Types of magnifier
HAND MAGNIFIER
Hand-held magnifiers are the one of the simplest type of magnifiers to use and are also the most familiar. Nearly everyone has used a hand-held magnifier at some point in time. The hand-held magnifier design involves a handle that is attached to a lens through which the user will view an object – whether it is text or an image. Because the user has the ability to adjust the distance between the lens and the object, hand-held magnifiers can be used to easily compensate for slight differences in uncorrected nearsightedness or farsightedness. Eschenbach offers a wide range of hand-held magnifiers from which to choose. We carry illuminated and non-illuminated hand-held magnifiers with a variety of lens designs - including aspheric, aplanatic, biconvex, and the hi-tech diffractive lens. There are also options of available light sources to consider when choosing a hand-held magnifier. These include incandescent lighting or light emitting diodes (LEDs). Eschenbach hand-held magnifiers are available in powers from 2x to 12.5x diopters. Due to the fact the user must support the weight of the magnifier, hand-held magnifiers are ideal for short-term spotting tasks. Short-term spotting tasks include reading a prescription bottle, a menu, a phone number, a price tag, or even a thermostat. Actually, any task where a near object will be viewed for a short period of time can be assisted with the use of a hand-held magnifier. When reading for longer periods of time, consider using a stand magnifier, magnifying spectacles, or a video magnifier.
STAND MAGNIFIER
Stand magnifiers are one of many categories of vision aids that are available for use by the visually impaired. A stand magnifier is basically a plus lens mounted on legs that fix the distance from the lens to the object. They work based on the principles of angular and relative distance magnification. Some of the magnification, the ‘enlargement ratio’ or ‘transverse magnification’ is provided by the lens based on its distance from the object to be viewed. The rest of the magnification is provided by the user via relative distance magnification or ‘holding things closer’. The closer the user holds a stand magnifier to the eye or glasses, the more magnification they will obtain. Years ago, stand magnifiers were available only in non-illuminated versions. Because they relied on ambient light to illuminate the object or text, the legs often cast shadows across the field of view. As a result, Eschenbach introduced the concept of a self-illuminating stand magnifier. Currently, Eschenbach offers a wide selection of Stand Magnifiers to choose from. These include standard Head & Handle combinations, Bar and Bright Field magnifiers, Lamp and Gooseneck stand magnifiers, Pendant magnifiers, and an Around-the-neck magnifier which can be used for sewing, knitting or other hobbies when hands need to be free. Some stand magnifiers are available with or without illumination; the illumination options include LED, halogen and incandescent. Stand magnifiers are ideal for extended, near tasks such as reading a book, newspaper or magazine, writing small notes, signing checks, and doing crossword puzzles.
HANDS-FREE MAGNIFIER
Spectacle Magnifiers are one of many categories of vision aids available for use by the visually impaired. Eschenbach offers clip-on systems, prismatic eyewear, noves eyewear and high-powered magnifying spectacles in a variety of designs and magnification powers. They are ideal for extended near tasks like reading, or working on hobbies or crafts tasks because they allow users to have their ‘hands-free’.
DIGITAL MAGNIFIER
Video magnifiersare sometimes called “closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems” and generally use stand-mounted or hand-held video cameras to project a magnified image onto a video monitor, a television (TV) screen, or a computer monitor. Eschenbach offers a broad range of video magnifiers in all categories. Desktop video magnifiers generally have a table surface on which the object is placed. Directly above the object, is a camera and monitor upon which the magnified image is projected. Some desktop systems allow the user to project the image onto a standard TV instead of an integrated monitor. Other video magnifiers are typically of a hand-held variety. “Hand-held” video magnifiers are similar to stand magnifiers in that they generally have to stand on, or rest against, the reading material in order to work. Hand-held video magnifiers generally have a small integrated display that the image appears on. There are also hand-held video magnifiers that can project magnified images on a television.
