programable keyboard - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 10:51:21 am
content: I am thinking of getting a keyboard that I can use for keyboard shortcuts and macro's so things like #include or "ctrl + v". I have some software with my cherry mouse that will just work with any keyboard as well so have been experimenting and it's really good and I want more. Currently i am starting to use up my "F" keys but I do use those for their actual uses plus it would be nice to be able to use it on multiple machines.Any advice on products? I see there are many. Does not look like any support multiple programs so I can't reuse keys for different programs.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 11:27:15 am
content: If you need fully customizable multi-application support, you probably need to consider usingAutoHotkeyscripts as a translation layer between your add-on keypad and your applications. The keypad needs to either identify as a HID joystick device (joypad) or needs to be programmable with scancodes not found on your regular keyboard, so that AutoHotkey can distinguish between your macro buttons and your regular keyboard, as unfortunately it cant bind to a specific HID device.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 12:08:01 pm
content: Yea this is why I would rather get an off the shelf keypad with software that is distinct.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 01:04:53 pm
content: The problem is: Anything affordable & off-the-shelf almost invariably has really sucky crippled software. If you come across any sort of keypad that doesn't, I'd probably be interested as well.You may well be better off building your own based on an Arduino Micro or other ATmega32U4 Arduino, as then you can easily make it return HID joystick button events or custom HID keyboard scancodes, so you can use a free choice of third-party macro utilities.Also consider 'giving up' a key you rarely use, e.g the 'Menu' key (usually opens right button context menus), as a modifier key to most other keyboard keys, to invoke application specific AutoHotkey macros, without conflicting with the other keys' normal function.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 02:43:12 pm
content: Quote from: Ian.M on January 24, 2021, 01:04:53 pmNo that's not the point. It has to be single key so that one hand is free for the mouse. I can cut copy and paste already and do other things too but it always involves two keys so it would be nice to dedicate a key to that two or more key press and that works really well in speeding anything up I do repeatedly in any program.

author: Syntax Error
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 03:04:29 pm
content: The only truly programmable (key sequence) keyboards with extra macro keys are the glow in the dark rgb gaming keyboards.A quick web search, the Corsair K57 looks like a contender to me. And it doesn't look too 'teenage' either.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 03:10:17 pm
content: I have a cherry mouse that came with a program that will allow me to re-assign keys on my keyboard and their mouse. It works even with my keyboard that is not theirs as I just bought the mouse. I have keys now dedicated to cut, copy and paste and other macros of my choice like ctrl+M to remove formatting in libre office.So as this is really neat and I will run out of keys so I'd like an additional keypad that will have those dedicated keys.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 03:16:15 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on January 24, 2021, 02:43:12 pmIn that case, you probably need a mouse with extra buttons that AutoHotkey can 'see'. e.g. on a five button mouse, you could set up the mouse 'browse back' button as a modifier button to enable F1-F10 and 1-9,0 keys as hotkeys. If the mouse has extra buttons that can be programmed as keys, you'll have even more options.Personally I use a five button mouse withX-Mouse Button Controlfor application specific macros, as I don't actually need the extra flexibility of AutoHotKey*. I use 'Browse Back' as a modifier (shift) button so I can use all four remaining buttons + wheel up and down as hotkeys without loosing their original function. If I needed more for any particular application, I could set up 'Browse Forward' as another modifier for a total oftwelvetenmacros, though I normally map it simply to [Page Down] to facilitate reading web pages and documents.Edit: I'd loose a macro button to be the extra modifier.* I *USED* to use AutoHotkey to 'bind' Numpad 5 with Numlock off (normally a 'dead' key) to Excaliber RPN calculator, turning on numlock when it opened, and minimizing the calculator if I toggled numlock back off. However I spend less time on machines with full-sized keyboards nowadays so have had to give up that luxury.

author: JohnnyMalaria
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 03:28:07 pm
content: This?https://www.wasdkeyboards.com/code-v3-87-key-mechanical-keyboard-cherry-mx-clear.htmlalso on Amazon athttps://www.amazon.com/Code-87-Key-Illuminated-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B07MKSH5WX

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 04:22:03 pm
content: Thing to consider is, do you want a keyboard with a regular number of keys, and key combinations for macros (in that case, third-party software exists that can be used with any keyboard, although this is true that some do suck, so you have to find the right one - you can take a look at this:https://mediachance.com/multikeyboard/index.html), or would you like extra keys that can be assigned macros with a single key press?You can find keypads like this:https://www.amazon.com/Koolertron-Single-Handed-Programmable-Mechanical-Keyboard/dp/B076LZJ5JS/ref=pd_sbs_4?pd_rd_w=92Mb5&pf_rd_p=409c42e8-023e-4951-9f77-4c63073a4537&pf_rd_r=TPMX9J172RTNBMEYMCVS&pd_rd_r=cbd22d40-4d72-41e1-b815-bc4aa02b18d1&pd_rd_wg=ij78U&pd_rd_i=B076LZJ5JS&psc=1

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 04:24:15 pm
content: I'm not looking for a standard keyboard but a separate pad that can be dedicated. I have ordered a 9 key job off amazon as a starter.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 05:20:19 pm
content: Use any old keyboard and AutoHotKey.Some of the better mechanical keyboards (read Ducky, Durgod) have Fn keys which can be used as a meta key for any other key on the keyboard.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 05:25:55 pm
content: I'd rather have something that as suggested in the description of what I have bought I can move from machine to machine without installing stuff.

author: Jope
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 05:47:20 pm
content: Interesting topic. About two weeks ago, I've orderedthisfrom Aliexpress for exactly this purpose.What I'm planning to do is what Ian talked about. I will connect this PS/2 numpad to an MCU,which will itself act as a USB keyboard, and send function keys F13, F14, etc., which are not present on normal keyboards.On my PC I will use the already mentionedAutoHotkey(which I already use for application-specific shortcuts).

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 05:49:57 pm
content: golly, they still make PS2 stuff.

author: Jope
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 24, 2021, 05:55:18 pm
content: Quote from: Simon on January 24, 2021, 05:49:57 pmThankfully. It's very easy to interface with an MCU. For a USB keypad you would need a USB host on the MCU side.

author: Ranayna
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2021, 08:15:46 am
content: Quote from: Simon on January 24, 2021, 04:24:15 pmThis claims to be what you want:https://www.amazon.com/ELSRA-Programming-ControlPad-PK-2068-programmable/dp/B079BTFFQNEDIT: Related products for this on amazon shows a boatload of similar programable keypads, but most are significantly more expensive...Apparently all keys except Enter are programmable, and the programming is stored on the board itself.

author: jc101
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2021, 06:14:54 pm
content: These might do what you want, I've used them before with a Live Broadcast system. Pretty sure keys can be assigned to anything the local OS supports. You can set the icons on the keys too.You can also create folders from memory, where a couple of keys can be used to go into a subset of additional actions on a group of other keys.https://www.elgato.com/en/gaming/stream-deckhttps://www.amazon.co.uk/Elgato-Stream-Deck-Controller-customizable/dp/B07DYRS1WH?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1They come in various sizes.Got me thinking of getting one to program with all the shortcuts I can't remember in the various apps I use.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2021, 12:53:39 am
content: Quote from: Simon on January 24, 2021, 10:51:21 amIf you want to build your own, I can warmly recommendTeensy LCfor this. It has a native USB, so it willbea standard USB keyboard; no drivers needed anywhere, and it will work as-is with every operating system (that supports USB keyboards). Moreover, the Teensyduino add-on to Arduino hasUSB keyboardsupport built in, so all you need to do is write the logic for converting keypresses to HID events yourself. (That is, it haskeyboard.print()you can use to emit the keystroke macros.)As to the board, I do recommend the diode-per-key matrix form. I know many people dislike it, but it gives the extra robustness that I crave. I've even designed aTeensy LC button matrixwith up to 32 buttons and 9 pots, where each button or pot is wired (with actual wires, I mean) to the button itself, not sitting on the board. The schematic itself is trivial,Note that the resistors are there for "safety" (ensuring programming bugs won't burn the microcontroller I/O pins by effectively shorting VCC and GND).The reason for designing this is that such "keypads" are useful for e.g. game cabinets running Linux and some emulator like MAME. The hard part is finding buttons and their positioning that have the feel you like. I happen to like the feel of the standard 12×12mm tactile buttons with round or square hats (see myPro Micro clone Gamepad), but their placement is nontrivial.So, what I'd suggest, is making something like the above board, and then either 3D print or manipulate dead tree carcasses to make different "keyboards", for just holding the tactile buttons in place, with enough room to run their wires to the separate board. That way you can change the positioning of those buttons without having to make a new board for each one, by just 3D printing or chiseling a new button holder. (I can imagine, for example, that the cheapie 6mm×6mm tactile switches in two or three dense arcs would work better here, just left/right of your keyboard, the other side of your mouse/trackball. But I don't know for sure, and experimentation is needed to find out.)I can imagine also adding a couple of rotary encoders (EC11 or similar) or mouse wheels for horizontal/vertical scrolling or panning.Since Teensy LC uses 3.3V signaling, it can also directly interface to the small OLED displays (I recommend the128x32or128x64I2C ones using SSD1306 controllers (also from eBay/Banggood/etc.), so if you add a couple of "switch macro set" buttons, you could have multiple sets of macros the keys can emit, with the small OLED showing the macro set name. You can even add a "explain" button, so pressing it and any other button shows what macro that other button emits. (The Pro Micro clones typically run at 5V, but the small OLED displays really prefer 3.3V signaling. Teensy LC can only provide about 100mA at 3.3V for external devices, but these OLED displays consume under 35mA even when fully lit.)If you don't like Teensies, there are lots of other microcontrollers you can use instead; just pick one that has native USB. My reason for suggesting Teensy LC for this is because I know it works, is cheap, and is easy to program (due to Teensyduino support, especiallykeyboard.print()). I do not claim it is the best for this; just that even an uncle bumblefuck like me can easily make it work.If you don't want to build anything yourself, and instead want to buy something off the shelf, I wonder if an external touchpad – projected capacitive kind, like the Apple ones – might work. The idea is, you basically place a sheet of paper, or a transparency (with print in reverse on the underside), on top of the pad, to remind you of the button locations.You'd need to write a "driver" yourself for mapping the touchpad locations to buttons triggering macros, but at least in Linux that is trivial. I recently showed DiTBhoa skeleton of such an uinput daemon with virtual button support, but for a matrix of touchpad buttons, it would be even simpler. A companion program, say a Python3 Qt UI or C GTK+3 UI could provide an interface for changing the button grid and macros at run time, saving configurations as "sets" you could switch at any time.I can say that if anyone provided one (an external USB HID touchpad) for me, it'd be just a couple of days work of writing those programs and packaging them for e.g. Debian derivatives.I don't have Windows, though, and don't write Windows drivers or programs, though; but I do believe the same is possible there, too.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2021, 04:32:12 am
content: Another interesting option (at least in Linux) would be to get a keyboard with a trackpad, like Logitech K400plus,and instead of using the trackpad as a trackpad, use it as a touch/figure macro board.One could treat it as a 9-button keypad, but I think gestures/figures would be easier to recall (for me personally) than positions on a grid.Plus, the audio/multimedia buttons could instead be used to select between touchpad and macropad modes, providing a notification similar to e.g.notify-send -t 1000 -c device -i preferences-desktop-keyboard 'Macropad mode'notify-send -t 1000 -c device -i preferences-desktop-keyboard 'Trackpad mode'

author: andycsmith
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 26, 2021, 04:30:16 pm
content: Tryhttps://github.com/TaranVH/2nd-keyboard, Taran from Linus Tech Tips is an editor and likes to use keyboard macros and shortcuts to make his life easier.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 27, 2021, 08:07:17 pm
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 26, 2021, 12:53:39 amGood idea, I'm going to use this:https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/usb/keyboard/

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 05:25:27 am
content: Quote from: Simon on January 27, 2021, 08:07:17 pmJust make sure the board you use has native USB, not an FTDI etc. USB-Serial bridge.I have had good success with cheap eBay Pro Micro clones (see e.g. myPro Micro gamepad). In the Arduino environment, just remember to treat them as Arduino Leonardos, because they have the Leonardo bootloader.These clones are actually (and quite legally!) derived fromSparkFun Pro Micros(as opposed to from Arduino Pro, or from Arduino Micro), except that the clones use the Arduino Leonardo bootloader. Which is quite fine, actually. The ones I've bought off fleabay are surprisingly good boards for USB HID stuff, considering I've only paid about 4€ apiece for them.If you do something that seems to "brick" those clones (like accidentally compile and upload firmware intended for some other board), and you use Linux, worry not: as long as you can ground the RST pin, they're USB-reprogrammable. The timing is a bit tight, just a couple of seconds, which can be a bit frustrating. I use a scriptlet interposing hardware/tools/avr/bin/avrdude, so that it ignores the port chosen in the Arduino IDE, and instead waits until a Leonardo-like USB device appears, and redirects avrdude to use that. (I could modify the script so that it tells the user when to ground the RST pin, but otherwise is automagic, if anyone is interested.)

author: james_s
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 05:33:50 am
content: Quote from: Jope on January 24, 2021, 05:47:20 pmThat was exactly what I was going to suggest.If one was unable to find a PS/2 keyboard I don't think it would be very hard to replace the controller in any random keyboard with a microcontroller running custom firmware and have it spit out whatever you want in response to pressing a key.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 06:24:15 am
content: Quote from: Jope on January 24, 2021, 05:47:20 pmThe aforementioned Pro Micro clones are well suited for PS/2 stuff. You'll find Paul StoffregensPS2KeyboardArduino library (Github) useful. It includes details on hardware wiring, too.(I do believe it is possible to use pin 7 for the PS2 clock signal, since it is INT6; the problem is that in Arduino terms, it is the fifth interrupt – there is no INT4 or INT5, just INT0-INT4 (pins 3, 2, 0, 1) and INT6 (pin 7).)What I don't understand is why require AutoHotKey in the mix. The Arduino/Teensyduino Keyboard library can trivially generate the wanted key sequences directly. Even the Pro Micro clones have > 2000 bytes of RAM left over the support stuff, so you could use e.g. USB HID protocol – no OS drivers! – to maintain the key sequences, if you don't want to put them into Flash. The Pro Micro clones support 1,024 bytes of "EEPROM" using the ArduinoEEPROMlibrary, so you could make the macros persistent.

author: Ian.M
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 07:18:33 am
content: AutoHotkey makes it simple to auto-switch to different macro sets, depending on which application has focus. If you do the macro expansion on the MCU, there's no way of detecting the current application (without a helper daemon on the PC), so that's a last resort for locked-down PCs.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 07:44:34 am
content: Quote from: Ian.M on January 28, 2021, 07:18:33 amOh, now I understand! Yes, that makes sense.This is also a good example of why observing others' workflows is so informative. I personally was thinking in terms oftask-orientedmacros (when doing certain type of work, regardless of the application used), butapplication-specificmacros – albeit requiring an application like AutoHotKey or a custom daemon – are more robust, because they're always targeted to the correct application.It is also useful to understand the underlying USBkeyboard report format; in particular, that the modifier key status is passed along with every single report. This means that one can provide e.g. Shift+Ctrl+F13 keypress in a single report (followed by a release in the next report), without affecting the modifier state in other keyboards. It also means that pressing e.g. Shift on one keyboard does not need to affect other keyboards; it is completely up to the OS whether it mixes the state from different input devices or not. TheHID Usage Tables (PDF)section 10 contains the USB keyboard key codes; 0x68 (F13) - 0x73 (F24) seem particularly good choices for use with AutoHotKey.

author: Jope
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 09:50:40 am
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 28, 2021, 06:24:15 amBecause AutoHotKey cannot just replace a key with (an)other key(s), it can replace it depending on what window is currently on the top. I.e., depending on the program that is currently running, it will replace a certain key with other keys, and for another program it will replace it with another key sequence. AutoHotKey can also generate mouse movements, start programs, etc. Your external keyboard cannot do that. It will just send keys.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 10:23:04 am
content: Quote from: Jope on January 28, 2021, 09:50:40 amOf course it can.Even the Arduino/Teensyduino defaults support a combined Keyboard + Mouse + Joystick device, and have such an example.For example, if you have a trackpad with four buttons, it usually exposes two devices: one HID device with two buttons and the trackpad (as an absolute positioning device), and another HID device with the other two buttons. If you want, you can map keys to mouse scroll, or even to move the mouse cursor by a specific amount.What USB HID devices do not know, is what application is currently active. (You could use a normal unprivileged program, communicating via USB HID to the microcontroller, to maintain the macro set, or to consume the HID device events and map them to actions, including starting specific programs, bringing specific open program to the focus, et cetera. That way absolutely no OS level drivers are needed.)

author: Jope
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 10:53:22 am
content: Quote from: Nominal Animal on January 28, 2021, 10:23:04 amOr you could just use AutoHotKey, which is much more flexible and simpler to use.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 11:00:10 am
content: Quote from: Jope on January 28, 2021, 10:53:22 amIcannot, because I do not use Windows, and AutoHotKey is Windows-only.

author: bd139
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 12:10:32 pm
content: Use AutoKey instead

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2021, 12:24:28 pm
content: Quote from: bd139 on January 28, 2021, 12:10:32 pmNah, the neighborhood hobos type in what I tell them on a second keyboard for shots of hand sanitizer, it's much easier!

author: GodIsRealUnless DefinedInt
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 03:06:29 am
content: Quote from: Simon on January 24, 2021, 10:51:21 amIf You can stand ergonomics, the Software Engineers at worked turned me onto Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000. It has a macro editor (built into the MS Mouse and Keyboard Center), it already has remapped Function Keys which you have an extra key F-LOCK on the row so you can lock them between normal F keys and Remapped. You have a bunch of media keys including generic 1-5 keys you can map to anything you want. This is a programmers keyboard so if you are big into programming or development you can be sure to find someone with mod or support or something for it. With the macros you can have general macros and you can have app specific macros.I went through 7 years of mechanical keyboards and started getting wrist pain after a lifetime of never being bothered and the Ergonomic keyboard is such a lovely thing to type on for extended periods of time that I like using the computer again.I'm a big AutoHotKey user in the past though recently I only use it when I want to disable ALT-TAB, the WINDOWS KEY and other keys that will break me out of a program and kick me back to the desktop rudely.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 08:04:41 am
content: I'm going to make something with an Arduino. I just want a custom keypad.

author: GodIsRealUnless DefinedInt
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 05:55:06 pm
content: If you only want a custom keypad be sure to evaluate HID Macros (if Windows) once you got the hardware side finished.http://www.hidmacros.eu/The only macro software that out-of-the-box has the ability to take commands from a specific keyboard HID while ignoring another keyboard HID.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 06:38:51 pm
content: HID macro's is dead according to your link and replaced by luamacro's, the github page has a warning:QuoteThis is the circle i keep going in with any program. It's either not really supported or too complicated to bother with. I find it would be easier to make a keypad connected to an arduino that I can easily program to do what i want faster than I can fathom all this stuff out.

author: GodIsRealUnless DefinedInt
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 07:28:07 pm
content: This I understand, if your doing it for the educational side it's worth it. If you just want to solve an immediate need then 7 quid/$10 and software will solve it vs 3 times or 6 times the money invested in building your own hardware. Beware the hidden pitfalls, the same applications on different operating systems sometimes will have completely differing shortcuts to drive the menus or functions. You won't be able to necessarily move the HW solution as easily between devices and the corner cases can drive you bonkers at times.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 07:43:29 pm
content: I'm only really interested in windows. Cut, copy and paste are actually the same in linux and those are the only ones I use.

author: SparkyFX
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 07:50:43 pm
content: Gaming keyboards already come with software that automatically switches macros depending on application that has the focus. Logitech named as one example.For rolling your own on Windows have a look at eventghost for getting the context and having some feedback to your application.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 14, 2021, 07:55:34 pm
content: The problem with keyboards with customisable keys is that they don't have many keys. Plus I use the Dvorak layout which may be why the last off the shelf customizable keyboard I tried was a disaster although i had other issues with it. I have just found affordable Dvorak keyboards and want to try and keep it that way as it will work more easily than having to keep relabelling keys.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: February 17, 2021, 08:59:22 am
content: Mentioned earlier is the Stream Deck. I got one of those (the 15-key job) for the same reason as this topic. I have it set up so when I use Altium (which is the worst app for magic keys) it switches to the Altium set of keys. When I use other apps it uses those app-specific keysets, etc.I'd considered an add-on USB keypad but the problem there is you still need to remember what key does what. The Stream Deck is brill because each key is a tiny display, so for changing track width, say, it shows me a track with the width arrows and even says "Track width" in tiny letters. Don't need to remember what any key does.The downside is that it's expensive. Not so bad if you can justify it as a business tool. The other is that it is Windows 10 only and will refuse to even install on Windows 7. Fortunately, some kind chap has created a set of DLLs that circumvent Microsoft's attempt to lock out W7 (for that's what it is - there is no technical incompatibility) and it works very well indeed.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: February 17, 2021, 12:45:36 pm
content: Yea bit pricy

author: kjr18
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: March 05, 2021, 03:21:28 pm
content: A few days ago I made something like that, simple single analog output 3x4 keypad, connected to arduino pro micro clone, with use of some two libraries I managed to put some shortcuts, some multimedia control buttons (standard arduino usb support lacks multimedia keys support so I tried HID-project library and works fine). All of it because my current keyboard has multimedia keys on F10 to F12 so instead one key I have to press two. I put it in 3d printed case and everything works fine.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2021, 05:07:33 am
content: EastRising/buydisplay.com has5" capacitive multitouch panelsfor less than $9 USD. The active area is 109.6mm × 66.4mm, and the entire display overlay module is 115.20mm × 72.5mm. They also have different sizes of these, many with multitouch (5 or 10 points). The connector is tiny 6-pin FPC, but you can get the connector for < $0.20 USD; that way if a panel gets too scratched or whatever, you can just switch it.A normal display would pretty quickly get image burn. Instead of a display, one could use a stiff acrylic sheet beneath the touch panel, maybe two sheets sandwiching a printout describing the tool buttons. Or something like an acrylic sheet or 3D printed support and a2.7" e-Ink display modulecovering one half of a7" touch panel. In vertical orientation, you could use the upper area with the e-ink display as buttons, and the lower area as a gesture pad (or for scrolling/panning and zooming like I'd want). Or vice versa. I don't know the exact maximum current consumption of the FT5316-based capacitive touch panel, but I understand it is of the order of about 20 mA. The e-Ink display only needs on the order of 15 mA while updating. So, this is not particularly current-hungry.You still need an USB MCU, but I think Teensy LC/3.2/4.0 would be a good fit here, depending on what one already has available. The touch panels are standard i2c devices, with additional reset (output) and interrupt (input) pins; and the e-ink display uses a 3/4-wire SPI (with DI, DO, SCK, Data/Command, Chip Select, Reset, and Busy (input) pins).If someone is adept at designing boards, one could use a4.2" e-ink paneland that5" capacitive multitouch panelwith an Arduino-programmable ARM MCU, say an STM32L412 or an ATSAMD51J20 (just examples that have Arduino cores already implemented), crystal if needed for USB operation, a 5V-to-3.3V converter, and whatever voltages/support circuitry the e-ink panel needs, all on a single board with a USB 2.0 FS connector (or just pads to which to solder a scavenged USB cable). Might make an amazing DIY toolpad.

author: Simon
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: March 06, 2021, 08:00:33 am
content: Getting much more adventurous but yes a touch display does resolve the labelling issue as I was going to stick a basic character screen on it and have a row of buttons to select the program I am in so that keys can be set up for specific use minimising the overall need for more keys and making it ridiculous.

author: PlainName
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2021, 12:12:08 pm
content: QuoteAn LCD gets image burn?

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2021, 08:21:16 pm
content: Quote from: dunkemhigh on March 06, 2021, 12:12:08 pmIt's a term describing the uneven wear on the thin-film transistors and twisted nematic field effect cells when the potential across the cells stays static for a long time.The datasheet on these displays and modules explicitly describes it, calling it "image sticking" or "image ghosting". I may have used the wrong term, but this is the phenomenon I was referring to: if you were to use a specific image for a few months, then changing it may leave a "ghost" of the previous image, similar to "image burn" on CRT devices.I haven't observed it myself, but since the datasheets consistently have a chapter describing it, I assume it is real.(Edited to add: I believe it affects these tiny cells much more than larger cells, as obviously the volume of the cell and the size of the thin film transistor dictates how fast any degradation caused by a static field would yield a visible effect: physically, the molecules themselves do not degrade due to the static potential – if you were to simulate the effect, the results would not depend on the previous state – so it has something to do with impurities or manufacturing and such. On an 7 digit LCD display, the cell is easily a hundred to a thousand times larger, so one could expect a similarly visible effect to take a hundred to a thousand times longer to appear. Which should explain why e.g. Dave's experiment using a static voltage potential on the LCD display he had designed (with David) and had manufactured, did not show any degradation even after several weeks, if I recall the video correctly.)Quote from: 3roomlab on March 06, 2021, 12:21:55 pmI personally don't need a pure keypad, I want a trackpad of sorts for scrolling/panning and zooming (in various graphics and EDA applications). For me, the versatility of being able to switch between a toolpad and a scroll/pan/zoompad would be optimal. (I'm thinking of say three physical tactile buttons and a small 128x32 OLED display for switching between multiple toolpad modes – at least one of them being a mode controlled by an userspace application that auto-switches the mode depending on the currently active (input-grabbing) application.)I do have an MPR121 breakout board that is often used on such, and I know that a suitable number of electrodes and an electrode pattern can be used to create a nice projected capacitive touchpad (not only detecting touch, but also distance from the panel near the panel surface), but alas, such design is out of my current skill range; I'm only an uncle bumblefuck hobbyist, after all.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 06, 2021, 10:33:11 pm
content: BuyDisplay/EastRising also has a 4.3" panelwithan USB controller they offer for R'Pi users,4.3" 5-touch capacitive touchfor under $13 USD, that apparently doesn't need drivers at all even in Windows, so probably implements some very standard USB HID device.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2021, 01:49:53 pm
content: This kept bugging me, so I decided to order a 2.8" and 3.5" capacitive touch (FT62x6, two touch support, I2C with touch interrupt interface) panels. I don't want a large one, and while I'd prefer to have 3-point multitouch (for rotation; two for zoom and pan), I think two will suffice for my needs.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 14, 2021, 07:12:56 pm
content: Quote from: dunkemhigh on March 06, 2021, 12:12:08 pmYep. Definitely not all equal though.But I do have a lab power supply with an LCD display (with backlight) which has been used a lot on the same settings. It now has a very noticeable shadow on some pixel areas especially visible with the backlight. It doesn't make the display unusable at all, but it's definitely noticeable.

author: Nominal Animal
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 09, 2021, 02:48:47 pm
content: I just received a couple of two-touch capacitive touchscreens from Buydisplay (2.8" with FT6206and3.5" with FT6236), but I'm leaving for the frozen wastes of Hoth for at least a couple of weeks.The 3.5" one is almost as large as the touchpad on HP EliteBook 840 G4; the 2.8" one is about 3×4 fingertips.If one intends to have both buttons and a pan/zoom/scroll area, I think an even larger one, say4.3" with 5-touch FT5206would be even better. (The2.7" e-inkmodules are only a little bit taller (57.3mm × 38.2mm visible area, 70.4mm × 45mm physical) than the visible area of the 4.3" touch panel (95.6mm × 54.5mm), so two 2.7" units would cover the entire area, more or less. Or one unit for the button area, leaving the pan/zoom/scroll area without e-ink. Modularity for the win, methinks.