The Dr. Bill Takeshita Foundation

Last Modified: Wed, 23 Apr 2008

In 2008, there have been many advances in video magnifiers that can focus on distance and near objects. These video magnifiers are excellent for students who have difficulty reading the chalkboard and also require a video magnifier for reading. All of the video magnifiers we describe below are relatively portable and focus on distance, near, intermediate objects very well. They also have a self-viewing mode that allows users to see their faces when grooming.

Clarity DeskMate

Clarity USA has reduced the price of the Clarity DeskMate to $1999 for 2008. The DeskMate consists of a 17-inch LCD color monitor, a cube-shaped camera, and a remote control. The camera is approximately 4 1/2 inches cube that attaches to a bracket on the right side of the monitor. The camera attaches very easily and swivels smoothly to focus on distance and near objects. When the camera is focused on distant objects, the camera focuses fairly quickly on the target of interest and it memorizes the magnification that the users select. Then, when the camera is swiveled to focus on the desk, an auxiliary lens must be rotated in front of the camera and the camera will memorize the settings of the reading mode. This makes it very easy for users to focus on distance and near objects, without having to reset the preferred magnification levels and color settings.

The DeskMate requires a relatively large desk area for efficient use. A desk that is 36 inches wide works well, allowing users to have sufficient space for the monitor and the books placed under the camera. Desks that are smaller than 36 inches, such as those in a high school or college, may be too small to use the DeskMate.

The DeskMate comes with many standard features, including color select to alter the colors of the background and text. As mentioned above, this feature is extremely helpful if the user prefers a normal color image when looking at the teacher but a black background with yellow letters when reading text. The DeskMate has a focus lock that keeps the camera focused on the chalkboard or reading material. This feature can also be helpful if the teacher continuously walks in front of the chalkboard while lecturing. Lastly, the DeskMate has line markers that can help users to maintain their places when reading spreadsheets or columns of text. The DeskMate has an optional battery that can provide up to 5 hours of use without plugging it into an electrical outlet.

We found the Clarity DeskMate to be a good value for those who require a video magnifier that can focus both on distance and near objects. The Clarity DeskMate comes with a lifetime warranty, which provides users with some security in the event that the product fails. The DeskMate provides a very clear image on distance objects. We wish that the mounting bracket of the DeskMate swiveled or rotated easier to allow us to pan the chalkboard. We also wish the mounting bracket of the DeskMate were capable of moving to allow left-handed writers to place the camera on the left side of the screen. We had difficulty-reading textbooks with the Clarity because we could not place the right side of the book under the camera easily. When we attempted to read the right side of a book, we had to hold the left side of the book vertically in order to slide the right page under the camera. We feel the DeskMate can be helpful for students in elementary school that have large desks and do not have to read large books under the camera.

Clarity Lynx

The Clarity Lynx is a new portable video magnifier that focuses far and near. The Lynx is very portable with a camera, 10-inch LCD screen, and a second camera that is shaped similar to a computer mouse. The Lynx is very lightweight and compact enough to be used when users do not have access to a large table.

The Lynx camera connects quickly and easily to the 10-inch monitor. Similar to the Clarity DeskMate described above, the Lynx camera focuses far, near, and also on the faces of users. The Lynx also has a second camera that can be used similar to a mouse. Users can slide the mouse across the text and see it displayed on the screen. Then, with a press of a button, users can see the objects placed in front of the full size camera. This feature can be helpful for students in a lecture hall where the camera can be focused on the chalkboard while the mouse camera can be focused on the book. This eliminates the need for users to constantly switch the focus of the camera from the board to the desk.

We found the Lynx to be very lightweight and portable. It was easy to carry in the travel pack that was provided with the Lynx. The mouse camera avoids the problems we had reading the right side of large books with the Clarity DeskMate by allowing us to place the mouse camera on the right side of the book. With a lifetime warranty, the Lynx can be a good solution for students who require a portable device that allows distance and near viewing without the need to use a notebook computer.

Enhanced Vision Acrobat

The Acrobat has been improved for 2008. The previous version of the Acrobat had an excellent display but the mounting bracket that the camera attached to was not sturdy enough to support efficient use. The new Acrobat has a new mounting bracket that is significantly better, allowing both right and left-handed users to use the Acrobat to see distance objects, reading materials, and their own faces very easily.

The Acrobat comes with a 19-inch LCD flat panel monitor with an adjustable mounting bracket. The new mounting bracket allows the camera to be easily attached in seconds. The bracket allows users to slide the camera from left to right, forward and backwards, the camera can also swivel. These adjustments allow users to pan and follow as they track the images on the chalkboard or other presentation. The Acrobat camera can also be brought directly in the center of the monitor, between the user and the monitor. This allows users to place large books in front of the screen and move the camera to see both sides of a book for easy reading. This is extremely helpful when reading large books such as dictionaries and encyclopedias.

The camera of the Acrobat focuses accurately and very quickly. The camera has memory to remember the magnification and color settings when focusing far and near. The camera also has magnification, color, and contrast controls on two sides of the camera, allowing users to have easy access to change the settings regardless of whether they are focusing on distance or near objects. In addition, the Acrobat has a remote control to alter the magnification, color, and contrast.

The Acrobat comes with many standard features that are very helpful. A focus lock allows users to maintain a clear image on the object of interest. Line guides and markers help users to maintain their places when reading columns and rows of text while the multiple color selections allow users to customize the colors of the background and text.

We were very impressed with the improvements made with the Acrobat. We believe the Acrobat is an excellent solution for students and adults who need assistance seeing distance, near, and intermediate distances. Unlike other distance and near viewing video magnifiers, the camera of the Acrobat can be moved from side to side, allowing users a variety of set-ups to provide excellent viewing of books of all sizes. We found the Acrobat to be extremely easy to use and it provided the largest working area for reading large books such a dictionaries and encyclopedias. We liked the luggage style travel case that made it easy to transport the Acrobat by simply rolling it on wheels. Feel the Acrobat is an excellent choice for students and adults who want a portable video magnifier to focus far, near, and intermediate distances. MSRP: $2395

Freedom Scientific ONYX Deskset

Freedom Scientific has added a 19-inch LCD monitor to the ONYX Deskset video magnifier in 2008. Last year, Freedom Scientific introduced the ONYX 17-inch Deskset, a portable video magnifier that focused on distance, intermediate, and near objects. The ONYX Deskset consists of a LCD monitor, adjustable mounting bracket for the camera, auto-focus color camera, and a remote control. The ONYX is fairly portable and produces a clear, bright, and sharp image of the chalkboard, books, handouts, and it also has a self-viewing mode to help with grooming.

The camera of the ONYX Deskset is approximately 4 inches tall, by 3 ½ wide and deep. The camera is smaller than the Clarity DeskMate and the Enhanced Vision Acrobat. The ONYX camera does not have any controls on the camera. All changes to magnification, color, contrast, and the focus lock are controlled by the remote control. The mounting bracket for the ONYX camera is adjustable, allowing the camera to be positioned on the right or left sides of the monitor.

The ONYX Deskset has many very nice features, including color select modes to alter the colors of the background and text, focus lock to keep the camera focused on the target of interest, self-viewing mirror mode for grooming, and memory to memorize the settings of magnification and color when looking at various distances. This allows users to quickly swivel the camera from the chalkboard to the desk without having to change the settings of the camera. The ONYX camera also provides a lot of flexibility because the camera can be connected to an optional flex arm to view large 3-dimensional objects, and it can also be connected to a notebook computer.

We found the ONYX DeskSet to be very easy to set up and transport from one location to another. The ONYX camera can be positioned on either the right or left sides of the monitor, making it very user friendly for both right-handers and lefties. The ONYX produced a very sharp image and the auto-focus camera focused very quickly. We wish the ONYX camera was able to accommodate large books more easily and that the camera had controls on the camera in the event that the remote control is misplaced and lost.