Is 15/20 eyesight better than 20/20?

Question

Its quite funny really, i was at the eye glasses place, cuz i needed some glasses made. so im sitting there waiting until they call me up for my eye exam. the phone rings and the employee picks it up. he starts talking to the person on the phone, and then hes like "you got what? you got 15/20 vision?" then its silent for a little while and then with a very "wow ur an idiot" sounding voice, he says "15/20 IS BETTER THAN 20/20!" lol, it made me laugh, i feel sorry for the person that called the store. sooooo, yeah, anyways, is it true?

Answer 1

There really isn't any 15/20.

That would be worse than 20/20.

Most people can see about 20/15 if nothing is wrong.

Answer 2

Yup. 20/20 is what a regular person can see @ 20 feet away from something. 20/15 means that what a regular person can see at 15 feet, you can see at 20.

Answer 3

To decide whether a specific visual acuity is better or worse than 20/20 all you have to do is divide the number.  Visual acuity is expressed as a fractional number.  20 divided by 20 (20/20) is equal to 1.  Now if you take any other visual acuity and divide it as a fraction you will be able to tell whether it is worse or better than 20/20.  If you divide the fractional acuity number and it ends up greater than 1 then the visual acuity is BETTER than 20/20.  If you divide the fractional acuity number and it ends up less than 1 then the visual acuity is WORSE than 20/20.  For instance, 20/40 divides out to equal 1/2.  Since 1/2 is less than 1, 20/40 is worse than 20/20 acuity.  There ya go.

Answer 4

it could be 20/15, and yes that is better than 20/20, 20/15 is the line below the 20/20 line, there is also 20/10. 20/20 vision is a term used to express normal visual acuity (the clarity or sharpness of vision) measured at a distance of 20 feet. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see clearly at 20 feet what should normally be seen at that distance. If you have 20/100 vision, it means that you must be as close as 20 feet to see what a person with normal vision can see at 100 feet.

Answer 5

I think it goes like this - 20/20 means you see things at 20 feet that most other people see at 20 feet. The first 20 is you and the second is the average. Here it would mean you see something at 15 feet that most people can see at 20. So you have to be 5 feet closer than most people to see it - so I think its worse not better. But, there must be an optometrist out there who knows for sure.