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• CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-06 22:35:42 By Rick H
• I am new to this message board.
  I am 44 years old and was diagnosed with cone-rod dystrophy two and a half years ago. I am having trouble reading more than a page or two at a time.
  My eyes will fatigue and I start seeing yellow lines throughout the page. I am looking into a cctv I have seen the MERLIN 19" LCD
  and the DESKTOP CLEARVIEW PLUS by OPTELEC and yet to see the MY READER machine. I am also debating portable or desktop. I realize it is personal preference; however if anyone has any good or bad experiences with these machines I would appreciate it. Thank you Rick H

• Re: CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-07 14:40:15 By Darran Z
• Rick,
  
  My experience with a CCTV didn't help me very well. It made reading even more fatiging thant it was. It took me 2-3 hrs just to read a chapter from class. So if you have a very narrow visual field, it might not work so well. but mostly it's preference. I have to have black and white contrast colors to do anything plus magnification. But it's still cumbersome to read.
  
  What is the purpose of this? Work related? Enjoyment? If it's enjoyment you could sign up for services at the State Library where you can get most any publication on audio format now.So that may be an option for you.
  
  Darran

• Re: Re: CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-07 17:48:14 By Rick H
• Darran
  
  Thank you for the reply.
  
  It is work related and I am currently working
  with the state. I currently use zoom text on my computer and it seems to help. My visual field
  is still okay. I have problems with small text and the cctv should help with this. I will look into the state library for audio books.
  
  Darran thanks again for the help
  
  Rick

• Re: Re: Re: CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-08 02:13:47 By Darran Z
• What you should do is contact the agency that services the blind and meet up with the Technology Person. They should have several CCTVs on hand for you to play around with so you can see all the features. Perhaps, you could get a personal demo by some of the manufacturers. You need to find one that works for your needs.
  
  The myReader one is cool but I'm not sure how well it works with graphics. It takes a "snapshot" of the page and you can read it anyway you want as it is turned into digital. Meaning you can read it as the page, turn it into a marque reading a single line from righ tto left. You can have it automatic to move up from down like you normally read. It's got alot of nice features.
  
  I personally used an Optelec ClearView and that worked for me. You want to look into space, whether you want a built in TV or hook up to a separate TV/monitor. My Optelec hooked up separately to a TV. But I loved it because I coudl use the black and white contrast, use crosshairs or a red line across so I don't lose the spot on the line. It's did what I needed without all the fancy stuff.
  
  Darran

• Re: CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-09 10:01:29 By Rick H
• I have seen the Optelec clearvies 19" lcd and liked it however when I moved the x-y table as I was reading it seemed to take a while to focus. I also saw the portable Clarity 17" lcd and it seemed the same way as far as refresh rate. That seems to be the only downside.
  
  Rick

• Re: CCTV HELP
• Posted: 2008-03-12 20:34:30 By Zane B
• Rick
  
  I use both the myreader and merlin. Merlin for home and the myreader for work. As far as readable text the merlin functions well. Much more clear. Great contrast ability. The draw backs to the my reader is the very bright bulbs. If the paper has any reflective quality the print is lost in the reflection. The capture feature is ok but it is extra steps and it only will do one page at a time. So if you must say look through a file you must stop and cature each page. The myreader does not handle very small print well. It simply blurs.
  
  The plus of the myreader is portable. If you want to lug around 30 pounds.
  
  food for thought
  zane