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closed-caption-app/SETTINGS.md
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2025-08-05 15:17:40 -07:00
# Settings Guide
This guide explains all the settings available in the Live Transcription App.
## Accessing Settings
Click the **⚙️ Settings** button in the top-right corner of the main window to open the settings page.
## Settings Overview
### API Configuration
#### OpenAI API Key
- Required for using Whisper Remote transcription
- Get your key from: https://platform.openai.com/api-keys
- Stored securely and never shown in plain text after saving
#### ElevenLabs API Key
- Required for using ElevenLabs Scribe transcription
- Get your key from: https://elevenlabs.io/api
- Stored securely and never shown in plain text after saving
### Audio Processing
#### Whisper Model
Select the Whisper model size based on your needs:
- **Tiny**: Fastest, least accurate (39M parameters)
- **Base**: Good balance (74M parameters) - Default
- **Small**: More accurate (244M parameters)
- **Medium**: High accuracy (769M parameters)
- **Large**: Highest accuracy, slowest (1550M parameters)
#### GPU Acceleration
Choose your GPU acceleration method:
- **Disabled (CPU only)**: Uses CPU for processing
- **NVIDIA CUDA**: For NVIDIA GPUs (RTX, GTX, etc.)
- **AMD ROCm**: For AMD GPUs (Linux only)
- **Intel OpenVINO**: For Intel Arc and integrated GPUs
Use the **Detect GPU** button to automatically detect and select the best option.
#### Audio Threshold
- Controls sensitivity to sound (0.001 to 0.1)
- Lower values = more sensitive (picks up quiet sounds)
- Higher values = less sensitive (only loud sounds)
- Default: 0.01
#### Transcription Speed
Controls how often audio chunks are processed:
- **Very Fast (1s)**: Near real-time, may cut off words
- **Fast (2s)**: Good responsiveness - Default
- **Balanced (3s)**: Better for complete phrases
- **Quality (5s)**: Best accuracy for long sentences
#### Ambient Noise Calibration
1. Click **Start Calibration**
2. Stay quiet for 10 seconds
3. The app measures your room's background noise
4. Automatically sets optimal threshold
5. Shows current ambient level when calibrated
### Display Settings
#### Default Backend
Choose which transcription service to use by default:
- Whisper (Local)
- Whisper (Remote)
- ElevenLabs (Scribe)
#### Text Duration
How long transcribed text stays visible (1-60 seconds)
#### Text Color
Color of the transcribed text
#### Background Color
Background color of the transcription area
#### Font Family
Choose from system fonts or Google Fonts
#### Font Size
Adjust text size from 16px to 72px
### Server Settings
#### Server Port
- Default: 3000
- Change if port conflicts with other applications
- Requires app restart after changing
## Settings Storage
Settings are stored in:
- **Windows**: `%USERPROFILE%\.live-transcription\settings.json`
- **macOS**: `~/.live-transcription/settings.json`
- **Linux**: `~/.live-transcription/settings.json`
## Testing Features
### Test API Connections
- Tests OpenAI API key validity
- Tests ElevenLabs API key validity
- Shows success/failure status
### Detect GPU
- Automatically detects available GPUs
- Shows NVIDIA CUDA availability
- Shows AMD ROCm availability
- Shows Intel GPU availability
- Recommends best option
## Best Practices
1. **For Best Performance**:
- Use GPU acceleration if available
- Choose appropriate model size for your hardware
- Use "Fast (2s)" transcription speed
2. **For Best Accuracy**:
- Use larger Whisper models (Small/Medium/Large)
- Use "Quality (5s)" transcription speed
- Calibrate ambient noise in your environment
3. **For Low-End Hardware**:
- Use Tiny or Base models
- Disable GPU if causing issues
- Increase audio threshold to reduce processing
## Troubleshooting
### Settings Not Saving
- Check write permissions for settings directory
- Try "Reset to Defaults" if settings are corrupted
### GPU Not Detected
- Ensure GPU drivers are installed
- For NVIDIA: Install CUDA toolkit
- For AMD: Install ROCm (Linux only)
- For Intel: Install OpenVINO runtime
### High CPU Usage
- Enable GPU acceleration if available
- Use smaller Whisper model
- Increase audio threshold
- Use longer transcription chunks
### API Keys Not Working
- Use "Test API Connections" to verify
- Check for typos or extra spaces
- Ensure API keys have correct permissions
- Check API usage limits