Page «Basic Options»

Following is a description of the settings on the Basic options page which is part of the Glass options Profiles settings page.

TIP: Enable Glass Preview while adjusting the various settings to instantly see the effect of your changes.

Transparency (Win2000/XP): This option applies to Windows XP and Windows 2000 only. It is used to increase or decrease the visibility of the Glass over the area of your screen being magnified.

WARNING: If you don’t have a graphics accelerator, or you have limited system resources, you may want to decrease the Transparency so that the Glass and the area of your screen it is magnifying are more visible, which uses fewer graphical system resources.

Zoom factor: The Zoom factor setting enables you to control the amount of magnification provided by the Glass. Select a value from the drop-down list or select Enter any to type a value. The Zoom values 0.7 through 1 actually reduce (de-magnify) the view provided by the Glass. Zoom values great than 1 increase (magnify) the view provided by the Glass.

Image update interval (sec): This setting determines the frequency (in seconds) at which the area magnified by the Glass is updated (refresh rate) as the Glass follows the cursor. The more often the view is refreshed (e.g. 0.01), the clearer and more immediate the magnified image will be. However, frequent updating requires the use of additional system resources and must be used cautiously. At a slower update rate, the magnified image may actually “twitch” as the Glass lags behind the cursor. The goal is to find a setting that provides the best image you can get based on your system resources and other CPU-intensive settings.

TIP: If you don’t have enough system resources to support a more frequent refresh rate, consider using the Fixed Glass position (Advanced options). See the description later in this document.

WARNING: Regardless of the image update interval, the Glass may slow down (lag behind the cursor) as more resource-intensive processes are engaged (e.g., you launch another application). Therefore, you may need to lower the update rate at that time even though it typically works fine.

Caret watch: When this setting is enabled, the Glass follows both the mouse cursor and the text cursor (caret). Otherwise, the Glass follows only the mouse cursor.

Anti Aliased (CPU max): When anti-aliasing is enabled (this check box is selected), the edges of objects in the magnified area under the Glass are slightly smoothed. This setting can be used to remove the jagged edges that result from some zoom modes. Anti-aliasing can also be set from Command mode. This feature requires the use of additional system resources.

Show magnified Cursor: When this setting is enabled, the mouse or text cursor is magnified the same as other objects/text in the area magnified by the Glass. A magnified cursor may, in fact, obstruct the view of other objects, however, in which case, you can disable this setting.

Note: On Windows 9x, the cursor is not displayed in the magnified area due to system restrictions.

Size (pixels): The size of the Glass determines the area of the screen that is magnified at any one time. The size is specified in pixels. You can adjust the Glass size from Command mode as well.

Frame: A visible frame distinguishes the area of the screen that is magnified by the Glass. You can choose the color of that frame as well as the width of the lines that make up that frame. To limit the visibility of the frame (not recommended because it’s easy, then, to “lose” the Glass), set the color close to or same as your desktop or application background color.

Glass Preview: As you determine the best Glass settings for your system, it is useful to enable the Glass Preview to instantly view the effect of each change. You can easily toggle the preview on and off as needed. Otherwise, the Glass is not visible while working in the MG Pro options.