Abstract: A magnifying display apparatus for displaying enlarged images of characters or the like comprises a photoelectric-converting reading unit including a body and an optical system disposed in the body and having a light-path inversion prism, a magnifier lens system, an iris, an imaging device and illuminating lamp. The apparatus further comprises a controller connected to the reading unit and including a power supply circuit for the reading unit and also a control circuit for controlling the conversion of the output from the imaging device into an image output. The apparatus also comprises a display unit such as a television separably connected to the controller. A recess or a protrusion is formed on a front upper portion of the body at a position corresponding to the light-path inverting prism so as to be sensible by a user's finger, thus serving as an index of the portion of the original to be magnified and displayed.