Convince me that a cool white keyboard backlight isn't a dealbreaker please!


CabinetofJoy

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Pardon the somewhat crassy thread title :p&|a:.

Since I first became an iPod touch user years ago, I quickly discovered how important exclusively emitting "warm" color light is for satisfyingly using a device at night. I forget what the app I used on my iPod was; on Android I use Red Moon. I have also posted a question regarding my concern over the keyboard backlight on the Pyra some months ago.

Yes, I could potentially turn off the backlight and rely on the screen for input (set to a suitable gamma/color temp). But I can't shake the feeling that if I go ahead and purchase a Pyra, the keyboard backlight's high color temperature light will make me hate the device.

I'm posting this thread because I'm hoping the community can resolve my doubts!
 
Honestly, I think if you're worried about the color temperature keeping you awake at night, I wouldn't use the Pyra when you're getting ready for bed. The reddish screen programs help somewhat, but it'll still keep you up.
 
Learn to navigate the keyboard by touch alone, and you'll be more efficient and won't need to use the backlight anyway :)

If that doesn't appeal, then either with a bit of clever soldering to swap the led or, more simply, applying some transparent (red) plastic, you could make your keyboard backlight a different colour.
 
You can use these ! :p

iu
 
You might be able to fix it with something as simple as a red felt-tip pen. Carefully(!) put a spot of red ink on each white LED, and Bingo! warm-white light.

To be honest, I can't quite see how the difference between two shades of white can be a deal-breaker.
While it's definitely worth getting details right (see: Keyboard discussions), it's unreasonable to demand that everything be perfect.

If the LEDs haven't been ordered yet, and if there's a footprint-compatible warm white variant, it might be worth bringing to ED's attention. Failing that, the Pyra will still be a wonderful (and unique) device worth every penny it costs.

The unwritten policy of these forums is, and long has been, that we are not a marketing department. The community here contributed to the Pyra's design, has invested considerable sums of money in the project, and will produce a huge volume of software and documentation. We continue to spread information about it to anyone we think might listen - but we all know that it's a niche device for a niche market.

Whether or not you want to spend hundreds of pounds on a Pyra is your decision - and nobody here is going to trick you into buying the wrong device for your needs. I don't mind cool white backlights. I will buy a Pyra. Will you? Not my problem!
 
Hello @CabinetofJoy . Best thing you can do is wait for production. Somewhere, there wil be a con, where the finalized Pyra will be showcased. Hopefully nearby your city. Go to one of those con's. You will be able to fiddle with a Pyra, and make up your mind then.
On the plus side, tutorials, patches and software will be written by then, so you get a much better product.

Now, the professional would use a remote phosphor coating, like explained here:


but I have no idea if the coating is for sale (because of patents). However, an indian guy just uses normal paint:


or, if you prefer English:

 
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Did you ever use a Pyra?
I don't think so.

Well, I did.
I have very light sensitive eyes and wear blue light blocking glasses every time I'm working on my computer.
Black background for everything (Firefox theme, Desktop theme, inverted PDF) is a must for me.
Even at University because of the extreme bright light the projector.

Thy Pyra is very eye friendly.
The display backlight can be much lower than on the Pandora.
The keyboard LEDs can be user adjusted to be not bright but only to shine a little.
The Fn keys are red, not blue, so the whole keyboard seems rather warn, than cold.

But anyways, making the letters not white, but giving it a warmer touch might me a nice modification.
But not for the LED but for the Keyboard coloration I suspect.

Also you can easily toggle the keyboard backlight with the (keyboard) backlight light (hardware) button (I've written a simple script and added it to a keyboard shortcut).
A function to turn off the keyboard after some seconds with no input should also be not to hard to implement).

I really wouldn't worry too much about that :)
Try out for yourself as soon as you can.
For now, trust me, I can't look into my computer for a couple of hours without my glasses and black background theme.

EDIT:
And if all of that isn't enough, get some transparent red paint (for finger nails for example) and paint the keyboard LEDs ;)
 
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I have very light sensitive eyes and wear blue light blocking glasses every time I'm working on my computer.
Black background for everything (Firefox theme, Desktop theme, inverted PDF) is a must for me.
Even at University because of the extreme bright light the projector.
The blue part of the light spectrum is not the only negative thing about light sources, though - many display technologies have a much lower amount of blue light in their spectrum than many people seem to think. One thing that is often forgotten is PWM regulation - nowadays pretty much everything has its brightness PWM regulated, which often shifts the effective refresh frequency into a range that is not noticeable but still well perceivable by the human eye (a few kHz), causing your eyes to tire much faster without noticing a difference otherwise. I have an old UXGA TFT that still has a linearly regulated CCFL backlight, it is really much easier on the eyes than other screens.
 
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If the LEDs haven't been ordered yet, and if there's a footprint-compatible warm white variant, it might be worth bringing to ED's attention.
...
I don't mind cool white backlights. I will buy a Pyra. Will you? Not my problem!
I actually prefer cool lights. Warm light seems so...dirty. I have to suffer with warm lights in my home, and all the colors seem off. It isn't a deal breaker for me, just a preference, which I have had a lot of with the Pyra since I became active here. Most of my preferences get skipped for what works best for more people, or that more prefer. I am still getting a Pyra, or I will die trying.


@TrashyMG, or maybe we just drove off everyone that bitched about all the more significant stuff. (Wasn't it this forum that supposedly had a reputation of being elitist assholes, which I really don't see in any serious way? Maybe I am the problem.)
 
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I have to suffer with warm lights in my home, and all the colors seem off.
White LEDs are commonly realized by adding yellow (via phosphorus) to blue LEDs (true RGB white LEDs are way too expensive and difficult to calibrate), so they often have a really awful color spectrum.

But the manufacturers at least managed to get the effective color temperature of those warm white ones right by now, I remember using some "warm" white LED lights that were, well... simply "not cold", their light really looked kinda grey, it still had nothing yellowish in it.
 
We only recently switched to LED bulbs, so many are still CFLs. When I am trying to see actual colors I have to go outside during clear days. I hope the sun doesn't vanish any time soon (that was a pathetic eclipse joke attempt, because it is being more frequently discussed here now).

Also, I really don't think the amount of light coming from the keyboard will be enough for it to make much of a difference. The screen is more likely to be a problem. Just reduce the keyboard brightness if it really matters, or turn it off and do like we do with the Pandora (tilt the screen to illuminate the keys to find where things are).
 
I'm not sure that is normal paint; I heard him say a word very similar to 'transparent' when describing it. Normal emulsion paints are designed to be opaque to obscure base layer tints, I assume. To be honest, I'd have thought leaving it in a warm solution of turmeric/haldi would do a good enough job for that.

But paints and other tints are less efficient than phosphors, which I assume is why that rambus guy (?!?) is using them. Phosphors will absorb light at a number of frequencies and put them out at another, so they don't just absorb unwanted frequencies like tints do, but also create new coloured light.

But the benefit for hackers is that tints are easier to predict the effects of when you haven't got a bunch of samples and a team of engineers to try things out.
 
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Kinda like my green monochrome CRT monitor glowing after I turn the lights off.
 
Having a prototype in my hand and being in the dark now, I can tell you that the color getting out of keymat isnt strong (I've not played with the LED brightness unlike Askarus) and just allow you to see what you type.
As most keys are as white as orange, the resulting color ouput is rather warm to me. Dont mind the LEDs, it's the resulting color that matter ;)
 
When I am trying to see actual colors I have to go outside during clear days.
There are a few daylight grade light bulbs as well, you even get somewhat what you paid for - but they are bright as fuck, using them for the dining room where you're eating breakfast every day kinda works better than any coffee... (been there, done that)
 
Having a prototype in my hand and being in the dark now, I can tell you that the color getting out of keymat isnt strong (I've not played with the LED brightness unlike Askarus) and just allow you to see what you type.
As most keys are as white as orange, the resulting color ouput is rather warm to me. Dont mind the LEDs, it's the resulting color that matter ;)

What about the red shiny ones? Do those disturb you?
For me, they do.
Just curious.
 
Being a stage (sound, light,video) technician I always wrap Lee filter 103 around light sources of which I feel the color temperature is too high, or tape a filter sheet in front of an lcd screen (when needed for dark performances).
Like white LED's, HMI lamps are also very cool white, with Lee 103 I make it a halogen color, around 2800 kelvin but ofcourse any color can be used. Maybe you could take that Lee filter and a perferator, make a hole under each keys carbon pad and put the sheet in between the key mat and the board. If that works it would be a nice non destructive mod.
 
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