SNESFAN
Retro game fanatic
saw a topic on the ask ed questions section that brought up the idea of backlit keyboard.... while this is not a new idea and a sadly missing feature on the current pandora
the question of how would you implement it on the 2nd iteration
my idea would be to use more of a translucent rubber mat for the keypad rather than the black one currently in use, the caps to the keys look to be printed on the mat with the polimer caps on top. The question of if the actual number/letter symbols would need to be modified and if you could use a lighter coating of paint, so the light from the translucent mat would shine through and still be daylight readable with backlight off.
use one/both of the led outputs not currently in use so the feature can be turned off when not wanted rather than always on soaking up power (even if the power consumption is trivial at best) you could even at that point use different colors like white or blue, or whatever it woud look really sharp IMO
putting a led or two directy agianst the mat should spread the light throughout and light up the keys, placement and number would probably be determined by how even the light is distrobuted.
any other/better ideas on how to acomplish this?
EDIT: maybe even a better idea would be a "rail" or 2 coat process where the outter shell of the buttons (the part that protrudes external to the case) will still be black/dark and the inside rubber of each button be translucent and connected with a translucent rail connecting each row of keys... would complicate how the keymats are made but would give a better appearance than maybe just paining the top layer of the mat?
the question of how would you implement it on the 2nd iteration
my idea would be to use more of a translucent rubber mat for the keypad rather than the black one currently in use, the caps to the keys look to be printed on the mat with the polimer caps on top. The question of if the actual number/letter symbols would need to be modified and if you could use a lighter coating of paint, so the light from the translucent mat would shine through and still be daylight readable with backlight off.
use one/both of the led outputs not currently in use so the feature can be turned off when not wanted rather than always on soaking up power (even if the power consumption is trivial at best) you could even at that point use different colors like white or blue, or whatever it woud look really sharp IMO
putting a led or two directy agianst the mat should spread the light throughout and light up the keys, placement and number would probably be determined by how even the light is distrobuted.
any other/better ideas on how to acomplish this?
EDIT: maybe even a better idea would be a "rail" or 2 coat process where the outter shell of the buttons (the part that protrudes external to the case) will still be black/dark and the inside rubber of each button be translucent and connected with a translucent rail connecting each row of keys... would complicate how the keymats are made but would give a better appearance than maybe just paining the top layer of the mat?
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