Reflect the LEDs!


Wow, a solution not just increasing the number of LEDs, or making the PCB more diffractive, or making the keypad more transparent, or making the black tops reflective underneath, but all of them at once?  If this doesn't work, I'll eat my hat!
 
Sounds good ED, let's all hope this solution does the trick, and we can check off the keyboard done box on the to do list.

Chris
 
Wow, a solution not just increasing the number of LEDs, or making the PCB more diffractive, or making the keypad more transparent, or making the black tops reflective underneath, but all of them at once?  If this doesn't work, I'll eat my hat!

Will you post a video?
 
Sounds like a good solution to combine different techniques. :)   If this all should not work, what else.

Well, I still wonder how the black layer OUTSIDE of the mat can prevent the light go through the not painted underside INSIDE of the material. But maybe it indeed eats all the light before it can reach the actual keycaps, who knows.
 
Wow, a solution not just increasing the number of LEDs, or making the PCB more diffractive, or making the keypad more transparent, or making the black tops reflective underneath, but all of them at once?  If this doesn't work, I'll eat my hat!

Will you post a video?
We've had hat-eating promises before, see my sig :p
 
Hope this complicated lighting keyboard doesn't make opening/reassembling Pyra a nightmare...

I can't understand how it could do opening/etc a nightmare: the keymat is a complete module, and the LEDs are in the board -it is the same if you get some more LEDs on that board as there is place on it-. There is no more separate elements/parts to have better light in this case, buts just different elements -a different keymat, a different board (with more LEDs and different paint).
 
You might see a small glow inside the SD card slots, but that's it.
Not a problem for Rammstein fans

vlcsnap-2015-10-24-12h51m38s720.png
 
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as much as possible i'll try to work without the keyboard LEDs, too.

If there is enough ambient light you don't need keyboard LEDs. But when there isn't enough ambient light and we have to use keyboard, we will need it: this is not like a full standard size keyboard, where you can even blind type :)   as your fingers get in home position (with F and J keys marked and place fot all fingers) and go directly for the other keys :)   With Pyra, distribution and size makes keyboard light a must for keyboard use in dark situations.
 
Well, I still wonder how the black layer OUTSIDE of the mat can prevent the light go through the not painted underside INSIDE of the material. But maybe it indeed eats all the light before it can reach the actual keycaps, who knows.
Easy: Because without the paint, it passes through the keymat, goes through the air and passes again into the keymat.

And it can't do that if there is a black layer that absorbs the light and doesn't let anything pass.

Light is not like water. If water is blocked, it finds a different way.

If light is being absorbed by a black layer, it's gone :)
 
Yeah, black is black because it absorbs all incident light and converts it into heat energy.  The more light a substance re-emits, the lighter it appears, and if it emits more of one frequency than another, it appears coloured.
 
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Well, I meant the silicone material should actualy guide the light inside the material itself and bounce it through the material, if the material has the right density and transparency etc.  It should not matter what's outside like it does not matter for a fibre cable what's outside as long it has an entrance and an output at each end.

At least that's how light guiding materials usualy work. But every method is fine as long as the end result is an illuminated keypad. ^^
 
yeah!
i find it really cool to realize that there are no coloured
objects in this world and all colours we see are scattered
lightbeams with different wavelength.
so whats more techy here, meatspace (aka. realword)
or the cyber one, eh?

*beware of nearby flying photons!*
:)
 
Well, I meant the silicone material should actualy guide the light inside the material itself and bounce it through the material, if the material has the right density and transparency etc.  It should not matter what's outside like it does not matter for a fibre cable what's outside as long it has an entrance and an output at each end.

At least that's how light guiding materials usualy work. But every method is fine as long as the end result is an illuminated keypad. ^^

That's simply not possible with just a keymat. I opened multiple keyboards - that works with an extra plastic layer that guides the light (usually with side LEDs, but it also works with top ones), which would make things thicker and increase the cost an additional 20 - 30 EUR per unit (low quantity)

The mat itself cannot guide any light, as it's just transparent rubber, nothing else.
 
Hm, the mat itself can spread the light I think, with the right "frosting" at least. But it indeed seems not be enough to go to the top of the butons without further tricks like the reflective material and more LEDs.

I once disassembled an very old Alcatel mobile phone to see how it works. It had a printed rubber keymat, pretty simple actualy. They used an additional white metal sheet underneeth which also acted as click button for each key. The LEDs went just through holes and lit up the rubber. With the white coat of the Pyra PCB the effect should be the same.
 
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