Blog | Optical Industry Insights, Guides & Tools for Opticians

Vision Expo West ran for decades as the fall optical trade show in Las Vegas. The 2025 edition was its last as a standalone event. Starting in 2026, Vision Expo consolidates into a single annual show rotating between cities. This guide covers what made West distinct, how it compared to East, and what the new format means for ECPs deciding which shows to attend.

MIDO, held in Milan every January/February at Fiera Milano, is the world’s largest optical trade show: 1,200+ exhibitors from 50 countries, 42,000 visitors from 160 nations in 2026. This guide covers the show floor, frame trends, the MIDO Awards, and an honest decision framework for North American ECPs weighing the transatlantic trip.

Yes, you can have both conditions in the same eye. Myopia (nearsightedness) blurs distant objects because the eye is too long or the cornea curves…

Progressive lenses correct distance, intermediate, and near vision in a single lens using a continuous power gradient from top to bottom. They require precise fitting…

Three categories of AI tools are production-ready for optical practices today: AI-designed progressive lenses (Varilux XR, VSP Unity V3), digital PD measurement via smartphone cameras,…

In short, pantoscopic tilt is the angle between the plane of a spectacle lens and the vertical plane when the frame is worn in the…

Yes, you can fit and sell prescription eyeglasses remotely. You need to solve five problems: collecting a verified prescription, capturing accurate remote measurements, guiding frame…

The average optical shop remakes 15% of lens orders. Here is what each remake actually costs and how to cut your rate to under 5%.

Children's pupillary distance ranges from approximately 50 mm at age 5 to 60 mm at age 15, based on normative data from MacLachlan & Howland's…

Vision Expo 2026 ran March 11 to 14 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. This is the first unified annual show, replacing the former East and West split. More than 350 exhibitors, 220+ CE hours, and 8,000+ attendees from 92 countries. Here is how it went and what to plan for Las Vegas 2027.