Support for Alternative Layouts
This is a summary of how alternative layouts have been supported by kits such as Colevrak and Homing. It is not a discussion of alt layout performance and development, but if that interests you I highly recommend starting with Pascal Getreuer’s A guide to alt keyboard layouts (why, how, which one?). It’s a concise and comprehensive overview with links to some great sites that go deeper. He also has a separate Links about keyboards page. The Keyboard layouts doc he recommends explains layout goals and metrics in detail, summarizing the alt layouts discussed here as well as more than one hundred others. Sculpted-profile The majority of custom keycap sets are sculpted-profile (Cherry, SA, MT3, KAT, etc. - more on profiles generally here) so let’s start there. Because each row has a unique keycap shape, alt layouts require a unique keycap for each legend that moves off its QWERTY row. At first there were two The Dvorak layout was patented in 1936 by August Dvorak & William L....
Apr 23, 2024
Not much else to say. Maybe I didn't say anything. Just get your refund and don't hold MD at fault. They're just trying to offer people choices. Bad buys usually don't come back or do so fixed.
Your switch mount:
Normal switch mount these keycaps were made for:
Another point, red LED's aren't very bright to begin with, as opposed to the sky blue and white LED's in my pics (much brighter). In my builds (I own every keycap color this company makes, been buying them as they have been coming out on AliExpress), one thing I have noticed is red keycaps and red LED's never work out well. The red color of the LED's combined with not being bright blends with the red keycaps, and they just don't stand out as much as with other colors.
Example of brightness between red and blue LED's:
A white and dark grey set I picked up, comes with a red and a grey esc cap: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/104-PBT-White-Gray-double-color-Retro-backlit-Keycap-cherry-MX-switch-for-OEM-Filco-etc/32743959477.html
An all grey set I purchased : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/Gray-108-ANSI-layout-Thick-PBT-Backlit-Keycap-For-OEM-cherry-MX-Switches-Mechanical-Keyboard-Gaming/32754161572.html
Corsair type bottom row add-on, I bought both the white and black add-ons: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/8-key-PBT-keycap-Translucidus-Backlight-Backlit-Keycap-for-LogitechG710-CORSAIR-GAMING-Mechanical-Keyboard/32738145064.html
Steelseries (big ass enter key) add-ons: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/4-keys-Thicken-PBT-Translucidus-Backlight-Additions-Keycaps-For-SteelSeries-6Gv2-7G-Wired-USB-Mechanical-Keyboard/32767787811.html
ISO stepped caps lock, enter, and shift add-on : https://www.aliexpress.com/item/CHERRY-CAPS-LOCK-Big-Enter-1-25X-Shift-Translucidus-Backlight-Thickening-PBT-Special-keycaps-For-Wired/32764893904.html
Gradient Sets, I haven't bought these as I don't care for the gradient colors: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/104-108-Keys-PBT-Double-Color-Rainbow-Injection-Keycaps-OEM-Height-For-Cherry-MX-Switches-Mechanical/32786772440.html
Black Gradient Sets: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-NEW-ARRIVAL-104-Keys-Thickening-PBT-Double-Shot-Backlight-RED-Gradient-Keycap-OEM-Profile-For/32759702529.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-NEW-ARRIVAL-104-Keys-Thick-PBT-Purple-Gradient-Double-Shot-Backlight-Keycap-OEM-Profile-For/32759646946.html
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/2016-NEW-ARRIVAL-104-Keys-Thickening-PBT-Double-Shot-Backlight-Blue-Gradient-Keycap-For-Cherry-MX/32759702755.html
A couple of examples:
xGuitarGodx, who started this thread about his dissatisfaction is using:
1. The wrong type of switch mount, LED is on the south end of the switch, not on the north end, so the light will never shine through the legends positioned at the top of the keycap where the light needs to be.
2. Red LED's which aren't bright to begin with as compared to other colors in the spectrum.
Another overlooked point about the differences in backlit keyboards, is what type of LED is being used. RGB LED's aren't as bright as fixed single color LED's.
An example of two of my keyboards with identical keycaps (Grey and White). RGB keyboard on the bottom set up for pink on the modifiers and blue on the alphas. Single color fixed LED's on the top keyboard, again pink on the modifiers and blue for the alphas:
And these are just normal top of switch mount LED's, then there are SMD mounted LED's which are soldered to the PCB under the switch and are generally dimmer because the light has to shine up through a small hole in the switch and finally up to the legends, losing about 50% of the light before it shines through the keycap legends. Corsair's RGB keyboards have this style and its the #1 reason why their keyboards are so dim, it's just a bad design, and there are no keycaps in the universe that can fix bad design.
"The shine through legends on many of the keycaps is poor, often time illegible. My Insert keycap looks like $h!t. "
Now who is REALLY trolling here with an agenda eh?
And again, look at that picture you just posted, every LED on that keyboard is on the south end of the switch, these keycaps weren't made for it, end of story.
Here we go again with the switch mount, ehh? You must be blind to see that, even with my "south end mount leds", the light shines through just fine. As a matter of fact, it truly shows how cheap these caps really are because you can see the shine from my leds through the caps themselves. Unlike from you cheap, potato keyboards.
Go take your dense thoughts elsewhere. Honestly, quit being a loser.
I know you are a bit stressed inside, waiting for the K-type since months, but this won't help you! :D
Rage post if I ever saw one. I appreciate the intelligent conversation, I'll leave you to your name calling.