What is your preferred backlight color and why? Is white suitable?

[dankestofmemes]

is white uncomfortable at night or is it fine?

[hwood34]

I always thought that white was a little too bright at night, but then again many bright colors are, like cyan or light green.

[Oobly]

I like white and it's fine for me at night when I lower the brightness. Don't actually use it that often, though.

[exitfire401]

Depwnds on the theme I'm going for. I have a lime/slime green on my race 2, my sprit 60% is going to have slow color changing leds, and my TX1800 is going to start off with the same leds as my race, but will change depending on what cap set i decide to have on at the time.

[Dark_wizzie]

I prefer red or blue. I have red right now, looking to try out blue. 

[Jotokun]

I'm not much of a backlight person, but I don't mind if a keyboard has lighting as long as it's not blue. Those things are way too bright regardless of the set brightness, and I already have to cover up all the other blue LEDs manufactures are shoving into stuff for power/status indication as is.

On the opposite end, amber and red are really nice and subtle. Not retina burning at all. And with white, you can use plastic covers to change them so they're quite flexible. If a board I found an interest in just happened to be backlit, those would be my color choices, in that order.

[Tempest790]

Red or blue.  I really like the blue used on my Ducky Shine II with white keycaps.  It's almost a blue/ultra-violet color.  Very nice.  Red has less glare and is easy on the eyes in a dark room.

[plegnic]

Red/Orange is probably my favorite, especially at night. White is just fine though as long as you can adjust the brightness. If the white bothers you, you can always get some of those colored LED covers which change the color and reduce the brightness a lot.

[Dark_wizzie]

I'm not much of a backlight person, but I don't mind if a keyboard has lighting as long as it's not blue. Those things are way too bright regardless of the set brightness, and I already have to cover up all the other blue LEDs manufactures are shoving into stuff for power/status indication as is.

On the opposite end, amber and red are really nice and subtle. Not retina burning at all. And with white, you can use plastic covers to change them so they're quite flexible. If a board I found an interest in just happened to be backlit, those would be my color choices, in that order.

Unfortunately the covers won't work with the Vortex keycaps I plan to get. 

[Sygaldry]

Cyan or Ice Blue for me. Sky Blue is okay too.

[Joey Quinn]

I think green is a bit too harsh. But for the most part I love any backlight that matches the board. Any color can be fine as long as the brightness is right.

[Eiji]

I've only used white backlight, and even then I usually had it on a fairly dim level. I wonder if there's any teal-ish colored LEDs out there though.

[Lu_e]

Note: I don't have LED's but if I did;

Red, because my eyes are sensitive aaaand:

"Red is the illumination color of choice because it is the lowest wavelength light and as a result has the smallest impact on nightvision (regular nightvision, the kind without goggles or fancy equipment).  This is the same reason that hunting flashlights are red, as well as many lighting and illumination devices designed to operate at night."

http://www.quora.com/Why-are-submarine-operating-rooms-kept-dark

[Novus]

Red because I'm always angry patriotic.

[sethk_]

I like Pink and Cyan/Sky blue as long as they aren't too bright as I like it when LEDs create the underglow effect on caps.

[Booper]

No love for purple in here?! I wanted purple, but I went with white and got some color covers so I can keep my options open.
The led covers didn't fit well initially, but I sanded them down and they are fine now.

White is the most practical choice IMO since a color would limit my options when it comes to matching new keysets.

[wyatt8740]

On my white backlit keyboard, a Logitech K800 (no, I did not spend that much, I obtained it from a co-worker), I can adjust the brightness. Most keyboards you can add a potentiometer (variable resistor) to let you dim the light if you find it overwhelming.

On a black keyboard, I like white backlight.
If I were to get a white keyboard that I could backlight, I'd really like to see it with a deep shade of violet light.

[daerid]

See sig

[Oobly]

Red is the least irritating for me, blue the most.

I find blue light to be very piercing and harsh, whereas red is soft and easy on the eyes.

White works well with any keycaps / board colours and isn't as harsh as you might think.

[Ludovician]

The best backlighting is nonexistent backlighting.

[pesky brat]

The best backlighting is nonexistent backlighting.

Yep, backlighting is just unnecessary in most scenarios. Turn your damn lights on you cave dwellers!

[radish]

i would think white + tinting stickers for various colors....

white can change to be any other color... no other color can do that.

[Defect]

Red if you actually leave it on while typing (why?).  Low energy, least likely to **** with your vision.

But mostly its for taking photos so...any color

[quake4mhg]

White. It really related to my job. I watch too much color on screen, need a rest  on eyes. Both at dim working environment at office or playing night maps in Insurgency or Arma 3 with lights off.

[katushkin]

The blue, purple and pink of the Ducky Mini is glorious...

[tbc]

blue ftw

death to red

green looks like puke

[dante]

As close to Wyse Dumb Terminal Amber as possible.

[ablooga]

Red is the least irritating for me, blue the most.

I find blue light to be very piercing and harsh, whereas red is soft and easy on the eyes.

White works well with any keycaps / board colours and isn't as harsh as you might think.

so firing a soft and easy red laser pen into your eyes won't hurt? I beg to differ

[davkol]

Not blue. Blue LEDs are generally brighter than others (may damage eyes) and blue light disrupts circadian rhythms.

Best is none though. Ambient light in the room, touch typing and optional doubleshots with a contrasting legible font FTW! Aesthetically, thick keycaps that don't let any shine through and a plate that reflects dim white/red/green light look neat.

[Chromako]

None! Topre and Buckling Springs don't have backlighting, silly. 


Okay. Seriously. When there is backlight, I like white's aesthetics (I guess I've grown up around too much Apple gear), but for functionality and to lessen eye strain, preserve night vision, and not mess with your circadian rhythm, I'd go with red.

[Bakgrund]

White is the best in my opinion, on most keyboards you can dim it so it won't be an issue at night. I think green/red/blue are too obnoxious and immature, I like to keep things clean.

[Chromako]

Red is the least irritating for me, blue the most.

I find blue light to be very piercing and harsh, whereas red is soft and easy on the eyes.

White works well with any keycaps / board colours and isn't as harsh as you might think.

so firing a soft and easy red laser pen into your eyes won't hurt? I beg to differ

I think we're talking about comparing harshness with equal lighting intensity (cd/m²). Bringing lasers and coherent light into this is like equating rubber mallets with machetes, or apples and garlic (oranges?). Very different situations here.

[Defect]

Red is the least irritating for me, blue the most.

I find blue light to be very piercing and harsh, whereas red is soft and easy on the eyes.

White works well with any keycaps / board colours and isn't as harsh as you might think.

so firing a soft and easy red laser pen into your eyes won't hurt? I beg to differ

Better than a green laser that would burn through your eye.  But we are talking LED light, not laser.

Either way, scientifically Red would be least disruptive.

That's why submarines, cop cars (and Audi's), and dark rooms use red lights.

[spale]

I used to love backlight,  and could not ever imagine the keyboard without one. My favorite colour was white.

And then I entered Topre world,which does not have any kind of LEDs. Finally, after some time, I concluded that backlight is one really unnecessary thing, people  need to work in properly lighted conditions.