Glow in the dark keys

[edlee]

If you can channel the waste light from the backlight of the LCD screen to the area underneath the keyboard, then you can light up the keyboard without using any extra energy.  Rambus has light guides made from microlens optics which they use for edge-lit LED lighting.

 

[Grench]

I always felt that white letters on black keys makes a keyboard feel like it's good quality while black letters on white keys makes it feel like a cheap chinese knock-off.

(I'm not talking about actual build quality, but the feeling it gives to the potential owner)

I know what you mean. The 2. Remote looks way better than the cheap looking first one. Glowing letters instead of black letters onto a glowing key are the way to go.

That 1st one is still white letters on a black background - they just didn't paint/mask the flexible rubber risers.

Black letters on a -very dim- white (or whatever color you want with the RGB LEDs) background would be ideal - and completely different from everything pictured so far.

Remember, that backlight can be turned down to 'ghost' levels and still work effectively.

 

[comradekingu]

If you can channel the waste light from the backlight of the LCD screen to the area underneath the keyboard, then you can light up the keyboard without using any extra energy.  Rambus has light guides made from microlens optics which they use for edge-lit LED lighting.

There is no waste light from there, or there shouldnt be, as that affects image quality.

 

[edlee]

I imagine that there is light from the LCD backlight which heads for the screen edges and does not contribute to illuminating the screen.  If some of that light could be redirected underneath a translucent keyboard, then it would be enough to see the keys in the dark.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

But then you wouldn't be able to turn it off if you want to. But who cares right? These are free lights

 

[Asiyura]

I imagine that there is light from the LCD backlight which heads for the screen edges and does not contribute to illuminating the screen.  If some of that light could be redirected underneath a translucent keyboard, then it would be enough to see the keys in the dark.

As comradekingu said, the screen backlights are in a reflective case to avoid wasting light, they usually add a fresnel lens (or use other optical technique) on top of the lights to diffuse the light (to avoid dark/bright spots)Trying to "harvest" light from the backlight would need a custom-made lcd, probably more expensive than adding 4 small SMC leds…

 

[edlee]

Perhaps a backlit keyboard is too complicated.  The simplest way to have a readable keyboard in the dark is to have black characters on a white background on each key.  Having black characters on a white background maximizes the reflective surface area and makes it easier to distinguish each character versus having white characters on a black background.  The light from the screen will illuminate the keys enough to be readable in the dark.  I put stickers on my laptop keyboard which have large black characters on a white background.  Even when the LCD screen is completely black on my laptop computer, enough light leaks out of the screen to illuminate the keys.

 

[Asiyura]

Perhaps a backlit keyboard is too complicated.  The simplest way to have a readable keyboard in the dark is to have black characters on a white background on each key.  Having black characters on a white background maximizes the reflective surface area and makes it easier to distinguish each character versus having white characters on a black background.  The light from the screen will illuminate the keys enough to be readable in the dark.  I put stickers on my laptop keyboard which have large black characters on a white background.  Even when the LCD screen is completely black on my laptop computer, enough light leaks out of the screen to illuminate the keys.

Except that I use the pandora at its designed opening angle (almost 180°), I've found it's the most comfortable position for me.So the screen light doesn't even touch the keyboard. And since I hope that pandora's successor will have more or less the same opening angle (with an intermediate position, it would be great), I still won't have enough light to see where the keys are.

Backlit keyboard isn't that harder to make than normal keyboard, you just have to choose a tough translucent plastic and add SMC leds on the PCB (and no, I don't want RGB leds for backlight, it's useless IMHO).

 

[comradekingu]

How about a front-lit keyboard? Adding a few extra status leds like now seems feasible.

A take on this would be to have an UV light and something one the keys that is fluorescent.

 

[edlee]

I've always wondered what it would be like to have a braille keyboard.  If the Pandora successor had a braille keyboard, then blind people could use it, too.

 

[Klumpen]

I've always wondered what it would be like to have a braille keyboard.  If the Pandora successor had a braille keyboard, then blind people could use it, too.

Excellent idea.

 

[Asiyura]

Sadly, braille keyboard with braille "display" are awfully expensive and need lots of mechanical parts (piezoelectric "motors")

That's why they make compact USB braille display to be able to buy one and use it on many computer.

 

[edlee]

KodeIn, are you writing about a dynamic braille keyboard, where the braille patterns can be changed?  Why can't the braille keyboard have static bumps on the keys with no moving braille parts?

 

[Asiyura]

KodeIn, are you writing about a dynamic braille keyboard, where the braille patterns can be changed?  Why can't the braille keyboard have static bumps on the keys with no moving braille parts?

I think that that kind of keyboard is okay for blind people if the computer has a good voice generation system.

If [result of naming poll] has one, that would be good enough.

This is what I was talking about. Many braille display/keyboard have 10 keys (I think that the 8 upper keys are for the 8 "points" in braille characters).

And an active part that 'display' text in braille.

 

[Kiga]

A backlight is a really bad thing, it's cost energy... why not if we can desactivate it.

The glow in the dark option is the best to me.

 

[Binky]

A backlight is a really bad thing, it's cost energy... why not if we can desactivate it.

eh?

Please explain.

 

[Kiga]

I wanted to say that backlight consumes battery. Backlight isn't important compred to battery life. So if backlight is used, i hope we'd be able to desactivate it to save batterie power.

 

[Hồng Thất Công]

^ Of course if there's backlight, there will be way to switch it off either thru hardware switch via software like Fn+U now to dim or turn off the screen completely.

 

[_wb_]

A backlight is a really bad thing, it's cost energy... why not if we can desactivate it.

eh?

Please explain.

Remember, we're talking about a keyboard backlight here, not the screen backlight

 

[Asiyura]

I wanted to say that backlight consumes battery. Backlight isn't important compred to battery life. So if backlight is used, i hope we'd be able to desactivate it to save batterie power.

You know, we're talking about a keyboard backlight, not something able to illuminate a complete room.

Most of the time, a few low power leds on a PWD line to change the brightness are far enough for that kind of use.