Decision made. Sending my K70 RGB back.

I`ve been thinking about taking up the offer of a refund from the retailer that I bought my K70 RGB from, due to the long wait for the update that will hopefully provide the claimed 16.8 million colours.

Switched on my PC this evening and I noticed that the A key has a green tint (the default profile I'm using is for all keys to be white).

I've powered off/on, reloaded CUE and played around with the lighting. The A key does seem to have developed a lighting fault.

One of the reasons I chose the RGB version was because I wanted to avoid the seemingly common failure of LEDs on the non-RGB models.

I like the design and feel of this keyboard. I don't like the fact that it's developed a fault after a few months use, and Corsair seem to have released an unfinished product.

Not good for a supposedly high quality product.

None of the other brands, razer/logitech come close to the build quality of the corsair rgb series, They are 95% plastic, and cheap plastics at that. :eek:

First rgb keyboard i ever bought was the Luxeed Rama, well it was a really terrible keyboard in every way, the rgb lighting was so bad it was impossible to get white or yellow colours, the spacebar fell of and wouldnt go back on and the keyboard itself bent and sagged in the middle.

That luxeed was only a few £££ cheaper than the k70 rgb.

I've still got my K70.

It looks like the price of these keyboards has increased since I bought mine. Therefore I'm going to wait and see if Corsair do sort out the update for the full colour range (only about 5 weeks to go !). If they don't, and end up offering owners of the existing 512 colour keyboards a "Version 2" model, then I'd like one of those. Chances are I'd have to spend more money to get one if I get a refund now, and I'd be without a mechanical keyboard for a while.

In the meantime, my "A" key still has a green tint, so I'm waiting to see if any other LEDs fail and for the new firmware. If the firmware update works OK, I'll see about getting this fixed or replaced.

I also had a different colored led when I had it set to white. The way I fixed it was by tapping the key fast with quite a bit of force and it went back to normal.

Sounds like there was a bad soldered connection to the LED.

I've tried that "trick", it hasn't worked.

Sounds like there was a bad soldered connection to the LED.

 

I've tried that "trick", it hasn't worked.

I had 2 pinkish keys at some point when I would set my keyboard to 'all white' and I don't have them anymore.

Seems intermittent in my case, anyhow I paid a few extra bucks to have 1 year extended replacement warranty. So if around that time I notice that there's some pinkish keys I'll get it replaced by the store.

Obviously if you are near warranty might as well get it exchanged to get rid of that issue if it's persisting.

Plenty of warranty left, so I've decided to wait and see what Corsair can do with the firmware.

I think I`ve mentioned before that I can't get a nice "clean" white on the keyboard, there does seem to be a pinkish tint when I set the keys to white. In fact, some of the keys (Pause Break, Page Up and 8 on the Num Pad) seem more pink than others.

If I could have got a non RGB K70 with (reliable) LEDs, I would have bought one. I chose the RGB because the LEDs are suppose to be more reliable, and I wanted to experiment with the wide range of colours.

I can't fault the design and quality feel of this keyboard, but a green "A" key and continuing lack of 16.8 million colour kind of makes me wonder if this was a wise purchase.

Plenty of warranty left, so I've decided to wait and see what Corsair can do with the firmware.

 

I think I`ve mentioned before that I can't get a nice "clean" white on the keyboard, there does seem to be a pinkish tint when I set the keys to white. In fact, some of the keys (Pause Break, Page Up and 8 on the Num Pad) seem more pink than others.

 

If I could have got a non RGB K70 with (reliable) LEDs, I would have bought one. I chose the RGB because the LEDs are suppose to be more reliable, and I wanted to experiment with the wide range of colours.

 

I can't fault the design and quality feel of this keyboard, but a green "A" key and continuing lack of 16.8 million colour kind of makes me wonder if this was a wise purchase.

You should honestly just request and RMA and try to get a new keyboard. A firmware or software update won't fix faulty LEDs. They are supposed to be more reliable, but there's always a few faulty ones that get through, you were probably just the unlucky one. But yeah, my advice is RMA because you can't fix the issue with just a simple software update.

You should honestly just request and RMA and try to get a new keyboard. A firmware or software update won't fix faulty LEDs. They are supposed to be more reliable, but there's always a few faulty ones that get through, you were probably just the unlucky one. But yeah, my advice is RMA because you can't fix the issue with just a simple software update.

I understand that the faulty LED can't be fixed with a firmware update. I'm referring to the firmware update that will enable these keyboards to display the full 16.8 million colours, rather than 512, which is what we have at the moment.

After being reminded about the pink tint on some of the keys on my K70, I decided to investigate further.

I`ve swapped the key cap on the Pause/Break key (one of the "bad" ones) with another key. It does seem that it's the LED lighting rather than the key cap that is the cause of the tint.

Trying to correct this in CUE is impossible, due to the lack of colour range. I think I could "whiten" some of the keys by reducing the red level by a few points. The problem is that reducing the red level from 255 to 245 makes no difference. It's only when the level goes from 235 to 234 that the colour changes in a sudden jump to a pale blue.

Has any else noticed that a nice "clean white" is not possible ?

After being reminded about the pink tint on some of the keys on my K70, I decided to investigate further.

 

I`ve swapped the key cap on the Pause/Break key (one of the "bad" ones) with another key. It does seem that it's the LED lighting rather than the key cap that is the cause of the tint.

 

Trying to correct this in CUE is impossible, due to the lack of colour range. I think I could "whiten" some of the keys by reducing the red level by a few points. The problem is that reducing the red level from 255 to 245 makes no difference. It's only when the level goes from 235 to 234 that the colour changes in a sudden jump to a pale blue.

 

Has any else noticed that a nice "clean white" is not possible ?

I've noticed that when I set my keyboard to white, keys tend to have a slight greenish tint (I think?). It's hard to tell. Key lighting definitely isn't uniform when I set it all to white, though. There are slight but noticeable variances.

I've also noticed that setting the brightness key to white affects some of the other keys' lighting I haven't bothered to test if other keys affect other keys' lighting as well. I made a thread about it:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=136868

I suspect that the output of each LED can vary a little, and this is what is causing the tinting of some of the keys when they are set to white.

It should be possible to adjust the levels to get a more pure white, and to get all of the keys looking the same. This won't be possible until the full colour range is available.

As the LEDs age, I think their output levels may fall. If so, it'll mean having to occasionally adjust the levels to maintain "white" white.

I understand that the faulty LED can't be fixed with a firmware update. I'm referring to the firmware update that will enable these keyboards to display the full 16.8 million colours, rather than 512, which is what we have at the moment.

I actually doubt your eyes will tell the difference

I suspect that the output of each LED can vary a little, and this is what is causing the tinting of some of the keys when they are set to white.

 

It should be possible to adjust the levels to get a more pure white, and to get all of the keys looking the same. This won't be possible until the full colour range is available.

 

As the LEDs age, I think their output levels may fall. If so, it'll mean having to occasionally adjust the levels to maintain "white" white.

It takes years for this to happen to the point you notice it.

The only type of led you have to worry about is OLED they are terrible for image burn in, and i cannot understand why companies like OPTIMUS put them in keyboards that cost over £1,000, knowing they will be on a static image most of the time and get image burn, Traditional leds like the ones in the corsair keyboards under proper conditions should last over 20 years if not longer, they are tried and tested technology going back over 50 years first made by general electric.

In these keyboards they are slightly undervolted however (they are not in the razer rgb keyboards) to ensure long lifespan, in practice i am confident that they will last longer than me provided they are not tampered with.

Corsair have made a very good product here beating all the competition easily, but like all electronics a few in a large batch fail and people need to have a little patience whilst waiting for them to sort out the software problems.

Any RGB led is capable of unlimited colour just the same as a televisions RGB pixels makes every colour on the screen, but in leds this is down to the controller circuit. Dont fret corsair are great and they will sort it all out eventually.

I am definately going to buy corsairs RGB gaming mouse too alongside my K70

I actually doubt your eyes will tell the difference

I know I'll be able to tell the difference.

1. I'll be able to "fine tune" the colour of the keys that appear to be tinted when I set them all to "white".

2. It'll remove the "stepping" that can be clearly seen when keys are set to change colour slowly. I've configured a key to got from white to red and back to white again every time it's pressed. Even when it's set for this to take just 1 second, the "rough" transition can be seen. Any slower and it becomes even more obvious. With the full 16.8 million colour range, it will be a lot smoother, or "fluid" as the advertising claims.

people need to have a little patience whilst waiting for them to sort out the software problems.

It's now coming up to 6 months since these keyboards went on sale, and still they don't provide the claimed 16.8 million colours that is claimed on the packaging, by Corsair and in retailers adverts.

Corsair seemed to keep this shortcoming quiet at launch. A more honest approach would have been to do this.......

Display controller driven fast and fluid 16.8M* multicolor animation

* Colour range limited to 512. Full range to be implemented via software update when available.

That claim is still being made by some retailers, with no explanation about the forthcoming update.

It's now coming up to 6 months since these keyboards went on sale, and still they don't provide the claimed 16.8 million colours that is claimed on the packaging, by Corsair and in retailers adverts.

 

Corsair seemed to keep this shortcoming quiet at launch. A more honest approach would have been to do this.......

 

Display controller driven fast and fluid 16.8M* multicolor animation

 

* Colour range limited to 512. Full range to be implemented via software update when available.

 

That claim is still being made by some retailers, with no explanation about the forthcoming update.

They changed their advertising at least on online retailers from "16.8 million colors" to "multi-color per key backlighting". They're no longer advertising 16.8M colors anymore, as they once did. The packaging might still (I have no idea), but then again it is harder to change all the packages when they'll be implementing it at a later date. Keep in mind, Corsair was pressured to release the keyboard BY THE CONSUMERS. No one can blame anyone about what they got but the consumers themselves, because they couldn't wait for Corsair to fix these problems while the keyboard was still in development. Corsair asked for time from the consumers so that they could fix these kinks (like the lighting freezes, the compatibility issues with certain motherboards, 16.8M color lighting, ect) before the keyboard was released. They're working on it now, and that's all we can ask for.

They changed their advertising at least on online retailers from "16.8 million colors" to "multi-color per key backlighting". They're no longer advertising 16.8M colors anymore, as they once did.

Maybe these retailers haven't been told by Corsair to alter their advertising.

http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Gaming-Mechanical-Keyboard-CH-9000068-NA/dp/B00N2ROO2S

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-CH-9000065-UK-Performance-Multi-Colour-Mechanical/dp/B00NHJPNEE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1426680396&sr=8-1&keywords=corsair+k70+rgb+uk

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-gaming-cgk70-rgb-cherry-mx-brown-mechanical-gaming-keyboard

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16823816022

.... and there are plenty more.

Corsair was pressured to release the keyboard BY THE CONSUMERS. No one can blame anyone about what they got but the consumers themselves, because they couldn't wait for Corsair to fix these problems while the keyboard was still in development.

And where was Corsair's public announcement that they were going to release the keyboard, but with a temporary limited 512 colour range ?

All they had to do was to make sure that their own website stated this. They could have also explained this to reviewers and retailers. Maybe some of the packaging had already been produced, but a small sticker could have been applied to inform the consumer of the lack of colour range.

Plenty of people seem to be very defensive of the way Corsair have handled the release of this relatively expensive keyboard. I think they've wilfully withheld a fairly important shortcoming in the product. Yes, they recently changed the information on their own web page, and did admit to the issue on this forum, only after the problem was brought to their attention by customers.

On leds this close together and with such light bleeding you really wont notice the difference, so at the minute the colour is working in 16 bit mode then one day apparently corsair will fix it and make it run at 32bit? dont know.

If corsair say theyre working on the software they must be somewhere? but yes it clearly states on the box 16 million colours, maybe "16million colour support will be added later" is a way to keep themselves out of trouble

right forget everything ive said to try and defend Corsair on their usual great products, i have just noticed my H key is going bad, theres definately a bluer tint to it compared to the rest, im really pissed off now, these must be low quality doides or something or a software bug:

EDIT a few minutes later...

The leds must be bedding in because after less than 5 minutes the colour of the H key went back to normal by switching the BIOS switch at the back of the keyboard

They changed their advertising at least on online retailers from "16.8 million colors" to "multi-color per key backlighting". They're no longer advertising 16.8M colors anymore, as they once did. The packaging might still (I have no idea), but then again it is harder to change all the packages when they'll be implementing it at a later date. Keep in mind, Corsair was pressured to release the keyboard BY THE CONSUMERS. No one can blame anyone about what they got but the consumers themselves, because they couldn't wait for Corsair to fix these problems while the keyboard was still in development. Corsair asked for time from the consumers so that they could fix these kinks (like the lighting freezes, the compatibility issues with certain motherboards, 16.8M color lighting, ect) before the keyboard was released. They're working on it now, and that's all we can ask for.

Not sure what you mean about Corsair asking for more time from consumers. I must have missed that phone call from the Corsair Board of Directors. Corsair did not rush this on the market because consumers begged them to hurry up. They rushed it on to the market because 2 of their biggest competitors were also working on a fully RGB mechanical keyboard, which they have now released. Clearly their desire to be "the first" fully mechanical keyboard with RGB lighting on the market was more important to Corsair than preserving their good name.

Even if what you say is true, 6 months later this is still not a finished product. Meanwhile 1 of their competitors has been selling their version of RGB mechanicals for months.

I am sorry but blaming the consumer for this is wrong. Is it also our fault that Britain released the "Comet" - world's first commercial jet - early because people were in a hurry to fly on a jet? Not sure how someone in their mind can turn from being the "victim" into being the cause of the problem...

On leds this close together and with such light bleeding you really wont notice the difference, so at the minute the colour is working in 16 bit mode then one day apparently corsair will fix it and make it run at 32bit? dont know.

 

If corsair say theyre working on the software they must be somewhere? but yes it clearly states on the box 16 million colours, maybe "16million colour support will be added later" is a way to keep themselves out of trouble

Each of the coloured LEDs is currently working in 3 bit mode. They are supposed to work in 8 bit mode to deliver the stated 16.8 million colour range. If and when they do get these keyboards working with 16.8 million colours, they will look quite a lot better. The colour transitions will be a lot smoother.

If they had stated "16 million colour support will be added later" when they released the product, that would have gone a long way to making them look like a company being honest with it's potential customers, instead of ignoring a fundamental limitation in the product's capability.

Each of the coloured LEDs is currently working in 3 bit mode. They are supposed to work in 8 bit mode to deliver the stated 16.8 million colour range. If and when they do get these keyboards working with 16.8 million colours, they will look quite a lot better. The colour transitions will be a lot smoother.

 

If they had stated "16 million colour support will be added later" when they released the product, that would have gone a long way to making them look like a company being honest with it's potential customers, instead of ignoring a fundamental limitation in the product's capability.

Oh i thought 16 million colours was 24 bit?