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Meikipop can scan either a selected region of your screen or your entire screen. Understanding the differences helps you choose the right mode for your use case.

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Scan modes overview

Region mode

Scans only a user-selected rectangular area of your screen.Pros:
  • Faster OCR processing
  • Lower network bandwidth
  • Better privacy (only selected area sent to OCR)
  • More efficient for auto scan mode
Best for:
  • Games in windowed mode
  • Manga readers
  • Specific applications
  • When you know where text will appear

Fullscreen mode

Scans your entire screen (all monitors).Pros:
  • No need to select a region
  • Works anywhere on screen
  • Automatic adaptation to content
  • Good for unpredictable text locations
Best for:
  • Fullscreen games
  • Multiple applications
  • Text in varying locations
  • When convenience matters most
The default mode is region. The first time you run meikipop, you’ll be prompted to select an area.

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Switching between modes

1

Right-click the tray icon

Find the meikipop icon in your system tray.
2

Toggle scan mode

Click Toggle Scan Mode to switch between region and fullscreen.
3

Select region (if switching to region mode)

If switching to region mode, you’ll be prompted to select an area.

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Selecting a screen region

When using region mode, you’ll need to select the area containing Japanese text.

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Selection process

1

Trigger the region selector

The selection overlay appears automatically when:
  • First running meikipop in region mode
  • Clicking Reselect Scan Region from tray menu
  • Switching from fullscreen to region mode
2

Position the overlay

A semi-transparent dark overlay covers your screen. Your cursor changes to a crosshair.
The overlay follows your cursor across multiple monitors.
3

Click and drag

  • Click where you want the top-left corner of the region
  • Drag to the bottom-right corner
  • A blue border shows your selected area
4

Release to confirm

Release the mouse button to confirm your selection.
5

Cancel if needed

Press Esc to cancel and close the selector without choosing a region.

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Selection tips

Select the content area only: For games, select the game window’s content area, not including window borders or title bars.
Include text + margins: Make the region slightly larger than the text area to avoid cutting off characters at edges.
Visual novels: Select the entire text box area, including where text appears during animations.
Manga readers: Select just the manga pages, not the entire application window.
For games in fullscreen mode, you may need to run the game in windowed or borderless windowed mode to select a region. Otherwise, use fullscreen scan mode.

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Reselecting a region

You can change your selected region at any time:
1

Open the tray menu

Right-click the meikipop icon in your system tray.
2

Click Reselect Scan Region

This opens the region selector overlay.
3

Make a new selection

Click and drag to select a new region, or press Esc to keep the current selection.
The new region takes effect immediately. No restart required.

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Performance comparison

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Region mode performance

Smaller images process faster:
  • 400x300 region: ~200-400ms (Google Lens)
  • 800x600 region: ~400-600ms
  • 1920x1080 region: ~800-1200ms
Recommendation: Keep regions under 1000x800 for best performance.
Without compression:
  • 400x300 region: ~50-100 KB per lookup
  • 800x600 region: ~150-300 KB per lookup
  • 1920x1080 region: ~400-800 KB per lookup
With Google Lens compression enabled:
  • Reduces bandwidth by 50-80%
  • Typical: 20-100 KB per lookup regardless of size
In auto scan mode, smaller regions:
  • Reduce CPU usage
  • Lower network consumption
  • Enable higher scan frequencies
  • Decrease battery drain
Example: A 500x400 region uses ~60% less resources than a 1920x1080 fullscreen scan.

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Fullscreen mode performance

Fullscreen mode captures all monitors:
  • Single 1920x1080: ~400-800 KB per screenshot
  • Dual 1920x1080: ~800-1600 KB per screenshot
  • Triple monitor: 1200-2400 KB per screenshot
Impact:
  • Longer OCR processing times
  • Higher network usage
  • Not recommended for auto scan mode
Fullscreen mode works well when:
  • Using manual mode (not auto scan)
  • OCR provider is local (owocr)
  • Fast internet connection (100+ Mbps)
  • Powerful CPU for image processing
  • Single monitor setup

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Privacy considerations

Understanding what data is sent to OCR providers:
Data sent to OCR:
  • Screenshot of only the selected region
  • Typically a small portion of your screen
  • No data from outside the region
Privacy level: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
If privacy is a concern, select the smallest region that contains the Japanese text you need to read.

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Google Lens privacy

When using Google Lens as the OCR provider:
  • Screenshots are sent to Google’s servers
  • Processed by Google Lens OCR service
  • Subject to Google’s privacy policy
  • Data is typically not stored permanently
  • Not linked to your Google account
Google Lens compression reduces the image quality sent to Google, which provides a minor privacy benefit in addition to bandwidth savings.

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Use case recommendations

Recommended: Region mode✅ Text appears in consistent location ✅ Small text box = fast OCR ✅ Perfect for auto scan mode ✅ Minimal performance impactSetup:
  1. Launch the visual novel
  2. Select region mode
  3. Select the text box area
  4. Enable auto scan mode

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Technical details

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Region selection implementation

The region selector handles both logical and physical coordinates:Logical coordinates:
  • Used by Qt for drawing the selection overlay
  • May differ from physical pixels on high-DPI displays
Physical coordinates:
  • Actual pixel positions on the screen
  • Used for screenshot capture
  • Account for display scaling factors
Meikipop automatically converts between these coordinate systems.
The region selector supports multiple monitors:
  • Overlay follows cursor across screens
  • Can select regions spanning multiple monitors
  • Each monitor’s geometry is correctly handled
  • DPI scaling per-monitor is supported
The selected region coordinates are stored in physical pixels relative to the primary monitor.
On Windows, when magpie_compatibility = true:
  • Meikipop applies coordinate transformations
  • Accounts for Magpie’s upscaling
  • Ensures popup appears at correct location
  • Properly maps mouse position to screenshot coordinates
Enable this setting in config.ini if using Magpie game scaler.

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Fullscreen mode behavior

In fullscreen mode, meikipop:
  1. Enumerates all connected displays
  2. Captures each display as a separate image
  3. Stitches them into a single composite screenshot
  4. Sends the composite to the OCR provider
Performance note: This process is more expensive than region capture.

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Troubleshooting

Possible causes:
  • Already in fullscreen mode
  • Application crashed during previous selection
  • Qt window system issue
Solutions:
  1. Check config.ini: ensure scan_region = region
  2. Restart meikipop
  3. Try toggling to fullscreen and back to region
  4. On Linux: verify DISPLAY environment variable is set
Fullscreen games take exclusive control of the display.Solutions:
  • Run the game in borderless windowed mode
  • Or run in regular windowed mode
  • Then use region selection
Alternative:
  • Use fullscreen scan mode instead
  • Accept the performance trade-off
The region should persist in config.ini or a separate settings file.Check:
  • File permissions on config.ini
  • Whether config.ini is being saved
  • Any errors in the terminal/log output
  • If running from a read-only directory
Troubleshooting:
  • Ensure region includes full characters (not cut off)
  • Add small margins around text
  • Check if text is clear and well-lit
  • Verify region contains the intended area
  • Try disabling Google Lens compression

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Best practices

Start with region mode: It’s more efficient and provides better privacy. Only use fullscreen if you have a specific reason.
Select generously: Make your region slightly larger than the text area to avoid cutting off characters. Better to include some extra space than miss text.
Reselect when window size changes: If you resize your game or application window, reselect the region to ensure accuracy.
Test your selection: After selecting a region, try a few lookups to verify it captures all the text you need.
In fullscreen mode with auto scan enabled, meikipop will continuously capture your entire screen. This is a significant performance and privacy cost. Use region mode with auto scan whenever possible.

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