Abstract: A miniature, hand-held device for displaying text information in a moving format in a word sequential manner. Text material is inputted by means of magnetic tape and displayed at an operator selectable rate. A "super speed" format is adapted to display words in a parallel by character-sequential by word fashion. All of the characters of a word are simultaneously displayed only after the displayed word has its first letter aligned with a fixed index mark of the display which tends to eliminate the need for eye movement (saccades). A word time expansion control is selectable to increase the viewing time for each word in proportion to word length. An automatic brightness control is provided for increasing display brightness for words whose display time interval is less than a predetermined time period.