Hi, no TKL or 100% full-size layout has a spacebar as long as this and seems to have the longest spacebar by far. What kind of TKL is this? It only has 3 keys below the right shift which is the number of keys found in Apple’s keyboard layout usually (but Apple of course does not have a TKL and doesn’t do thick mechanical keyboards anymore which is unfortunate).
Thank you in advance.
God bless
It isn’t really the TKL, but this layout has a 7u (7 unit) spacebar and is called Tsangan layout. It is characterized by the 7u spacebar and the symmetrical key sizes one each side.
It is my preferred layout. I love the look, and if you do this bottom row on a 60% with split r-shift, you can use the right hand mod cluster in the bottom corner as arrow keys.
You just need a TKL PCB that supports this layout.
The layout in the photo is typically referred to as “Tsangan bottom row”
In the explanation below, the “u” refers to the number of units wide the keycap takes up. A standard keycap like “Q” or “K” is 1u or one unit wide.
This means the bottom row is a symmetrical layout:
1.5u | 1u | 1.5u | 7u | 1.5u | 1u | 1.5u
Hi, thanks, it’s sad no one uses this better layout with the full size keys not even 100% full-size ones from companies from the low-end to high-end (no name chinese, to mid-tier like the coolest sounding brand name in the industry Royal Kludge to the high-end like Nuphy), everybody crams a fourth key there which no one uses, except for Fn and Command, 3 is just right (even though alt almost not used as well). The fourth key is usually a menu, everybody uses the mouse for that. Most layouts are in a time when the mouse wasn’t that common and it’s mostly command line UI.
I hope they change to that layout as a standard coz’ the shift and right modifier keys are too short in say a 75% or a 96%.
Which companies by the way uses that TKL Tsangan layout or 100% full-size Tsangan layout that’s wireless and have at least white LEDs (light pass through the legends).
You are correct in thinking that there are no keyboards on the market that are this way. It is difficult to find these kinds of keyboards on retail sites like Aliexpress or Amazon.
The tsangan layout is mostly unique to the custom keyboard community, that generally run on the group buy (pre-order) model. Almost all of the custom keyboards that are TKL have this as an option. In all honesty, there are more out there than I could ever thoroughly list. Many of them do not have backlighting leds. Also, most of them have to be put together by soldering the switches into the PCB. You may, however, be able to pick up extras from previously run group buys or the after-market like reddit.com/r/mechmarket
The NovelkeysNK87 boards have this layout:
KDBFans MKI, MKII, and MKIII all have this layout if you choose WK (Winkey bottom row) Layout WK
https://kbdfans.com/collections/diy-kit/products/kbd8x-mkiii
The monokei standard has this layout, but I don’t think it has backlighting:
The RAMA U80 has backlighting and this layout. You will have to purchase it on the aftermarket, because it is no longer for sale.
The Mode Loop TKL is in Group Buy (pre order sales) currently. It doesn’t appear to have backlighting.
Luminkey80 is currently available. No backlight. If you choose WK it is Tsangan bottom row. If you choose WKL, it is Tsangan without the middle OS key, which is blocked off by the the top of the keyboard.
The QK80 checks all of your boxes. Tsangan bottom row with per key backlight options. This is mostly out of stock with only WKL options available, but you can probably buy on the after market.
The Freebird TKL has a few extras on different sites. No backlight though. You’ll want to choose WK option:
Protozoa Studios offers the funky Strata TKL in a few different colors. It can have a standard bottom row or Tsangan. No backlight.
There are hundreds of others that have run as group buy products on the custom market. Most of these require that you solder in the switches, but a few are hotswap, so it’s like putting together Lego. I’ll keep thinking about ones that may be OEM and more easily available.
Perhaps someone else on Keebtalk may know of a “off the shelf” Tsangan TKL?
Two more available now that support Tsangan are the Devastating TKL from CannonKeys, which now has a hotswap option (unsure if hotswap supports 7u or just the solder), and the Neo80.
