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geekhack Community => Keyboard Keycaps => Topic started by: blastoid on Wed, 11 March 2015, 09:45:48

Title: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: blastoid on Wed, 11 March 2015, 09:45:48
I'm not posting this in the keycap ideas sticky, because... I dunno, it doesn't seem to fit there.

I think it would be pretty cool if we had a set of keycaps for backlit boards that were blank with the light off, but the light illuminated translucent labeling when activated. Thoughts?
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: Oobly on Wed, 11 March 2015, 09:52:31
Translucent legends tend to take on the colour below them slightly, so it's hard to make them appear exactly the same colour as the surrounding base material, but the Vortex PBT/POM white caps come pretty close:

http://imgur.com/a/e5N3i

http://keypuller.com/pbt-pom-double-shot-by-vortex/

If they made the POM a little more "milky" it would look even better, IMHO. Then the backlighting would shine through both halves of the number keys more and they'd be closer to white when off.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: blastoid on Wed, 11 March 2015, 10:42:09
Perhaps if it was a translucent layer on top of an opaque layer with a physical cutout? Eh, that would probably make it cost-prohibitive.

Or even better... take a standard backlight-sensitive key and cover it with a translucent/semi-opaque/polarized layer. Looks completely blank when off, illuminates the legend when lit.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: Data on Wed, 11 March 2015, 14:50:42
A translucent top layer would tend to scatter the light, leaving the legend blurry and possibly unreadable when illuminated.  Some of this could be avoided if the top layer was thin enough.  You'd have to find a balance between material thickness and translucency.

If you throttle the brightness of the underlying LED you can use it to offset the balance of light passing through relative to ambient and create an appearance of solidity, then crank it up when you want the full effect.  This would require an external sensor to gauge the ambient light level and an unknown amount of code.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: neverused on Wed, 11 March 2015, 15:15:05


Quote from: Data on Wed, 11 March 2015, 14:50:42
This would require an external sensor to gauge the ambient light level and an unknown amount of code.
Or a potentiometer
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: blastoid on Wed, 11 March 2015, 21:14:30
Quote from: Data on Wed, 11 March 2015, 14:50:42
A translucent top layer would tend to scatter the light, leaving the legend blurry and possibly unreadable when illuminated.  Some of this could be avoided if the top layer was thin enough.  You'd have to find a balance between material thickness and translucency.

If you throttle the brightness of the underlying LED you can use it to offset the balance of light passing through relative to ambient and create an appearance of solidity, then crank it up when you want the full effect.  This would require an external sensor to gauge the ambient light level and an unknown amount of code.
lol. Thanks for bursting my bubble. :)

I may try a thin layer of black paint over the original caps for my BWU to see what happens. Those are terrible caps anyway.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: katushkin on Wed, 11 March 2015, 21:20:28
The Keycool 87 has caps like you are describing. AFAIK they are caps that are translucent on the top, and then have a sticker of some kind over the top with the legend cut out/thinner than the rest.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: sirisaac1982 on Wed, 11 March 2015, 22:06:05
This is a really good idea.
The power light on the apple wireless mini keyboard functions like that.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: blastoid on Thu, 12 March 2015, 12:29:07
Quote from: katushkin on Wed, 11 March 2015, 21:20:28
The Keycool 87 has caps like you are describing. AFAIK they are caps that are translucent on the top, and then have a sticker of some kind over the top with the legend cut out/thinner than the rest.
Doesn't look like it from my Googling. What I'm describing is that when the backlight is off, the keyboard is full stealth. No visible labels. Activate the backlight and they magically appear.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: Oobly on Thu, 12 March 2015, 15:21:25
Maybe microperforations like the MacBook Pro sleep light could work. Not sure what that would cost, though... Also, they could get clogged / dirty, capillary action from sweaty fingers, etc. Not sure the holes are big enough for this to happen, so it may be okay.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:56:37
Quote from: blastoid on Thu, 12 March 2015, 12:29:07
Quote from: katushkin on Wed, 11 March 2015, 21:20:28
The Keycool 87 has caps like you are describing. AFAIK they are caps that are translucent on the top, and then have a sticker of some kind over the top with the legend cut out/thinner than the rest.
Doesn't look like it from my Googling. What I'm describing is that when the backlight is off, the keyboard is full stealth. No visible labels. Activate the backlight and they magically appear.

(http://i.imgur.com/0edjRVJ.jpg)

These are the caps on the KC87. This is what they look like off the board/when the lights are off.

(http://i.imgur.com/HVeZiFS.jpg)

Another shot.

This is what it looks like with the backlight on:

(http://i.imgur.com/mgMVKFp.jpg)

These are photos from my own board, if you want any more shots, just ask, as I'm pretty sure these are what you are describing.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: blastoid on Thu, 12 March 2015, 20:13:26
I stand corrected! Those are awesome!
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 20:24:35
Quote from: blastoid on Thu, 12 March 2015, 20:13:26
I stand corrected! Those are awesome!

They are pretty cool, although I was quite torn on if I liked the light seeping around the edges, but the different colours are very cool, it's very well done in white, but black, not so much.
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: spoonraker on Fri, 13 March 2015, 08:14:40
Those are neat. Is that actually a sticker or is it a permanent piece of the key cap? Also, how durable are those?
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: retainerbox on Mon, 30 March 2015, 14:02:13
Quote from: katushkin on Thu, 12 March 2015, 16:56:37
Quote from: blastoid on Thu, 12 March 2015, 12:29:07
Quote from: katushkin on Wed, 11 March 2015, 21:20:28
The Keycool 87 has caps like you are describing. AFAIK they are caps that are translucent on the top, and then have a sticker of some kind over the top with the legend cut out/thinner than the rest.
Doesn't look like it from my Googling. What I'm describing is that when the backlight is off, the keyboard is full stealth. No visible labels. Activate the backlight and they magically appear.

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/0edjRVJ.jpg)


These are the caps on the KC87. This is what they look like off the board/when the lights are off.

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/HVeZiFS.jpg)


Another shot.

This is what it looks like with the backlight on:

Show Image
(http://i.imgur.com/mgMVKFp.jpg)


These are photos from my own board, if you want any more shots, just ask, as I'm pretty sure these are what you are describing.

They're absolutely gorgeous! Do you know if there's a way to purchase just the keycaps?
Title: Re: An idea for backlit boards
Post by: katushkin on Tue, 31 March 2015, 06:45:19
Quote from: retainerbox on Mon, 30 March 2015, 14:02:13
They're absolutely gorgeous! Do you know if there's a way to purchase just the keycaps?

Unfortunately, I don't think so. Unless you start looking at Alibaba and see if any of the Keycool stockists on there are selling stock Keycool caps.