As I recall, you select the basic unit, then the read head and then the read stick. The stick may get expensive for a panel saw since you will need it to read 96" or more. My planer has an 8" stick to read 6" of travel, same with the shapers. They have good tech phone help.
You change from inch to metric by pushing a button. Another two buttons allow setting the reading up or down, another button zeroes, for progressive readings, etc. The equipment movement moves the read head, and that is how you creep up on the number. Once you get it, it is easy.
As for converting, we keep ours on decimal inch, and now have some digital readout calipers to use, and we are now decimal. We do have "Fraction Inch to Decimal Inch" cheat sheets taped to a couple of machines (handed out at equipment shows, etc), but we use them less now than when we first set up with the Accurate products. We regularly talk about sizing a tenon "8 thousandths under the mortise" or similar, and know what we mean. Our accuracy and repeatability has greatly improved. No more "a half a hair more".
The photo is of the top and bottom head readouts on our ancient tenoner. Both read off the table. They reduced set up time from a very iffy 20 minutes, "that's good enough" to a precise exactly what we want with the first piece in 5 minutes or less. Doing this about 50 times a year saves/makes us $1,250.00 per year. And that is on just one machine.
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