Tai-Hao TI series
 | |
| Manufacturer | Tai-Hao |
|---|---|
| Height profile | OEM |
| Surface profile | Cylindrical |
| Inscriptions | Double-shot, silkscreen printing, lasered |
| Material | ABS, PBT |
| Keycap mounts | Alps mount, Cherry MX mount |
TI series[1] is the best-known keycap series from Tai-Hao.
Contents
History
TI series is still in production, having been manufactured as far back as 1991 and possibly earlier. Focus Electronic was a customer, and these keycaps can be found on keyboards from many smaller manufacturers such as Oriental Tech.
A group buy was run in 2013 for full sets of US ANSI double-shot keycaps, with an additional group buy for 6.25-unit space bar keycaps. Since then, there has been at least one group buy (with ISO supported this time) and double-shot TI series keycaps are sold in various colour schemes by various online retailers.
Description
TI series is OEM profile. The plastic is thin; the dimensions vary but the side walls are around 1.0 mm or slightly thicker while the front and back walls are under 1.0 mm thick.
TI series is best known for its double-shot legends. The most distinctive characteristic of TI series double-shots is the large asterisk on the numeric keypad. The dollar sign does not have the vertical line going all the way through, and the shift keys each bear a medium-size wide open upwards arrow next to the word "Shift". The double-shot legends are distinctive, but the characteristics of the other legend methods are not well understood. TI series can be ordered blank, or with double-shot, lasered or silkscreen printed legends. Only laser charring has been confirmed observed to date, on a Tai-Hao TH-5539 keyboard.
The Windows key and menu key were not originally added to the double-shot tooling, resulting in the Focus FK-2001 using silkscreen printing for these keys. The Windows key was later introduced to the double-shot tooling as a 2×2 divided square to avoid trademark infringement, and was subsequently re-introduced as a variant of the Windows XP logo. The Windows 8/10 logo has not yet been included in the tooling, and the XP-like logo continues to be used.[2]
Traditionally, TI series has been made solely from ABS plastic. Since 2014, PBT has also been used, and both opaque and transparent legends are available. A modern style, partially symbolic, single-row legend set has been added for the purposes of backlighting and up-to-date aesthetics; this can be seen on the Input Club K-Type keyboard.[2]
TI vs DS03
UKF DS03 keycaps share the same typography including the large symbols on the numeric keypad, and have been mistaken for Tai-Hao TI series. Tai-Hao have confirmed that DS03 is not a Tai-Hao series, although they don't have information regarding the specific differences.[3] For the time being, the distinguishing factor is being taken to be the diagonal bracing not found in any verified Tai-Hao keycaps. Confirmed Tai-Hao keycaps are typically have slightly thicker sides, and the first shot grille tends to take the form of narrow vertical stripes, which is less common in UKF DS03.
Gallery
Vintage keycaps
1991/1992 keycaps from an Oriental Tech OK-100M (top) and 2013 group buy keycaps (bottom)
Underside view
1991/1992 keycaps fitted to a Dell AT102W; note the large symbols on the numeric keypad
Modern keycaps
The following keycaps are the original samples provided by Tai-Hao in January 2013 that led to the group buys later that year.
Some colours are slightly transparent and show the moulding through
Rear view of the keycaps
Bottom view showing the moulding process
2013 group buy
Assorted 2013 group buy keycaps
Complete keycap set from Tai-Hao
Red and green keycaps
References
- ↑ Correspondence from Tai-Hao, 2017-05-10
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Deskthority — K-Type Keyboard Pre-launch
- ↑ Correspondence with Tai-Hao up to 2017-09-25
