geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: wetto on Thu, 11 October 2012, 09:59:44
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I've always wondered this. I know that unlike membrane keyboards, mechanical keyboards interior isn't like 50% air, but is it all that hard to put the same multiple color LEDs as there are available on some membrane keyboards?
I mean, I know that Costar has already showed a prototype keyboard with dual colors:
And that there are custom keyboards with custom LEDs such as the Max Keyboard, but that's not selective.
But why is it that dual-color keyboards only arrived now and why was it so hard to make a keyboard with that?
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Because Cherry switches are designed to accept 2 lead 3mm LEDs. Only recently have multi-colored LEDs in that form factor become available and they have limitations. The Costar board is green or red, no mixing of any kind because the LED lights differently depending on which lead you feed + power to.
Other 3mm multicolor LEDs color-cycle themselves, there's no control over it. This is kinda neat, and there's a video of a Ducky on YT (Disco Ducky) that has these in it. I just don't know anyone that would want a disco light show all the time.
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Membrane boards let the light shine through the membrane
(http://piclair.com/data/l9n8m.jpg)
Obviously you can not do this with cherry switches
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This was one of the first things someone at work asked me when they saw my Ducky with green LEDs.
I suggested that something with LEDs changing colour all the time would be too distracting.