Nothing gives away that you are reading on a video call faster than squinting. When font sizes are too small or the contrast is poor, your facial expression tenses up, your eyes narrow, and your body leans closer to the screen. Conversely, if your teleprompter window is completely opaque, you lose sight of participant body language and non-verbal cues.
Finding the right combination of text scale, line height, and background opacity creates effortless reading that looks like spontaneous speech.
Font Size vs. Viewing Distance
The correct teleprompter font size depends directly on how far your eyes sit from your physical screen:
| Viewing Distance | Typical Setup | Recommended Font Size |
|---|---|---|
| 16 – 20 inches (40–50 cm) | Laptop on desk / close typing distance | 18px – 22px |
| 22 – 28 inches (55–70 cm) | External 24"–27" desktop monitor | 22px – 28px |
| 30+ inches (75+ cm) | Ultrawide monitor or standing desk | 28px – 36px |
The Squint Test: Sit back naturally in your chair with proper posture. If you need to lean forward or strain your eyebrows to read the text, increase the font size by 4 pixels immediately.
Line Height and Word Density
Dense blocks of text are difficult for the human eye to track when glancing up and down between the camera lens and screen. Configure your script layout with these typography rules:
- Line Height (1.6 to 1.8): Generous vertical spacing prevents your eyes from accidentally skipping lines.
- Narrow Column Width (320px – 420px): Short lines contain 6 to 9 words per line, allowing you to absorb an entire thought in a single micro-glance.
- High-Contrast Sans-Serif Font: Fonts like Inter, SF Pro, or Arial provide clear letterform distinction even at high transparency levels.
Balancing Window Opacity
A transparent teleprompter overlay allows you to see your meeting participants, slides, or chat while having your script right in front of you:
- 70% – 85% Opacity (Recommended Sweet Spot): Provides sharp text contrast while still revealing facial expressions, nods, and hand raises in the video call beneath.
- 95% – 100% Opacity (High Focus Mode): Best for formal speeches or scripted presentations where background visual distractions should be minimized.
- Under 50% Opacity (Ghost Mode): Text becomes washed out unless against a pitch-black background. Generally causes eye strain.
Preventing Screen Reflection on Eyeglasses
If you wear glasses, bright white backgrounds on your monitor create visible reflection rectangles in your webcam video feed. To eliminate this:
- Use Dark Mode in your prompter overlay (light text on a dark translucent background).
- Reduce monitor brightness slightly and increase front-facing key light on your face.
Dial in your perfect reading settings in Glance
Glance gives you instant sliders for font size, window width, and background transparency so you can customize your teleprompter for any lighting or monitor setup.
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