closed-caption-app/SETTINGS.md

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