Visual Impact of Zernike and Seidel Forms of Monochromatic Aberrations

Abstract

The majority of the visual impact of high levels of fourth-order Zernike aberrations can be attributed to the second-order terms within these polynomials. Therefore, the impact of SA can be minimized by balancing it with a defocus term that flattens the central wavefront (paraxial focus) or maximizes the area of the pupil with a flat wavefront. Over this wide range of aberration types and levels, image quality metrics based on the Point Spread Function (PSF) and Optical Transfer Function (OTF) can predict VA as reliably as VA measures can predict retests of VA, and, thus, such metrics may become valuable predictors of both VA and, via optimization, refractions.