Convince me that a cool white keyboard backlight isn't a dealbreaker please!
- Thread starter CabinetofJoy
- Start date
ible
professional vim user
nope, but the backlight brightness levels can be adjusted.
- Joined
- Jan 18, 2010
- Messages
- 11,411
Adding RGB LEDs would require an entire PCB redesign, plus likely a different controller solution for PWM for dimming. Could do some tedious surface mount soldering and replace the white LEDs with other colo(u)r or coat the LEDs with something to give it another color.
levi
Still fresh, damnit!
I've been looking at cheap backlit (fullsized) keyboard, and it seems quite easy to get one with (fixed) rainbow coloured ones, but plain white ones cost more. I don't really need rainbow colours because I'm not flashy, I just want something I can see in the dark so I can check on my computer in the dark without having to turn the room lights on.
So in a way you're getting a slightly premium product with it having only white backlights.
So in a way you're getting a slightly premium product with it having only white backlights.
White LEDs also have better (and less 'harsh') colour rendering.
Coloured LEDs, while not quite monochromatic, are certainly getting on that way. An RGB led has three sharp spikes in its emission spectrum. 'White' LEDs are better, with a softer spike in the blue range, and a broad range of greens, yellows and reds emitted by the phosphor.
Of course, nobody is going to be illuminating a room with Pyra keyboard backlights (please try though, it would be spectacular) - but the white mode of RGB LEDs always looks wrong to me, somehow. RGBW would do, I suppose - but who needs the colours anyway?
Coloured LEDs, while not quite monochromatic, are certainly getting on that way. An RGB led has three sharp spikes in its emission spectrum. 'White' LEDs are better, with a softer spike in the blue range, and a broad range of greens, yellows and reds emitted by the phosphor.
Of course, nobody is going to be illuminating a room with Pyra keyboard backlights (please try though, it would be spectacular) - but the white mode of RGB LEDs always looks wrong to me, somehow. RGBW would do, I suppose - but who needs the colours anyway?
Letalis Sonus
Advanced Member
- Joined
- Mar 5, 2009
- Messages
- 1,530
There's a lot of different ways to manufacture a white LED, unlike the colored ones you can't just slap a certain crystal in there. Getting a well spread spectrum is pretty much impossible without going the RGB way internally. The most popular way is to take a blue LED and mix in yellow by adding phosphorus. They're very cheap to make, but tend to have a blue tint and a rather nasty spectrum.
I did say that it would be better for the eyes i know you can just turn the brightness down but even then the white is still too much for my eyes. Plus there's the fact a lot of gamer enthusiasts have multicolored keyboards. I am just saying it could have made more people interested in this project on top of all the other features it already has.
Sent from my LG-K373 using Tapatalk
Sent from my LG-K373 using Tapatalk
I'm not sure, of you're serious here, or just trolling.
For me this is like arguing over the colour of toilet paper...
If you're serious: Turn the keyboard backlight off and plug a cheapo USB-LED-Lamp in the colour you want. Here's one with rainbow colours:
There's no arguing here man, i never said it was a real problem that it didn't have it i would still use it but it wouldn't be easy in the dark, multicolored keyboards have uses besides aesthetics. I guess you aren't a night owl, i figure you wouldn't know about sensitive eyes or strain from certain wavelengths.
Sent from my LG-K373 using Tapatalk
Sent from my LG-K373 using Tapatalk
rygD
Nihilistic Mystic
A couple of those of us that use our devices in the dark a lot have discussed a bunch of things related to this, including screen and keyboard brightness and default color themes for the GUI. One thing I don't remember any of us thinking was a problem was the color of the keyboard backlight. You are starting into a brightly lit panel, so I still don't see the keyboard light at the lowest possible setting being more of a problem than the color of the light coming from the screen.
I did ask about using red LEDs for the keyboard, and ED have me his totally logical reason for using white (so the different colored markings are easily visible). My main reason for interest in doing that is that it would fit with the red of the namesake of the Pyra. A side benefit would be preservation of night vision if the display isn't pumping out anything that would otherwise kill it.
On the topic of the generator and spectrum of white LEDs, I have been thinking about doing something to tone down the brightness of the LEDs around the base of my Halloween themed plasma globe/skull. The rest of it is themed like something from the first half of the 20th century, and the cool white really throw that off in the dark (and the brightness obscures visibility of the plasma globe). I plan to throw some yellow or brown paint or nail polish over them. I don't know how much doing something like that with the keyboard LEDs would need up the diffusion ED went to great lengths to ensure was even. Another way of doing it would be to add a bit of color to the silicone of the keymat, although that could have the same problem, and might require a few rounds of test keymats to get it right.
It sucks that we can't have RGB LEDs, but at least the Pyra has keyboard backlighting.
I did ask about using red LEDs for the keyboard, and ED have me his totally logical reason for using white (so the different colored markings are easily visible). My main reason for interest in doing that is that it would fit with the red of the namesake of the Pyra. A side benefit would be preservation of night vision if the display isn't pumping out anything that would otherwise kill it.
On the topic of the generator and spectrum of white LEDs, I have been thinking about doing something to tone down the brightness of the LEDs around the base of my Halloween themed plasma globe/skull. The rest of it is themed like something from the first half of the 20th century, and the cool white really throw that off in the dark (and the brightness obscures visibility of the plasma globe). I plan to throw some yellow or brown paint or nail polish over them. I don't know how much doing something like that with the keyboard LEDs would need up the diffusion ED went to great lengths to ensure was even. Another way of doing it would be to add a bit of color to the silicone of the keymat, although that could have the same problem, and might require a few rounds of test keymats to get it right.
It sucks that we can't have RGB LEDs, but at least the Pyra has keyboard backlighting.
