, and invites you to verify the result — a 20/20 letter must measure exactly 8.87 mm at 20 feet, and on a calibrated lane, it does.
2 · Optotypes drawn as geometry, not fonts.
A font rendering of "C" is typography; a Landolt C is a specification. Acuity software should draw its optotypes as vector paths with the proportions the standards define — ETDRS letter conventions, the ISO 8596 ring — so a Sloan letter has identical stroke geometry on a Fire TV stick, a Samsung panel, and a laptop. Ocular Edge renders every optotype in all 20 chart types this way.
3 · Scoring that matches the literature.
If you record LogMAR, the software should score like the studies do: five letters per ETDRS row, constant 0.1 logMAR steps, per-letter credit at −0.02 logMAR. Snellen equivalents should be computed, not eyeballed. Ocular Edge scores both, per eye — OD, OS, OU — with results summarized at the end of every run.
4 · Randomization, isolation, and crowding.
Paper's fatal flaw is that patients memorize it. Software's advantage is that it never repeats: fresh random lines from the standard letter sets on every press, single-optotype isolation for amblyopia work, crowding bars for pediatric protocols, and column and multi-row presentations when the workup calls for them. If a package can't randomize, it's a photograph of a chart.
5 · Control from the exam stool.
Exams run at the phoropter, not at a keyboard tray. The software should answer to a remote: number keys launching charts, arrows walking lines, one-key eye cycling and mirror toggling. Ocular Edge maps any infrared remote through a FLIRC USB adapter — with every binding reassignable in a built-in remote mapper — and Fire TV lanes use the remote already in the room.
6 · Platform freedom, offline resilience.
Software that requires a dedicated Windows PC per lane is an appliance with extra steps. Demand the browser: Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox on any TV, monitor, or tablet, plus native apps where they help (Amazon Fire TV today). And demand offline behavior — Ocular Edge lanes keep testing through a dropped connection, because the charts run locally once loaded.
7 · A price you can read before a rep calls.
Dealer-quoted chart hardware commonly lands between $2,600 and $4,200 per lane. Whatever software you choose, it should publish its price. Ours: $24.99 per lane per month, $449 once for a lifetime lane license, Enterprise at $225/month for up to 20 lanes with every add-on — and a free trial before any of it.
Where software simply wins.
Meeting the checklist makes software equal to the appliance. What makes it better is everything the appliance can't do: the same platform runs your branded waiting room channel — promotion decks, live patient reviews, weather, health tips — and AI tools that draft slides, social posts, and billing-code answers for the front desk. New features arrive in the next release on every screen you own, not in the next hardware generation on a purchase order.
Verify Us
Hold us to the checklist.
The sizing reference
Exact letter heights from 20/200 to 20/10, Snellen vs LogMAR, and the memorization problem.
Read the chart guide →The full system view
Displays, calibration, controls, and rollout — what turns software into an acuity system.
See the system →The competition, sourced
Honest head-to-heads against ClearChart, Smart System 20/20, AcuityPro, and Chart2020.
Compare systems →Run the checklist
on us — free.
Three days, every chart and tool, no credit card. Calibrate a lane, put a ruler on the 20/20 line, and judge for yourself.