diff --git a/app/src/main/java/org/solovyev/android/views/dragbutton/DirectionTextView.java b/app/src/main/java/org/solovyev/android/views/dragbutton/DirectionTextView.java
index 9923c6a8..0e997b71 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/org/solovyev/android/views/dragbutton/DirectionTextView.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/org/solovyev/android/views/dragbutton/DirectionTextView.java
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ import android.content.res.TypedArray;
 import android.graphics.Canvas;
 import android.graphics.PointF;
 import android.graphics.Rect;
+import android.graphics.Typeface;
 import android.support.annotation.NonNull;
 import android.support.annotation.Nullable;
 import android.text.TextPaint;
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ import java.util.Map;
 
 public class DirectionTextView {
 
-    public static final float DEF_ALPHA = 0.55f;
+    public static final float DEF_ALPHA = 0.4f;
     public static final float DEF_SCALE = 0.4f;
 
     @NonNull
@@ -89,6 +90,7 @@ public class DirectionTextView {
         @NonNull
         private final View view;
         private final float minTextSize;
+        private float fixedTextHeight = 0;
         @NonNull
         private final PointF position = new PointF(-1, -1);
         @NonNull
@@ -125,7 +127,16 @@ public class DirectionTextView {
             paint.set(base);
             paint.setColor(color);
             paint.setAlpha(intAlpha());
+            paint.setTypeface(Typeface.DEFAULT);
+
+            // pre-calculate fixed height
+            paint.setTextSize(Math.max(base.getTextSize() * DEF_SCALE, minTextSize));
+            paint.getTextBounds("|", 0, 1, bounds);
+            fixedTextHeight = bounds.height();
+
+            // set real text size value
             paint.setTextSize(Math.max(base.getTextSize() * scale, minTextSize));
+
             invalidate(true);
         }
 
@@ -188,7 +199,7 @@ public class DirectionTextView {
                 case down:
                     position.x = view.getWidth() - paddingLeft - bounds.width();
                     if (direction == DragDirection.up) {
-                        position.y = paddingTop + bounds.height();
+                        position.y = paddingTop + fixedTextHeight;
                     } else {
                         position.y = view.getHeight() - paddingBottom;
                     }
@@ -201,14 +212,14 @@ public class DirectionTextView {
                         position.x = view.getWidth() - paddingRight - bounds.width();
                     }
                     final int availableHeight = view.getHeight() - verticalPaddings;
-                    position.y = paddingTop + availableHeight / 2 + bounds.height() / 2;
+                    position.y = paddingTop + availableHeight / 2 + fixedTextHeight / 2;
                     break;
             }
         }
 
         @NonNull
         public String getValue() {
-            return value;
+            return visible ? value : "";
         }
 
         public void setValue(@NonNull String value) {
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/layout/cpp_app_button_round_brackets.xml b/app/src/main/res/layout/cpp_app_button_round_brackets.xml
index 06dac7c6..0f7d104a 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/layout/cpp_app_button_round_brackets.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/layout/cpp_app_button_round_brackets.xml
@@ -30,6 +30,6 @@
     style="?attr/cpp_button_style_digit"
     a:text="( )"
     c:directionTextDown=")"
-    c:directionTextLeft="(…)"
+    c:directionTextLeft="(∙)"
     c:directionTextUp="("
     tools:ignore="HardcodedText" />
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml
index 8781d513..2fc75e09 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/dimens.xml
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     <dimen name="cpp_button_padding">1px</dimen>
     <dimen name="cpp_direction_text_default_padding">2dp</dimen>
     <dimen name="cpp_direction_text_min_size">9dp</dimen>
-    <item name="cpp_direction_text_scale" format="float" type="dimen">0.3</item>
+    <item name="cpp_direction_text_scale" format="float" type="dimen">0.45</item>
     <dimen name="cpp_button_corner">1dp</dimen>
 
     <dimen name="cpp_keyboard_button_direction_text_padding">4dp</dimen>
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/values/theme_material_light.xml b/app/src/main/res/values/theme_material_light.xml
index 06664524..6a4dd8f7 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/values/theme_material_light.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/values/theme_material_light.xml
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 
     <style name="CppKeyboardButton.Material.Light.Operation" parent="CppKeyboardButton.Material.Digit">
         <item name="android:background">@drawable/material_button_light_primary</item>
+        <item name="directionTextAlpha">0.7</item>
     </style>
 
     <style name="CppKeyboardButton.Material.Light.Control.Image" parent="CppKeyboardButton.Material.Light.Digit"/>