Teleprompter Buyers Guide for Beginner Videographers
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Whether you’re starting a YouTube channel or are an old vlogging pro, chances are you may find yourself looking for a quality teleprompter buyers guide.
Using a teleprompter for YouTube videos makes you look more professional and puts you a step above your competition. The problem is there are a ton of teleprompter features that most people don’t need and it can be hard to figure out which teleprompters for beginners are actually worth the price.
Our teleprompter buyers guide will walk you through how teleprompters work, a variety of teleprompter features, and the best tablet teleprompters for every price range.
How Do Teleprompters Work?
If you’re looking for a full rundown of how teleprompters work, you can watch the above video by Nate Woodbury.
But, essentially, every teleprompter consists of a piece of reflective glass and a monitor that displays the text. The reflective glass is put above the monitor on an angle so you can read the reflection of your text, but your audience can’t.
The problem with most teleprompters is that they are bulky, which is why purchasing a tablet teleprompter may be the most efficient use of your space. For more info on teleprompter sizing, keep reading.
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Teleprompter Features: Choosing the Right Sizing
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I think the most important part of a teleprompter buyers guide is discussing teleprompter sizing because it varies wildly.
For instance, national news stations use prompters that are large enough to be read from a great distance to enable as many shots of the anchors as possible. These teleprompters can be as large as a few feet across.
But, chances are you’re looking for teleprompters for beginners that you could use either in your home or small studio and for this there are two different options: a smartphone teleprompter and a tablet teleprompter.
Honestly, I don’t recommend smartphone teleprompters because they’re much smaller and unless you have perfect vision and can set your camera within a few feet of your face, it’s going to be difficult to read.
If you opt for a tablet teleprompter, like Ikan’s Elite Universal Tablet Teleprompter, you can shoot within 3-6 feet of your camera with ease. Keep in mind that your font size will probably be somewhere between 48-72 points at this distance and so you will only be able to fit around 4-6 words per line.
The Elite Universal Tablet Teleprompter works with any tablet from 7.5” x 5” up to 10.5” x 8” and is large enough to allow even people with less-than-perfect vision to read comfortably at a distance.
The Elite Universal Tablet Teleprompter is also one of my favorite teleprompters for beginners because it’s only $430.
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Teleprompter Features: Choosing the Right Mount
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I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a teleprompter buyers guide without information about teleprompter mounts.
Some teleprompters attach to a tripod that allows the camera to then attach to the back of the teleprompter while others attach to the front of a camera rig.
Ikan’s PT Elite UGK teleprompter, for example, is compatible with DSLRs and all small to mid-sized cameras because the cameras simply attach to the back of the teleprompter.
There’s another teleprompter mount that allows you to put your teleprompter on a tripod and your camera on a separate tripod, but this method takes up a lot more room and is thus not great for beginners or anyone working in a small space.
Teleprompter Features: What is it Compatible With?
Lastly, I’ve been discussing this throughout, but if you’re looking at teleprompter features then you need to know what it is compatible with. For instance, does it work with your smartphone or a tablet? How big does your smartphone or tablet need to be?
High-quality teleprompters will support a variety of smartphones or tablets. Ikan’s PT Elite Pro, for example, works with iPads, Androids, and Windows tablets. It also supports any tablet between 6” x 9” and 9” x 12”.
Buying a tablet teleprompter that ends up not fitting your tablet is the worst feeling in the world - apart from buying a teleprompter that ends up not fitting your needs.
If you’re going to be spending hundreds of dollars on vlogging equipment, you may as well go with a company you know you can trust. For me, that company is Ikan!
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