Backlight Dim

[_DW_ 628]

The backlight on my pro 1 keyboard is really dim meaning pointless dim I've got a key one and that you can always make out the keys.  Any one else got a keyone as well and can compare theres?

Edited January 28, 2020 by _DW_

[Slion 1,201]

Keyboard backlight is rather underpowered. I wonder if they could adjust its brightness in software at some point.

However in darkness it serves its purpose.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

The LEDs are not totally even distributed with one for each key, so for the qwertY model the almost black key (with very little print) left of Q and A gets little light through them. For the qwertZ this is not an issue, as the print on these are large, and thus lets through more of the light.

[VaZso 1,998]

1 minute ago, EskeRahn said:

For the qwertZ this is not an issue, as the print on these are large, and thus lets through more of the light.

Maybe that is why I have not really noticed an uneven backlight of my QWERTZ device.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

51 minutes ago, VaZso said:

Maybe that is why I have not really noticed an uneven backlight of my QWERTZ device.

Yes! You MIGHT have noticed that the @ on the Q seems slightly dimmer than the ^ on the W on our qwertZ.

For the letter shifted qwertY, the problem is that where we see a relative large Q and @ they got two tiny accents, and not much light gets through that. So it is an unfortunate coincidence that two of the smallest prints on this layout is where the light is dimmest.... And it is exactly the accents and other not primarily letters, that we are most likely to be in need of looking for, until we are used to the layout. So really an unfortunate coincidence. I mean almost nobody would miss it if the light under say G were hard to see (except for aesthetics)

[david 929]

18 hours ago, EskeRahn said:

For the qwertZ this is not an issue, as the print on these are large, and thus lets through more of the light.

Are you saying the letter printing on the QWERTZ keyboard has bolder/thicker letters?  I noticed today how thin the printing is on the Pro1.  To be sure I wasn't imagining it, I compared it to my Relay 4G.   The Relay 4G's letters are at least 2 times thicker, possibly 3 times thicker.  I also thought about the lighting issue and thought it was a doubly unfortunate design mistake (doubly, because they are much easier to see at a glance when they are bolded, lighting or no lighting). 

Did they realize the mistake and make the later designed QWERTZ keyboards have thicker strokes on the letters, but didn't go back and change the QWERTY keyboards?

[YelloDumpling 23]

My QWERTY model is very visible? I can see the keyboard very well, on my end.

Everyone's eyes are different, though.

[EskeRahn 5,471]

3 hours ago, david said:

Are you saying the letter printing on the QWERTZ keyboard has bolder/thicker letters?  I noticed today how thin the printing is on the Pro1.  To be sure I wasn't imagining it, I compared it to my Relay 4G.   The Relay 4G's letters are at least 2 times thicker, possibly 3 times thicker.  I also thought about the lighting issue and thought it was a doubly unfortunate design mistake (doubly, because they are much easier to see at a glance when they are bolded, lighting or no lighting). 

Did they realize the mistake and make the later designed QWERTZ keyboards have thicker strokes on the letters, but didn't go back and change the QWERTY keyboards?

No no no. I'm just saying that an accent is just a short 'scratch' on a black key, But the "@" and "Q" are much larger symbols, and thus obviously more visible. Compare to making a hole in your curtain with a needle and a long cut with a knife, the second obviously will let in more light.

See also my reply just above your comment....

[_DW_ 628]

I am wondering on the light distribution maybe it's due to letter density been different causing keys to appear dimmer?

I had a chance to use it for awhile last night back light was useless I kept using my old phones flash light so I could identify keys 😞  I had even put my glasses on.  The pro1 was at half brightness at the time.

I hope they can boost the brightness through software it really is no comparison compared to the keyone which the back light is software controlled and has good illumination through the keys.  I wonder how they achieve it?

[order#10248 65]

Hello, I would like to ask if other pro1 (qwertz) users have the same uneven backlight behind their keyboards. See attached picture *.
Some keys are hardly to be recognized, i.e. L, . (dot) , P , Ü , ß .
Should this be considered as a hardware issue?

Does anyone know how to push backlight to more brightness?

And is it known today by someone how to keep backlight on as long as keyboard is slided out?

Cheers, #10248

* Picture is changed a bit to some thresholds for brightness and contrast to emphasize the issue.

[MvBoe 31]

5 hours ago, order#10248 said:

Hello, I would like to ask if other pro1 (qwertz) users have the same uneven backlight behind their keyboards. See attached picture *.
Some keys are hardly to be recognized, i.e. L, . (dot) , P , Ü , ß . (...)

That is normal, AFAIK.

[_DW_ 628]

Yeah it's same on mine 😞