Teleprompter text backwards or upside down
If your script reads backward through the glass, nothing is broken: the glass is a mirror. Here's which setting each kind of setup needs.
Step by step: set up a glass teleprompter rig
- Lay the screen under the glass. Put your phone or tablet face up in the tray, under the angled glass. The camera sits behind the glass and films straight through it.
- Pick your rig in Reframely. Open the sliders and choose Your rig. Tablet or Phone in a glass rig mirrors the text, so it reads the right way round in the glass.
- Turn the brightness all the way up. Beam-splitter glass passes only part of the light, so the reflection is dimmer than the screen. Full brightness and a darker room keep the words crisp.
- Check it through the camera. Look at the camera’s screen, not the tablet. If the hood’s edge shows in a wide shot, zoom in a little or widen the side margins. Then pair a clicker or your phone and press play.
Why it happens
In a glass teleprompter, the screen lies face-up under a sheet of angled glass. You read its reflection, and a reflection flips the image left to right. The app has to flip the text first, so the reflection comes out the right way round. That's what Mirror does.
Which setting you need
| Your setup | Mirror | Upside down |
|---|---|---|
| Phone or tablet under glass (Glide Gear, Neewer, Desview, Parrot, DIY) | On | Off |
| Screen mounted above the glass, facing down | On | On |
| Prompter with its own screen (Elgato Prompter, Neewer X11) | Usually off; turn on if reversed | Off |
| Phone front camera, no glass | Off | Off |
| Laptop window under the webcam | Off | Off |
In Reframely, the Your rig menu sets these for you. To check by hand, open the sliders menu and use the Mirror and Upside down buttons.
Quick check
- Look at the text through the glass from where you'll stand, not at the screen directly.
- If words read right to left, toggle Mirror.
- If lines run bottom to top, toggle Upside down.
- Tap the screen to play: the script should move upward through the glass.
Upside down instead of backwards?
If the words are the right way round but upside down, the screen is above the glass rather than below it, or the device's rotation has flipped. Lock rotation first, then try the Screen above the lens preset or turn on Upside down.
Fixing it on the output window
The second-screen or OBS output has its own mirror setting, separate from the main prompter. That lets you run an unmirrored prompter on the laptop and a mirrored output on the monitor under the glass. If the output reads backward, change it in the output window, not on the main screen.
Prompters that flip the picture themselves
Some prompter monitors and USB prompters reverse the image in hardware. If you also turn on Mirror in the app, the two cancel out and the text reads backward again. Use one or the other.
Questions
Why is my teleprompter text mirrored?
Teleprompter glass reflects the screen, which flips it. Apps mirror the text so the reflection reads normally. If you're reading the screen directly, turn mirroring off.
Does mirroring affect my recording?
No. Your camera films you through the glass; the text is only on the screen under it.
Last updated .