I have tried a few keycap sets on my TKL board that is backlit with north facing red only LEDs. A black pudding set that was okay, but had top center legends, (oh so painfully common for shine thru caps) and a bad font with gappy shine through. It was not legible without a backlight, didn't look good with it, and I didn't like the generic profile much. I did some digging and I found most cheap shine through sets had similar issues. I tried a high contrast non shine-thru retro typewriter uniform cap set with a centered full height bold font and liked it well enough, but without shine through, my backlight was wasted, and I had visibility issues in the dark. Was I doomed to deal with poor shine through legends or else let my backlight go to waste? That's when I stumbled on this set. The green highlight key options were nice and were a subtle accent to the retro computer cream letters and grey modifier keys. The legends were top center on the function row and modifiers with a bold symmetrical mixed case font and symbols side by side at the top (rather than above/below) for good north facing shine-through and the letter keys were blessedly and properly top left. The cream/grey color scheme, oem profile with sharp index bars for F&J, and top left bold font, seemed properly retro in look and feel, and I hoped would work well on my cheap keeb. I was not disappointed. There are some minor gaps in the shine-thru here and there, but the font is bold and clear, and guess what... it's usable without the backlight in daytime conditions! The shine through material actually contrasts as the darker color on these light colored keys, (even the grey and green) making the legend visible with the backlight off. With it on, the oem key height allows for minimal glow around the keys ensuring the legend contrasts well. I actually turn down the backlight in dark conditions by about a third because the thin transmissive layer and bold top left font let alot of light through. These caps are legible and comfortable to use in all lighting conditions, and work epecially well on a north face backlit keeb. The PBT feels nice but is not super thick with a columnar stem and a 'ribbed' cross reinforcement to the bottom and sides of the thin transmissive layer inside the tall keys for a low frequency hollow 'clack' (a clawk?) sound that adds to the retro feel without being too loud. I finally found my happy middle ground of nice coloured retro feeling shine through caps that are legible and pleasant in multiple lighting conditions.
