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Bright Ideas: What Technologies Will Improve Your Backlit Membrane Switches?
LED backlighting is a versatile and cost-effective solution for membrane switches that need to function in low-light conditions or stand out visually. Unlike traditional lighting methods, LEDs offer a wide range of colours and intensities, allowing for customisable designs. At RH, we can help you design and manufacture backlit membrane switches and keypads that not only look great but also enhance the functionality of your product.
LEDs are the simplest and most common way to backlight membrane switches due to their low power consumption, low cost, and low heat output. You can place them virtually anywhere within the switch assembly, offering flexible design options. For example, Position LEDs beneath the graphic overlay for direct illumination, or place them at the edge and use Light Guided Film (LGF) for a diffused effect. LGF is a cost-effective way to manufacture backlighting that efficiently directs light to where it’s needed, offering excellent results.
Add a Rainbow of Colour to Your Display.
Adding RGB LEDs to your product, which mix red, green, and blue light to create millions of colours from the entire visible spectrum, will give your project life. RGB lighting provides a solid advantage over mono-coloured lighting. The electronics industry has advanced the technology over the years to create addressable LEDs that can be automated to run independently from one another, resulting in a dynamic, multi-coloured light display. Product designers in virtually every industry like to use addressable LED technology in their products for several reasons:
- It Impresses Users: Giving an air of aesthetic quality.
- It provides the product with more scope for functionality and control.
- The range of possible designs become much more flexible.
- A higher degree of end-user satisfaction.
The past decade has seen a dramatic advance in addressable RGB LED technology. Companies that take advantage of this benefit have more engaging products. A more engaging product will help sales as it will stand out more against the competition.
Smooth Light Blending for Backlit Membrane Switches
LEDs create hot spots on a user interface if the light is not blended correctly; this can leave a product looking unfinished, especially in areas requiring multiple LED lights. The area directly above and around the LEDs is brighter, while other parts further away are dimmer. As these LEDs work together to create a colourful light display, the seamless blending of light makes the device look more high-tech and professional. Light-guided film (LGF) can optimise and improve uneven lighting. The product designer and manufacturers need to consider the distance between light sources and how they work together. LGF can direct light into areas that may not support an LED and achieve a uniform and consistent lighting result.
LEDs are Becoming the More Affordable Option.
When the industry first launched addressable LEDs, few companies could afford to use them in their products. As the technology has become more available, the price has also decreased, making this unique feature much more accessible.
Organisations across different market sectors are now incorporating addressable RGB LEDs into their product. RGB LEDs have always been a standard part of the computing and gaming markets, but this has not kept other sectors from improving the appearance of their products. The military and marine sectors also use LED illumination to better aid low-light operations. Nowadays, every designer can add a rainbow of colours to their project.
When electrical design engineers search for high-tech custom backlighting solutions, they often turn to RH. Before your next project, contact us to discuss LED Backlighting your Membrane Switches – we’d love to help!
For more information on Bright Ideas: What Technologies Will Improve Your Backlit Membrane Switches? talk to RH Technical Industries Ltd