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Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Printable Version

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Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Kees van der Sanden - 08-31-2017 08:41 AM

Hi,

A few day ago I received the next email:

My name is Bill Graham, and I have age related nacular degeneration. (I am 82) I need a desktop adding machine or a pocket calculator such as the ones that HP used to make that has aq red LED readout. The larger the readout, the better, aqnd if its yellow, that’s OK too. But liquid crystal just won’t cut it. I can’t find these on line, so I was wondering if you knew a source that may have them. I am amazed at the poor selection of items available for us sight impaired folks. People think you are either 100% blind or have 20/20 vision, when in fact there are millions of us old geezers who are somewhere in between those two extremes.

Do you have any suggestion?
My first idea was a desktop calculator with a large VFD display.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Nigel (UK) - 08-31-2017 09:05 AM

The Olympia CPD 512 (image here) is a desktop calculator with what looks like a bright fluorescent display. I haven't seen one in real life, however.

Nigel (UK)

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Accutron - 08-31-2017 01:07 PM

If VFDs are okay, the options are virtually limitless as long as you only need standard adding machine functions. VFDs are multispectral with a large blue component however, which is probably not so good for geriatric macular degeneration. Color sensitivity degradation is most severe on the blue end of things. Something with an orange Panaplex gas discharge display is probably going to be the best intersection of price, availability, digit size and visibility, but it would require getting a pre-1975 machine.

The Olympia CPD 512 looks like it has a gallium phosphide green LED display.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Alejandro Paz(Germany) - 09-01-2017 10:39 AM

Maybe the machine Harald is building with VFDs is an option, it has green-blue VFDs, though.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Thomas Okken - 09-01-2017 11:29 AM

The Olympia CPD 512 has a backlit LCD. Their data sheet says "green and red LCD display," but it isn't obvious to me whether that is something you have to choose when you buy the calculator, or something you can switch (two-color LED backlight? Switchable filters?)

https://www.soundstar.gr/en/product/olympia-cpd-512-arithmomichani-me-tenia-2/

Update: Or maybe it uses red to indicate negative numbers? That would be consistent with the black/red output from the printer.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - rprosperi - 09-01-2017 01:14 PM

(09-01-2017 11:29 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Or maybe it uses red to indicate negative numbers? That would be consistent with the black/red output from the printer.

That would be cool, and I don't think I've ever heard of a calculator with this feature; is anyone aware of this being done before?

There is a manual available here, but it is only in German. If a German reader could check it out and let us know, it would be appreciated.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Thomas Okken - 09-01-2017 01:53 PM

(09-01-2017 01:14 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  
(09-01-2017 11:29 AM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Or maybe it uses red to indicate negative numbers? That would be consistent with the black/red output from the printer.

That would be cool, and I don't think I've ever heard of a calculator with this feature; is anyone aware of this being done before?

There is a manual available here, but it is only in German. If a German reader could check it out and let us know, it would be appreciated.

Wrong model -- that link is for the CPD-5212; the CPD-512 manual is at http://www.olympia-vertrieb.de/fileadmin/produkte/rechner/tischrechner_druckend/cpd_512/CPD_512_100322.pdf (multi-lingual).
It does say that negative numbers are shown in red on the printer, and with a minus sign in the display. I find no mention of display color whatsoever.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - ThomasA - 09-01-2017 01:55 PM

I checked the manual - no hint to any switchable color of the display.
Thomas

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Thomas Okken - 09-01-2017 02:15 PM

(09-01-2017 01:55 PM)ThomasA Wrote:  I checked the manual - no hint to any switchable color of the display.
Thomas

Indeed -- and yet, in their current product catalog, http://www.olympia-vertrieb.de/fileadmin/TRANSFER/Kataloge_PDF/Katalog_2017_DE_Small.pdf (page 41), it says grün/rote LCD Anzeige (green/red LCD display), just like in the data sheets. I guess you'd have to contact their sales or tech support to find out what the deal is.

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - rprosperi - 09-01-2017 03:56 PM

(09-01-2017 01:53 PM)Thomas Okken Wrote:  Wrong model -- that link is for the CPD-5212; the CPD-512 manual is at http://www.olympia-vertrieb.de/fileadmin/produkte/rechner/tischrechner_druckend/cpd_512/CPD_512_100322.pdf (multi-lingual).
It does say that negative numbers are shown in red on the printer, and with a minus sign in the display. I find no mention of display color whatsoever.

Sorry about that, looked too quickly. Maybe if the model number had been in red...

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Nigel (UK) - 09-03-2017 12:14 PM

Here's a link to that model on the amazon.de website.

It describes the machine as having a green/red display; more helpfully, one of the comments says that:
Quote:The display is poorly lit and difficult to read, otherwise everything ok.the service is simple and uncomplicated. An improvement in the contrast would be desirable.
(Google Translate helped me here.) So the machine isn't suitable in any case.

Nigel (UK)

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Thomas Okken - 09-03-2017 02:49 PM

(09-03-2017 12:14 PM)Nigel (UK) Wrote:  Here's a link to that model on the amazon.de website.

It describes the machine as having a green/red display; more helpfully, one of the comments says that:
Quote:The display is poorly lit and difficult to read, otherwise everything ok.the service is simple and uncomplicated. An improvement in the contrast would be desirable.
(Google Translate helped me here.) So the machine isn't suitable in any case.

Nigel (UK)

That doesn't sound very encouraging, does it?

This is harder than I thought it would be. It looks like everything is either LCD or green/blue nowadays, and if you search for "large red display" all you find are clocks.

How about this, though? Nixie tubes: https://www.etsy.com/listing/467428845/sharp-compet-cs-222a-vintage-nixie-tube?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=cs%20222a&ref=sr_gallery_1

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Jlouis - 09-04-2017 01:26 AM

I can suggest the HP 97.

Bright, crisp and big red display, many and large keys, the 5 key has tactile identification mark ( I don't know how to name it in english), many keys, not a cluttered and shifted keyboard, big enter and + keys (like an adding machine).

There's some in ebay now, it's not that cheap, but he can find one that the printer and card reader is inoperative and no manuals, that is cheaper and go for it.

This is the best that I can think for him at the moment.

Good luck

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Joe Horn - 09-04-2017 04:35 AM

(09-04-2017 01:26 AM)Jlouis Wrote:  I can suggest the HP 97. Bright, crisp and big red display...

Excellent suggestion. Its digits are approximately twice as big as HP's handheld LED calculators' digits, and they're tilted up for better readability:

[Image: 19c67.jpg]

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - John Smitherman - 09-04-2017 05:44 PM

Sharp and Casio offer several LED desktop models:

https://sharpcalculators.com/products#!/Printing-Calculators/c/12504387/offset=0&sort=normal

https://www.casio.com/products/calculators/printing


Regards,

John

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - Kees van der Sanden - 09-04-2017 06:22 PM

The HP97 (or HP91) indeed have a nice large LED display.

So far I couldn't find any modern calculator with a large LED display.
Also not on the site of Sharp or Casio. They all have LCD displays.

Thanks for your response.

Kees

RE: Need your advice for a visually impaired person - John Smitherman - 09-04-2017 07:26 PM

Perhaps an iOS or Android app on a tablet would be suitable.


John