What are the different kinds of teleprompters?

What are the different kinds of teleprompters?

Depending on how you look at it there are two or as many as five different styles of teleprompters.  Let me explain.

If I were to give you a very straightforward explanation about how many different types of teleprompters there are, the answer would be two.  Because basically there are two main types of teleprompters.  One for recording video, and the other for giving public speeches.

What makes these two different from each other is this.  I teleprompter that is designed for producing video is designed to work with a camera which usually sits on the teleprompter and record the subject while they are reading the scrolling text. 

Speach teleprompters, most commonly referred to as presidential or stage prompters do exactly what the name implies.  They provide a visual aid to someone giving a speech. They usually sit in front of the speaker/talent on a stand.  You can almost always find them near a politician out on the campaign trail.  They are the two pieces of square glass that site at 9 o'clock and 2 o'clock in relation to the speaker. 

The two types are for different things but they both do the same thing.  They provide a visual representation of the script that the speaker/talent are trying to deliver to their subject in the way of scrolling text. 

So there you have it! the two types of teleprompters, right? or, maybe not. 

Actually, there are types of types of teleprompters.  What I mean is that there are different types of video teleprompters, and different types of speech teleprompters and I will break them down for you below. 

Here are the different types of video Teleprompters:

  • Studio On-Camera Teleprompter
  • Studio Free-Standing Teleprompters
  • Studio Off-Camera Teleprompters
  • iPad / Tablet On-Camera Teleprompters
  • iPad / Tablet Off-Camera Teleprompters
  • iPad / Tablet Free-Standing Teleprompters
  • Smartphone Teleprompters
  • Periscope Teleprompters

Here are the different type of speech teleprompters:

  • Traditional Stand-Based Stage Teleprompter
  • LCD Monitor Only Teleprompter
  • Musician Floor/Speaker-Wedge Teleprompter
  • Rear Projection Speech Teleprompters

If that isn't confusing enough there is even more to it. The types of types of teleprompters have their own types. For example, a Studio On-Camera Teleprompter can be built on a chassis that is made of two linear round rods know as rails, or the chassis can be a platform based setup that is proprietary to its design.  

When it comes to features it is more a matter of preference than anything else.  Your objective should determine which teleprompter you need for your unique situation.

For example, if you are delivering a speech to a room of people and want to seem natural, and not give on to the fact you are reading a script, you would probably go with a traditional stage prompter setup because of it is the most practical for this situation, but if you are shooting a video and you want to be able to follow your subject around with your camera as you pan-and-tilt the tripod head, you will want to use an On-Camera Teleprompter.  

The technology you use is also about preference. If you prefer iPad or tablets rather than desktop or laptop computers you will most likely go with an iPad/tablet solution.  

In the next post I will discuss what make one teleprompter better than the other and help you get closer to deciding on what type of teleprompter you looking for.

 

 

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