Product Feature Title

Product Feature By Rod Keat

Cornwall Blind Association’s access technology offi cer, Rod Keat, brings us his valuable opinion on the current technology available to blind and visually impaired people. The Merlin LCD is a stand-alone electronic magnifi er used mainly for reading and writing. What has made it popular over the last year or so is its ease of use, price point and picture quality

The Merlin works straight out of the box. Just plug it in, press the on button and away you go. When using the device in most situations, you only need to use one button and one knob. The mode control lets you choose the colour you want for the text and background or for viewing pictures and a knob rotates to let you increase or decrease the magnifi cation.

It also has an adjustable screen that allows you to adjust the height and tilt - something that might prove useful if you were trying to complete a task such as cooking,

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where you had to follow a recipe. If I was to change anything it might be to have a quick way of jumping from normal colour when viewing pictures to your preferred colours for reading. But then again, that might complicate things. Of course, technology is always evolving with devices that now offer high defi nition picture quality or the ability to adjust the text size automatically so as to always display text at your preferred size. So is the Merlin still a viable option? If you are looking for a simple stand-alone electronic magnifi er at this price point then yes!

Of course, there are others - so if you are interested in fi nding out more about the Merlin or other electronic magnifi ers why not call me to make an appointment and try these devices for yourself? Rod Keat – rkeat@cornwallblind. org.uk or 01872 553832 Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22