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Freedom Scientific TOPAZ OCR User Manual

Desktop video magnifier with ocr and speech
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®
TOPAZ
OCR
Desktop Video Magnifier
with OCR and Speech
User's Guide
Freedom Scientific, Inc.
www.FreedomScientific.com
440927-001 Revision B

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Summary of Contents for Freedom Scientific TOPAZ OCR

  • Page 1 ® TOPAZ Desktop Video Magnifier with OCR and Speech User’s Guide Freedom Scientific, Inc. www.FreedomScientific.com 440927-001 Revision B...

  • Page 2: Safety And Maintenance

    Scientific, Inc. in the United States and other countries. Information in this document is subject to change without notice. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Freedom Scientific. To register your product, visit http://www.FreedomScientific.com/Forms/ProductRegistration.
  • Page 3 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Compliance Statement This device complies with Part 15 of the FCC Rules. Operation is subject to the following two conditions: (1) this device may not cause harmful interference, and (2) this device must accept any interference received, including interference that may cause undesired operation.

  • Page 4: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Introduction ....................1 SETTING UP YOUR TOPAZ OCR ..............3 Hardware Description..................4 Rear Panel Connectors ................. 5 Carrying and Moving TOPAZ OCR ............... 6 Power and Monitor Adjustments ..............7 VIDEO MAGNIFIER ..................9 Video Magnifier Quick Start ................ 10 Placing Items on the XY Table ..............
  • Page 5 Restore User Settings ................25 Restore User Settings When Powering On TOPAZ ........25 Disabling Center Push Buttons on the Control Panel ......26 Resetting Factory Default Settings ............27 Displaying Firmware Version Number ............28 Video Magnifier Configuration Menu Settings .......... 29 Adjusting Video Magnification Settings .............
  • Page 6 Restore Defaults (Setting menu) ............... 56 About (Settings menu) ................56 CONNECTING TOPAZ OCR TO YOUR COMPUTER ........57 Using TOPAZ OCR as a Computer Monitor ..........58 USB Connection to a Computer ..............60 Service and Support ..................61...

  • Page 7: Introduction

    Introduction ® The TOPAZ OCR is a desktop video magnifier that provides clear and sharp magnification of documents, newspapers, photos, and other items. With simple to use controls, you can make quick magnification, color, and brightness adjustments to best suit your vision needs. The high-definition camera produces a clear picture with sharp images and crisp text.
  • Page 8 About this Guide This guide familiarizes you with the magnification, OCR, and speech functions of TOPAZ. Throughout this guide, TOPAZ OCR is referred to as TOPAZ. At Freedom Scientific, we are constantly improving our products and their functionality. Therefore, it is possible that this guide is not the latest version.

  • Page 9: Setting Up Your Topaz Ocr

    SETTING UP YOUR TOPAZ OCR Setting Up Your TOPAZ OCR...

  • Page 10: Hardware Description

    7. Color Select Dial monitor. When used this way, the button switches between your 8. Magnification Dial computer view and the TOPAZ 9. Brightness Dial camera view. Video magnifier mode only. Setting Up Your TOPAZ OCR...

  • Page 11: Rear Panel Connectors

    Connects a computer to TOPAZ for operation with GEM image 5. Control panel jack management software. Video Connects the control panel to the magnifier mode only. camera. Do not disconnect cable unless servicing TOPAZ. Setting Up Your TOPAZ OCR...

  • Page 12: Carrying And Moving Topaz Ocr

    Carrying and Moving TOPAZ OCR This section describes how to carry, move, and reposition TOPAZ. CAUTION: TOPAZ weighs approximately 46 lbs. / 21 kg. Get assistance if you need help lifting and moving it. Important: Do NOT lift TOPAZ by the LED reading lights.

  • Page 13: Power And Monitor Adjustments

    TOPAZ is now ready for use in OCR mode. 4. Hold the sides of the monitor with both hands and move it up or down to change the height for the best viewing position. Setting Up Your TOPAZ OCR...
  • Page 14 Setting Up Your TOPAZ OCR...

  • Page 15: Video Magnifier

    VIDEO MAGNIFIER Video Magnifier...

  • Page 16: Video Magnifier Quick Start

    Video Magnifier Quick Start Placing Items on the XY Table The following describes how to change magnification and brightness, change color modes, and freeze an image on the screen. 1. Make sure TOPAZ is turned on and that the XY table is visible on the monitor screen.

  • Page 17: Changing Magnification

    Changing Magnification Turn the black Magnification dial clockwise to zoom in or counterclockwise to zoom away from the object that is displayed on the screen. TOPAZ can display 16 levels of magnification. Adjusting Screen and Image Brightness Turn the yellow Brightness dial to adjust brightness. Video Magnifier...

  • Page 18: Changing Screen Colors

    Changing Screen Colors Turn the blue Color Select dial to choose a color mode that best suits your vision needs. A color mode is a pre-defined color combination (for example, yellow text on a black background). You can use color modes to reduce glare and provide contrast to make it easier to read text on the screen.

  • Page 19: Freezing An Image

    Freezing an Image To freeze the current image that is displayed on the screen, do the following: 1. Press the center of the black Magnification dial. The freeze frame icon appears on the screen: 2. Press it again to turn off Freeze Frame and return to the camera’s live view. Using the Find Feature The Find feature is useful when moving and repositioning a document or item under the camera.

  • Page 20: Locking Camera Focus

    Locking Camera Focus Focus lock keeps the camera focused on the item you are viewing instead of trying to automatically focus on your hand, or any other item that passes in front of the camera. This is useful when working or writing directly under the camera.

  • Page 21: Advanced Operation

    Advanced Operation Turning LED Reading Lights On or Off Note: TOPAZ has two lights designed to illuminate documents and other items that you place on the reading table. This lighting is diffused to reduce glare and reflections. However, some items, such as photographs or glossy magazine pages, may be too shiny or reflective to view easily.

  • Page 22: Lines, Masks, And Shades

    Lines, Masks, and Shades Lines display as two horizontal or vertical lines on the screen. Masks and shades block part of the screen to show only a horizontal or vertical slice of the screen. This makes it easier to focus on a specific area of the reading material while also reducing glare from bright backgrounds.

  • Page 23: Moving Lines, Masks, Or Shades - Left Wheel

    Moving Lines, Masks, or Shades – Left Wheel Turn the left purple Adjustment wheel to the left or right to move lines, masks, or shades up and down or left and right on the screen. Video Magnifier...

  • Page 24: Moving A Single Line, Mask, Or Shade - Right Wheel

    Moving a Single Line, Mask, or Shade – Right Wheel For horizontal lines, masks, or shades:  Turn the right purple Width wheel to the left or right, which moves the top line, mask, or shade up or down. This increases or decreases the distance between horizontal lines, masks, or shades.

  • Page 25: Using The Reading Line

    3. To remove the reading line from the screen, press the center of the blue Color Select dial again. Note: This feature is not available when TOPAZ OCR is connected to your computer via the VGA connector. When connected this way, the center of the dial becomes the Computer View Toggle button and switches between computer view and the TOPAZ camera view.

  • Page 26: Color Modes

    Color Modes There are five factory default color modes and 28 additional color modes that you can activate and use. Select the color modes that best suit your visual needs, for example, yellow text against a black background. Note: To change color modes, see steps 1-3 in Changing Configuration Menu Settings on page 21.

  • Page 27: Changing Configuration Menu Settings

    Changing Configuration Menu Settings You can change factory settings using the Configuration menu as described in this section. Note: When configuring color modes, it is best to have both a page of text and a color photo to place under the camera to select settings best suited for you.
  • Page 28 To select a position and choose a different color mode:  Turn the yellow Brightness dial to view the 33 color modes.  When you find a color mode that you want to use, press the center of the black Magnification dial to select ( ) the color combination and enable the current position.
  • Page 29 4. When an item that you want to change displays, press the center of the black Magnification dial  Select and enable ( ) a setting  Clear and disable ( ) a setting  Cycle through the different options available for a setting 5.

  • Page 30: Saving And Restoring User Settings

    Saving and Restoring User Settings After enabling or disabling color modes and other settings in the Configuration menu, you can select your favorite color combination and screen brightness settings, and then save all changes as your default user settings. Being able to recall these settings is useful if you decide to experiment with other colors and settings, but are not satisfied with the changes.

  • Page 31: Restore User Settings

    Restore User Settings If it is necessary to restore user settings, press and hold these control panel buttons simultaneously for at least 10 seconds.  Red Focus Lock button  Center of yellow Brightness dial  Center of black Magnification dial Restore User Settings When Powering On TOPAZ By default, TOPAZ always powers on with the same settings as the previous session, to include color mode, brightness adjustments, and any lines, masks,...

  • Page 32: Disabling Center Push Buttons On The Control Panel

    Disabling Center Push Buttons on the Control Panel To simplify operation, you can disable the center push buttons on the control panel that operate the Freeze Frame , Find , and Single Reading Line features. To do this, 1. Press and hold the red Focus Lock button (bottom left side of the control panel) for at least 10 seconds to open the Configuration menu.

  • Page 33: Resetting Factory Default Settings

    Resetting Factory Default Settings To reset TOPAZ to its default factory settings, press and hold the following dials and buttons simultaneously for 10 seconds. Release the dials and buttons when the screen goes blank.  Red Focus Lock button  Center of yellow Brightness dial ...

  • Page 34: Displaying Firmware Version Number

    Displaying Firmware Version Number Press and hold the following dials and buttons simultaneously for five seconds to display the firmware version number. The word Ver. followed by several sets of numbers flash one at a time on the screen. The first three sets indicate the unit’s firmware version.

  • Page 35: Video Magnifier Configuration Menu Settings

    Video Magnifier Configuration Menu Settings Setting Description Color Select Adds more color positions so that additional color combinations are available when you turn the blue Color Select dial during normal operation. By default, positions 1 through 5 are available. Positions 6 through 12 can be added using this setting.
  • Page 36 Setting Description Freeze Frame Disables or enables freeze frame functionality. It is enabled ( ) by default. If you disable ( ) it, Freeze Frame is no longer available when you press the center of the black Magnification dial during normal operation.
  • Page 37 Setting Description Home This setting is cleared ( ) by default. When cleared, TOPAZ will always turn on using the same color, brightness, and reading lines or mask settings as in your last session. When selected ( ), the Home setting resets TOPAZ to your default user settings every time you turn on TOPAZ.
  • Page 38 Setting Description Magnification TOPAZ can display 16 levels of magnification Levels when you turn the black Magnification dial (positions 1 to 16). Three separate magnification tables are available for use. Each table offers slightly different values so that you can choose the best magnification power for you.
  • Page 39 Setting Description Magnification Sets the type of magnification value that Display Number displays on the screen as you turn the black Magnification dial. Press the center of the black Magnification dial to select a value. Select the icon with “88” to display the magnification in use relative to the 16 dial positions, for example, 1, 2, 3…14, 15, 16.

  • Page 40: Adjusting Video Magnification Settings

    Adjusting Video Magnification Settings Note: The following advanced feature is intended for sales and support personnel. It is accessed in the Configuration mode. TOPAZ can display 16 levels of magnification. To increase magnification, turn the black Magnification dial clockwise. To decrease magnification, turn it counterclockwise.

  • Page 41: Changing The Magnification Display Number

    4. Do one of the following:  To save the change and exit configuration mode, press and hold the red Focus Lock button for approximately 10 seconds until the on- screen display at the bottom of the screen closes.  To customize how magnification values display on the screen, perform the steps in the next section.

  • Page 42: Troubleshooting Video Magnification

    Troubleshooting Video Magnification Problem Solution Press the unit’s power button. The screen is blank. Make sure the power cable is correctly connected to TOPAZ and a power outlet. Reduce magnification. Adjust brightness. Switch to a different color mode. Press the unit’s power button. TOPAZ does not power on.

  • Page 43: Ocr And Speech

    OCR AND SPEECH OCR and Speech...

  • Page 44: Ocr And Speech Quick Start

    OCR and Speech Quick Start To quickly capture and process a document, do the following: 1. Tap the screen once in the bottom right corner to start OCR mode. The screen goes dark for a moment as TOPAZ switches from the video magnification camera to the OCR camera.
  • Page 45 3. Tap the screen, and the OCR camera captures and processes the document and starts reading within several seconds. 4. The document displays on the screen with each reading zone marked with large blue numbers: These numbers represent the most likely order of the text in the document. OCR and Speech...
  • Page 46 You can tap any number and TOPAZ starts reading from the selected zone. The white number is the zone that is being read. Note: Photos display in their original colors. To magnify a photo, tap it once. To return to the full-page view, tap the photo again. OCR and Speech...

  • Page 47: Changing Text And Background Colors

    5. To read multiple pages in the same document, or pages in a new document, do the following:  Touch and hold the red Close button until the yellow document outline box appears  Place a new page inside the yellow outline box, and tap the screen To pause speech: ...

  • Page 48: Magnifying A Document

    Magnifying a Document After capturing and processing a document, it displays on the screen in Overview mode with large numbers marking each reading zone. Overview is the minimum magnification.  To magnify your document, tap the yellow Plus button in the button bar.

  • Page 49: Ocr Button Bar

    OCR Button Bar Use the OCR button bar to start and pause speech, adjust magnification, adjust volume, adjust reading speed, activate the Main menu, and exit OCR mode and return to video magnifier mode. The button bar displays across the bottom of the screen when in OCR mode. OCR Button Description Menu (Gray)

  • Page 50: Speech Volume (Blue)

    OCR Button Description Speech Volume (Blue) Tap the left blue speaker button to decrease speech volume. Tap the right blue speaker button to increase speech volume. Reading Speed (Green) Tap the left green button to decrease reading speed. Tap the right green button to increase reading speed.

  • Page 51: Ocr Main Menu

    OCR Main Menu Use the OCR Main menu to save, open, and delete files; select different languages and voices; choose how to format and display text on the screen; and configure various speech options. To open the OCR Main menu, do the following: 1.

  • Page 52: Saving A Document (Main Menu)

    Saving a Document (Main menu) There are several steps to saving a document. You must:  Choose a file format. When saving as an MP3, you must select a reading voice.  Decide if you want to add a voice label to the document, and if you want to append more pages to the document ...
  • Page 53  e-PUB. Save the document as an e-reader file or DAISY compatible file  DOCX. Save the document on your computer for editing with Microsoft Word  MP3. Save the document as an MP3 audio file Saving in MP3, DOCX, or e-PUB format takes longer than the standard Document format.
  • Page 54  If you tap Yes, (1) You have approximately five seconds to record a voice label. (2) Speak into the built-in microphone on the bottom front edge of the touchscreen display. (3) After you finish speaking, the document and voice label are saved. (4) The document is saved using the first line of the document as the file name.

  • Page 55: Open (Main Menu)

    6. After deciding to add more pages, a message to begin processing the captured pages appears on the screen.  If you tap Yes, all pages are processed before returning to the document. This process may take several minutes, depending on the number of pages of the document.

  • Page 56: Delete (Main Menu)

    3. In the list, tap the document or picture you want to read or view. The menu closes and the document or picture opens. Pictures can be magnified. It is also possible to open text documents in TXT format or photos from a USB drive.

  • Page 57: Voice (Main Menu)

    2. Select the document you want to delete. A confirmation message appears.  Tap Yes to delete the document and return to the document list  Tap No, to cancel and return to the document list Voice (Main menu) To select a reading voice and language, tap the Voice button To select another reading voice, tap the Voice button again to switch to the next configured voice.

  • Page 58: View (Main Menu)

    View (Main menu) The View menu contains three buttons:  Color. Choose a pre-defined color combination (for example, yellow text on a black background) to reduce glare and provide contrast. This makes it easier to read text on the screen. ...

  • Page 59: Settings (Main Menu)

    Mode (View menu) Tap the yellow Mode button to select the default viewing mode. The viewing modes that can be selected are Column, Line, Page high contrast and Page full color.  Column mode. Text is reformatted and displayed in a column to fit the width of the screen regardless of the text size.
  • Page 60 Voice (Settings menu) The gray Voice button in the Settings menu opens a list with all available reading voices and languages. To select languages and add or remove reading voices, do the following: 1. Tap the gray Voice button. A list of languages appears on the screen. 2.
  • Page 61 3. Tap any voice to make it available or unavailable for reading.  A check mark in front of the voice name means it can be used as a reading voice. You can now select it when you tap the Voice button in the Main menu.

  • Page 62: Restore Defaults (Setting Menu)

    To use language detection, you must have several languages available for use (no more than five). To do this, do the following: 1. Open Voice (Settings menu) as described on page 54. 2. Select a language and then select at least one voice. 3.

  • Page 63: Connecting Topaz Ocr To Your Computer

    CONNECTING TOPAZ OCR TO YOUR COMPUTER Connecting TOPAZ OCR to Your Computer...

  • Page 64: Using Topaz Ocr As A Computer Monitor

    Using TOPAZ OCR as a Computer Monitor You can connect TOPAZ directly to your computer and use it as your primary monitor. When connected, you can always switch back to camera view by pressing the center of the blue Color Select dial .
  • Page 65 1024 x 768p at 70Hz  1152 x 864 at 70 Hz  1280 x 800p at 60Hz (default)  1280 x 1024p at 60Hz  1440 x 900p at 60Hz  1920 x 1080p at 60Hz Connecting TOPAZ OCR to Your Computer...

  • Page 66: Usb Connection To A Computer

    The video signal and camera image from TOPAZ goes directly to your computer. The TOPAZ view is visible using the GEM software 2. To use the software, refer to the GEM user documentation for more information. Connecting TOPAZ OCR to Your Computer...

  • Page 67: Service And Support

    Warranty Information and Product Registration The TOPAZ OCR and its accessories have a two-year warranty against manufacturing defects. Note: These devices have no user-serviceable components. Any unauthorized attempt to service or replace internal components will void the product warranty.
  • Page 68 Notes...

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