{"video_id":"y-GjMH8kQlc","title":"Corsair RGB Backlit Mechanical Keyboard - CES 2014","channel":"Linus Tech Tips","show":"Linus Tech Tips","published_at":"2014-05-07T14:53:29Z","duration_s":359,"segments":[{"start_s":0.08,"end_s":7.12,"text":"Linus Tech Tips coverage of CES 2014 is brought to you by ncx.com, your source","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":5.2,"end_s":13.92,"text":"for great technology, selection, and service along with Corsair Memory and","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":9.519,"end_s":17.359,"text":"Western Digital. This, you guys, is not","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":13.92,"end_s":22.4,"text":"your average Corsair K70 keyboard. This","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":17.359,"end_s":25.76,"text":"is the world's first fully RGB backlit","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":22.4,"end_s":28.08,"text":"mechanical keyboard featuring Cherry MX","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":25.76,"end_s":31.679,"text":"switches. Now, you might say to me, Lionus, we have tons of RGB backlit","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":30.48,"end_s":36.32,"text":"keyboards. Why would we care about mechanical? In which case, I would direct you to any of the other videos","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":34.719,"end_s":42.0,"text":"that we've ever made about why mechanical keyboards are vastly superior","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":39.36,"end_s":47.2,"text":"and particularly Cherry MX is a favorite of all the staff here at Linus Tech","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":44.64,"end_s":51.76,"text":"Tips. So, you cannot replicate the quality, at least from what we've tried","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":49.2,"end_s":54.96,"text":"in the past, with other differently branded switches. It just doesn't really","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":53.68,"end_s":60.719,"text":"happen. and they're still manufactured in Germany and there's not much stuff you can say that about these days. All","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":58.079,"end_s":65.04,"text":"right, so onto this keyboard. First up, well, okay, it's RGB back lit. Second","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":62.719,"end_s":68.72,"text":"up, what I was kind of expecting to see was programmable backlighting, and you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":67.36,"end_s":73.76,"text":"could just kind of change the full backlight to any color, maybe like a WD","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":71.76,"end_s":79.84,"text":"zone to go along with one of the other zones or something like that. What we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":75.52,"end_s":82.56,"text":"got is probably one of the most complex","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":79.84,"end_s":86.479,"text":"um one of the most complex keyboards ever. I mean, they're actually using a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":84.4,"end_s":90.64,"text":"digital signage processor from Panasonic. The first time this has ever","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":88.72,"end_s":95.119,"text":"been implemented in a consumer-grade device in order to drive what is","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":92.72,"end_s":98.72,"text":"effectively an LED display. I mean, that's what this processor is for. It's","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":96.479,"end_s":103.6,"text":"for digital signage, large format LED displays, and that's what we're looking","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":100.72,"end_s":108.479,"text":"at here. So, I've seen 16.8 8 million color RGB back lit keyboards that really","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":106.56,"end_s":112.24,"text":"when you tinker around with them and you configure all the settings in the in the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":110.56,"end_s":116.88,"text":"you know the color dials is probably more like 256 colors that is not the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":115.36,"end_s":121.84,"text":"case here. We have an extremely wide variety. We've also got Okay. All right.","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":119.84,"end_s":124.399,"text":"Let's talk about the LED reliability. So, you've got all these colors and one","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":123.439,"end_s":131.36,"text":"of the things that I was really concerned about when I first heard about this keyboard was you see you see LEDs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":129.039,"end_s":134.64,"text":"die. I have a K90 that's got a dead LED on it. It's like, yeah, okay, it still","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":132.959,"end_s":138.959,"text":"works just fine. The key switch works, but it's not perfect anymore, and that","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":137.44,"end_s":142.879,"text":"doesn't make me happy. So, what I was informed of is that they're using a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":141.04,"end_s":147.04,"text":"completely different method of mounting the LEDs in order to dramatically","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":144.959,"end_s":152.239,"text":"increase reliability. Now, the way that LEDs on keyboards apparently usually die","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":149.76,"end_s":158.56,"text":"is actually from ESD, so electrostatic discharge. And by mounting the LEDs","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":154.64,"end_s":162.239,"text":"within the key switch rather than to the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":158.56,"end_s":164.239,"text":"PCB of the keyboard, you can virtually","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":162.239,"end_s":168.8,"text":"eliminate that. So in spite of the fact that the LEDs are much more complex, we","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":167.28,"end_s":173.28,"text":"should still be looking at a situation where it's very difficult for them to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":170.959,"end_s":177.04,"text":"fail even over an extended period of time. Now, in terms of lighting","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":174.8,"end_s":181.12,"text":"patterns, Corsair has pretty much everything under the sun. You can do","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":178.72,"end_s":187.599,"text":"your standard, you know, wave or breathing or fully lit here or color","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":184.159,"end_s":190.239,"text":"zones or individual colors on each key","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":187.599,"end_s":194.239,"text":"or you can have, you know, reactive uh reactive fadeins and fade outs and you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":192.48,"end_s":198.959,"text":"can adjust the timing of that or like, you know, laser beams frigin zapping","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":196.72,"end_s":201.92,"text":"across the thing. And they have a very complex piece of software that's going","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":200.48,"end_s":206.8,"text":"to launch at the same time of this as this keyboard that's going to allow you to configure a lot of that stuff. Don't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":205.36,"end_s":210.08,"text":"worry, there will be like an easy beginner's mode for just like, well, I","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":208.48,"end_s":214.64,"text":"just want an orange keyboard. Can't I just have that? No one's ever made an orange LED back lit keyboard before. Why","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":213.12,"end_s":218.799,"text":"can't I have that? If you want that, then that's still just fine. Or you can","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":216.72,"end_s":223.28,"text":"do some of the more advanced stuff. Or because they're keeping the software","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":220.319,"end_s":228.56,"text":"architecture open, you can even code your own way of lighting up the keyboard","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":226.64,"end_s":232.239,"text":"and have it do whatever you could possibly want. You can share that with","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":230.08,"end_s":236.08,"text":"friends. And Corsair is encouraging the modding community to just kind of take","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":234.0,"end_s":240.0,"text":"charge and run away with it if that's what they want to do. In addition to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":238.48,"end_s":243.04,"text":"being fully programmable in terms of the lighting, every single key on the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":241.519,"end_s":247.439,"text":"keyboard is fully programmable. We've seen this with uh uh Steeler's latest","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":245.76,"end_s":251.2,"text":"Steel Series Engine software, and it's something that I'm personally very","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":249.36,"end_s":256.239,"text":"excited about. I think it's great. So, not only could you remap one to seven if","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":253.92,"end_s":259.6,"text":"you wanted to, you could remap it to uh control 7. So, you can do macros, you","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":258.16,"end_s":263.36,"text":"can do straight remappings, whatever you want. Every key on the keyboard can be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":261.519,"end_s":267.6,"text":"changed into something else if you prefer it that way. Now, of course, the","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":266.24,"end_s":272.08,"text":"question you're going to be asking me now is Lionus, how many hundreds of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":270.56,"end_s":276.96,"text":"dollars am I going to have to pay for it? And Corsair","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":274.96,"end_s":281.28,"text":"is being very wishy-washy about it. They won't tell me a straight price. I was","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":278.88,"end_s":286.639,"text":"like, okay, tell me this. Is it 200? Is it 250? and they said, \"Okay, we won't","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":284.16,"end_s":293.759,"text":"tell you, but we will tell you that there are RGB backlit membrane keyboards","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":290.479,"end_s":296.479,"text":"that will cost more than this, which to","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":293.759,"end_s":302.0,"text":"me means under 200. Although, I could be wrong, but I hope I'm right. Cuz if this","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":298.8,"end_s":304.24,"text":"comes in around 150 to 170, I think it","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":302.0,"end_s":309.36,"text":"is a knockout punch to pretty much anyone who is not delivering such an","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":306.8,"end_s":314.08,"text":"advanced LED backlit mechanical keyboard. It's going to be available in","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":311.28,"end_s":318.0,"text":"red switches, black switches, and no, not black switches, red switches, brown","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":316.24,"end_s":322.16,"text":"switches, and blue switches at the start. And uh so that addresses one of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":320.479,"end_s":327.52,"text":"my other complaints about Corsair keyboards, and that's that they seem to always lead with red. And I'm more of a","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":324.72,"end_s":331.68,"text":"brown guy. So there you go, guys. If you have always wanted an Easter themed","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":329.52,"end_s":337.12,"text":"keyboard, Corsair will be delivering it sometime this year. Don't miss any of","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":334.639,"end_s":340.88,"text":"our CES 2014 coverage here, guys. Our trip to the show is powered by ncx.com,","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":339.44,"end_s":346.24,"text":"your source for great technology selection and service, as well as our","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":343.919,"end_s":349.52,"text":"other sponsors, Corsair, which has nothing to do with why I'm raving about","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":347.68,"end_s":353.12,"text":"this keyboard. If you guys will notice, I was actually raving about this before","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":351.36,"end_s":357.44,"text":"I'd even seen it yet because I was super excited, and a Western Digital. Big","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0},{"start_s":355.919,"end_s":359.52,"text":"thanks to those guys for allowing us to be","speaker":null,"is_sponsor":0}],"full_text":"Linus Tech Tips coverage of CES 2014 is brought to you by ncx.com, your source for great technology, selection, and service along with Corsair Memory and Western Digital. This, you guys, is not your average Corsair K70 keyboard. This is the world's first fully RGB backlit mechanical keyboard featuring Cherry MX switches. Now, you might say to me, Lionus, we have tons of RGB backlit keyboards. Why would we care about mechanical? In which case, I would direct you to any of the other videos that we've ever made about why mechanical keyboards are vastly superior and particularly Cherry MX is a favorite of all the staff here at Linus Tech Tips. So, you cannot replicate the quality, at least from what we've tried in the past, with other differently branded switches. It just doesn't really happen. and they're still manufactured in Germany and there's not much stuff you can say that about these days. All right, so onto this keyboard. First up, well, okay, it's RGB back lit. Second up, what I was kind of expecting to see was programmable backlighting, and you could just kind of change the full backlight to any color, maybe like a WD zone to go along with one of the other zones or something like that. What we got is probably one of the most complex um one of the most complex keyboards ever. I mean, they're actually using a digital signage processor from Panasonic. The first time this has ever been implemented in a consumer-grade device in order to drive what is effectively an LED display. I mean, that's what this processor is for. It's for digital signage, large format LED displays, and that's what we're looking at here. So, I've seen 16.8 8 million color RGB back lit keyboards that really when you tinker around with them and you configure all the settings in the in the you know the color dials is probably more like 256 colors that is not the case here. We have an extremely wide variety. We've also got Okay. All right. Let's talk about the LED reliability. So, you've got all these colors and one of the things that I was really concerned about when I first heard about this keyboard was you see you see LEDs die. I have a K90 that's got a dead LED on it. It's like, yeah, okay, it still works just fine. The key switch works, but it's not perfect anymore, and that doesn't make me happy. So, what I was informed of is that they're using a completely different method of mounting the LEDs in order to dramatically increase reliability. Now, the way that LEDs on keyboards apparently usually die is actually from ESD, so electrostatic discharge. And by mounting the LEDs within the key switch rather than to the PCB of the keyboard, you can virtually eliminate that. So in spite of the fact that the LEDs are much more complex, we should still be looking at a situation where it's very difficult for them to fail even over an extended period of time. Now, in terms of lighting patterns, Corsair has pretty much everything under the sun. You can do your standard, you know, wave or breathing or fully lit here or color zones or individual colors on each key or you can have, you know, reactive uh reactive fadeins and fade outs and you can adjust the timing of that or like, you know, laser beams frigin zapping across the thing. And they have a very complex piece of software that's going to launch at the same time of this as this keyboard that's going to allow you to configure a lot of that stuff. Don't worry, there will be like an easy beginner's mode for just like, well, I just want an orange keyboard. Can't I just have that? No one's ever made an orange LED back lit keyboard before. Why can't I have that? If you want that, then that's still just fine. Or you can do some of the more advanced stuff. Or because they're keeping the software architecture open, you can even code your own way of lighting up the keyboard and have it do whatever you could possibly want. You can share that with friends. And Corsair is encouraging the modding community to just kind of take charge and run away with it if that's what they want to do. In addition to being fully programmable in terms of the lighting, every single key on the keyboard is fully programmable. We've seen this with uh uh Steeler's latest Steel Series Engine software, and it's something that I'm personally very excited about. I think it's great. So, not only could you remap one to seven if you wanted to, you could remap it to uh control 7. So, you can do macros, you can do straight remappings, whatever you want. Every key on the keyboard can be changed into something else if you prefer it that way. Now, of course, the question you're going to be asking me now is Lionus, how many hundreds of dollars am I going to have to pay for it? And Corsair is being very wishy-washy about it. They won't tell me a straight price. I was like, okay, tell me this. Is it 200? Is it 250? and they said, \"Okay, we won't tell you, but we will tell you that there are RGB backlit membrane keyboards that will cost more than this, which to me means under 200. Although, I could be wrong, but I hope I'm right. Cuz if this comes in around 150 to 170, I think it is a knockout punch to pretty much anyone who is not delivering such an advanced LED backlit mechanical keyboard. It's going to be available in red switches, black switches, and no, not black switches, red switches, brown switches, and blue switches at the start. And uh so that addresses one of my other complaints about Corsair keyboards, and that's that they seem to always lead with red. And I'm more of a brown guy. So there you go, guys. If you have always wanted an Easter themed keyboard, Corsair will be delivering it sometime this year. Don't miss any of our CES 2014 coverage here, guys. Our trip to the show is powered by ncx.com, your source for great technology selection and service, as well as our other sponsors, Corsair, which has nothing to do with why I'm raving about this keyboard. If you guys will notice, I was actually raving about this before I'd even seen it yet because I was super excited, and a Western Digital. Big thanks to those guys for allowing us to be"}