LEDs are extremely popular for their affordability, but they don't lack when it comes to serving as effective indicator lights, either. These lights also give off very little heat and are well-known for their long operating lives.

You can choose from a wide range of LED colors, too, including:

• Blue
• Green
• Red
• White
• Yellow

We can even offer different intensity levels. This is especially helpful if your equipment will be used outside, as sunlight can otherwise make it difficult to tell if switches on your custom keypad have been pressed or not

EL lamps rely on substances called phosphors, which convert electrical energy into light. This highly efficient process minimizes the amount of power required and any waste that would come about as a result of heat or infrared emissions. They also emit very uniform levels of backlighting.

Most companies choose EL lamps for their custom keypads when their backlit buttons won't be left on for long periods of time. That's because phosphors often decay with prolonged use. They also require a DC to AC inverter and don't support as many colors as LEDs.

Finally, there is fiber optic lighting to consider. Typically, this option consists of at least two layers of woven fiber-optic cloth that can emit light. At one end, fibers are bundled into a ferrule and connected to one or more sources of LED light.

Fiber optics are another cost-effective method of creating extremely uniform backlighting across an entire membrane keypad design. The very thin fibers involved are also conducive to all kinds of different design types.