geekhack
geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: danielucf on Mon, 29 April 2013, 06:58:50
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Are there any keyboards that allow voltage regulation for the LEDs in a custom firmware? Even if it isn't a fully back lit board I'm curious if something exists out there where I can give 4.2-4.6V to the LEDs.
If not does someone have the knowledge on how to mod a Phantom or any other board for that matter to overvolt LEDs? I was thinking perhaps a resistor swap or something like that might achieve my goal. I know there has to be some electrical engineers around here.
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In general most leds have a resistor in series to limit the current that go through it. Less resistance equals more current equals more light, to much current equals dead led.
Had a quick look at the phantom pcb and it looks like each led has corresponding resistor, so just experiment with smaller resistor values for desired brightness.
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If you're after different levels of brightness then PWM is your answer, not voltage, not amperage.
If you just want more brightness then there's probably some resistor there for you to replace (less Ohms).
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The phantom firmware has pwm settings that can be set when you flash the teensy. You could probably bind some keystrokes to change the brightness of the LEDs on demand, if that's what you were going for. I wouldn't go over manufacturer specs or else you run the risk of ruining them. If you want brighter LEDs I'm sure you can find some designed for higher currents