Which of the following statements about transposition is false?

Transposition is a method used to convert a prescription from one form to another, typically from a plus-cylinder form to a minus-cylinder form, or vice versa. When transposing a prescription, the spherical power, cylinder power, and axis are adjusted according to specific rules.

The statement that transposition alters the lens powers of the prescription is false because, although the way the prescription is expressed changes, the actual optical power of the lens that corrects vision remains the same. Transposition mathematically adjusts the way the prescription is written without altering the effectiveness or corrective ability of the lenses in practice.

It is important to understand that while the cylinder power may change in magnitude and the spherical power will adjust correspondingly, the overall refractive effect designed to correct the patient's vision is unchanged. The principal meridians do not change their orientation or their relationship to the optical characteristics of the lens, which is why it is critical to grasp that the transposition process is essentially a restating of the same prescription rather than an alteration of its corrective properties.