Monarch Support

When students are taught to read correctly on paper braille, the gestures their hands perform to track and meet in the middle are often regarded as the butterfly method of learning to read.  This is how Monarch got its name.

The Monarch has an approximate display area of 96×40 equidistant pins, utilizing 480 braille cells.

The Monarch utilizes 9 pins, instead of the traditional 6, horizontally to allow for crisper tactile graphics resolution. A user first trying out the Monarch may notice a slight spacing between braille characters, testing has shown that this becomes an insignificant change as the user grows accustomed to the technology.

If the braille pins are Touched while trying to refresh, the Monarch display may not refresh properly. However, the device uses the dynamic refresh feature to sense where your fingers are located, and when the touch has been lifted away from that significant area, it will automatically refresh the display. Holding down the Action button between keys 1 and 4 will also perform a manual refresh.

The Monarch display has a cover or, “membrane” which protects the mechanical pins underneath. Each new device is supplied with five replacement membranes. Testing has shown that there may be an initial identification from users that a membrane is there, but like equidistant pins, users notice the membrane less as the become accustomed to the technology.