# Where can we find a magnifying glass that would cover a computer monitor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 9, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197 "2004-02-09T00:03:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![monica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a183cd/32.png) [@monica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monica)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/1 "2004-02-09T00:03:38Z")
My grandfather’s vision is worsening quickly, and as we’ve finally taught him how to use the internet and email, we would really like him to be able to read the screen without straining his eyes. What we’d like to find is a big magnifying glass that we could affix to the monitor that would cover the whole screen. Does anyone have any idea where we might find such a thing? Thanks! ~ Monica ---
**Author:** ![Jayn\_Newell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Jayn\_Newell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jayn_Newell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/2 "2004-02-09T00:10:01Z")
If you right-click on the desktop and go into properties, you can change the screen resolution and other things to make things bigger on the screen. Of course, that’s assuming you have Windows. If you don’t, then I pass this off to the next person. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/3 "2004-02-09T00:15:41Z")
You’re looking for a [Fresnel Lens](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=3&daysprune=). (Various suppliers may be found on the right hand side of the page) ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/4 "2004-02-09T00:18:45Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > You’re looking for a [Fresnel Lens](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/forumdisplay.php?forumid=3&daysprune=). (Various suppliers may be found on the right hand side of the page) That link goes to the GQ forum page. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/5 "2004-02-09T00:36:49Z")
Those Fresnel lenses don’t work too well, at least not when I tried 'em back in the day. Go to Start \> All Programs \> Accessories \> Accessibility \> Magnifier for the default Windows screen magnifier. It’s pretty lame, so you might want to go to the Microsoft web site and search for “accessibility”. There’ll be links to better accessibility products. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/6 "2004-02-09T00:48:53Z")
Whoops: [Fresnel lens](http://www.google.com/search?as_q=&num=10&hl=en&ie=ISO-8859-1&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=fresnel+lens&as_oq=&as_eq=&lr=&as_ft=i&as_filetype=&as_qdr=all&as_occt=any&as_dt=i&as_sitesearch=&safe=off). ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/7 "2004-02-09T01:44:58Z")
> [@Jayn\_Newell](#): > > If you right-click on the desktop and go into properties, you can change the screen resolution and other things to make things bigger on the screen. The problem with this is that it decreases the total screen space you have, so while things are bigger, you have less room to put stuff on the screen. > [@](#): > > Of course, that’s assuming you have Windows. If you don’t, then I pass this off to the next person. Well, if you’ve got MacOS X, you can turn on Universal Access’ “zoom” feature – just press Command-Option-8, then you can zoom the area around your cursor, from 2x to 64x. The zoom follows the cursor, so you can see everything just by rolling the mouse a tad. ---
**Author:** ![Kegg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Kegg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kegg)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/8 "2004-02-09T08:26:47Z")
What about a good pair of drug store glasses, like D10 or D15 * * * Spelling and grammer subject to change without notice. ---
**Author:** ![Alereon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alereon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alereon)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/9 "2004-02-09T11:18:02Z")
I’m not sure how much magnifying glasses or a real screen magnifier would cost, but these days you can get used 21" monitors for $99 occasionally, and refurbished 19" monitors for $99 commonly. It might be an easier and more cost effective option to just get a larger monitor and run at a lower-than-standard resolution. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2004, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/where-can-we-find-a-magnifying-glass-that-would-cover-a-computer-monitor/228197/10 "2004-02-09T11:24:20Z")
> [@Alereon](#): > > It might be an easier and more cost effective option to just get a larger monitor and run at a lower-than-standard resolution. I was going to say that too. Or just change the font side and/or use other software aids as already suggested. After all, if a full-screen magnifier worked well, they’d be manufacturing monitors with built-in magnifiers.