logitech g19 tft display made in china

The G19 is probably the second most anticipated keyboard of all time, after the infamous Optimus Maximus. The inclusion of a separate full-color LCD screen (an update to its predecessor, the G15) was like geek candy, but the question secretly on everybody’s mind was “is it actually going to be useful?” And as it turns out… not really. Let’s explore that right off the bat so you don’t have to read the rest of this review.

Well, the screen has a few basic “channels.” YouTube, RSS Feed, song display, “my videos,” a clock, a performance monitor, a picture viewer, and a timer. Of these, the performance monitor is really the only useful one, because I can’t think of a reason you’d want or need to navigate YouTube or your pictures and videos via this tiny screen. The onlysituation I can think you’d do it is while in a full-screen app or game that doesn’t minimize or alt-tab well. The RSS reader is adequate, but only displays one story at a time. You’d really have to try hard to make use of this thing.

Where’s my bandwidth monitor for uTorrent? Where’s my ammo readout in Counter-Strike or my mini-map in Assassin’s Creed? Of course, it’s on the game and app developers to make that happen, but it’s on Logitech to press them on it. If Logitech is going to roll something like this out, they needed to roll out big or customers are going to see that they’re paying for a fantasy device.

So unfortunately, that’s the G19’s primary selling point, and it’s not very convincing. Maybe in a year there will be more support for it, or a touchscreen, or what have you, but at the moment it’s just not worth it. But what about the rest of the keyboard?

The G19 is, aside from the screen, a very competent keyboard. The keys are big, well-spaced, and have a pleasant resistance to them. They seem to project further from the base than other keyboards, but I have been using the very flat Lycosa for months, so that could just be a bad comparator. The backlighting is the best I’ve seen, and covers the entire rainbow; you can set colors to profiles so you know which you’re in. All illumination turns off with the touch of a button so you don’t have to fiddle with anything if you want a blackout while you watch a movie.

Like the G19’s predecessor, the G15, you’ve got macro keys on the left side and a hard profile switcher — work, play, movie editing, or what have you. Plus, like most gaming keyboards, it detects games you start and will automatically launch a macro/key profile. The macro editor worked well and I use it for blogging shortcuts (inserting image code, signatures, etc) and that sort of thing. I’m not a big macro user but if you are I think you’d enjoy this. The macro keys themselves (G1-G12) are easily available and organized into little blocks of four, excellent for finding without looking (the F-keys are also blocked, thank god).

So what we’ve got here is a failure to launch. The LCD screen has a lot of potential but is only used for mundane tasks which have no real reason to be on there, or at least don’t justify the cost. Other than that, it’s a great keyboard. I enjoy typing on it, the macros are handy and responsive, and everything works perfectly well. It’s just not worth dropping $200 on because it has a screen. Logitech makes great keyboards, and you’d be better off going with another one, at least until this one has adequate support from the community and industry.

Anyone who has paid attention to what Logitech has provided in keyboards over the years has always had an eye on their boards that come with an LCD screen. I remember when they first came out - even the idea of being able to see what the PC was doing, live right on your keyboard, always seemed like a great concept, even if the LCD technology then wasn"t exactly great. As the years went by, many users started developing add on applications to allow things like VOIP servers to show information, AID64 always had an app, as well as just about anything any gamer would think they could possibly need.

The one thing that had been holding back this whole idea with me was that the LCD screens were so limited. You could make bmp, logos and add them, or have information displayed on what looked like a large 1980"s wrist watch, but I was looking for something a little more. Well, technology has finally caught up with the designers, and let me say, the capabilities of the screen on the new G series keyboards from Logitech are really top notch. In the age of phones being capable of high definition video playback, it was just a matter of time before the LCD on these keyboards would be something to blow your mind.

Not only are you getting a proven gaming keyboard from a manufacturer that is in every store, and I would guess in almost every home, you are getting all of the perks that come along with the G series from Logitech. The one thing that sets the new Logitech G19s gaming keyboard apart from others in the G series that I have reviewed before is the LCD screen. It"s capable of displaying images, playing movies, updating RSS or POP3 email accounts, showing PC usage, and even a pizza timer and stopwatch to make sure your lap times are good and that you don"t burn dinner, all at the same time.

If this sort of tech all packed into a keyboard hasn"t piqued your interest in the slightest, you better check for a pulse, the Logitech G19s that we are about to see is just that cool.

The specifications given from Logitech are minimal at best. They cover the part number of the G19s, being 920-004985, but I found no issues with searching by its G19s naming. It then moves on to the limited three year warranty and then jumps right into the Windows compatibilities, the fact you need a free Hi-Speed USB port (USB 2.0+), and that you will need access to the Internet to obtain the drivers. On the right side it covers what you will find inside the box, and those are the keyboard, a palm rest, user documentation and the AC power adapter.

What they don"t tell you about the G19s is more of the important bits that I think buyers would want to know. Things like that it is made mostly of plastic, and has some accent components made of aluminum, or even the fact that the top of this keyboard is surrounded with metallic blue to dress up the keyboard a bit. They also don"t say a word about the rubber dome switches, or the fact that it offers wire management trails under the keyboard. The do not mention that this keyboard offers anti-ghosting with the 6-key rollover. The last thing I think should have been covered besides a mention of the obvious, the 50mm by 38mm LCD screen, is that the G19s also has a pair of pass-through USB 2.0 ports on the back.

What is going to freak a lot of potential buyers out right away is the pricing of the G19s. I know technology isn"t cheap, nor is the time you have to pay the programmers to make the LCD screen this functional. Currently it seems that even for the G510 the cost bottoms out to enter the G series at around $100, just to give a bit of perspective before I drop the bomb on you. I see listings at a few locations, as well as the ability to by direct from Logitech, but all of the pricing is set the same to a $199.99 price tag, when stock is ready to ship on May 7.

Already, I know $200 for a rubber dome switch keyboard is going to be hard for many to swallow, but hang tight as we delve deeper into what the G19s offers, before we make any final decisions.

All black is what Logitech colors the exterior of the packaging with. This allows for the naming to pop off the background on the left, and also is a nice backdrop for the split image of the keyboard.

The long thin edge the box was just propped up on has only the naming on one end and an image of the G19s with the screen working and the keys backlit.

On the back of the packaging, this is where you get introduced to the features of the G19s keyboard. They point out the game mode switch, macro keys, custom colors of the back lighting, and of course the LCD screen at the top of the keyboard.

Cutting a pair of anti-tamper stickers on the side, you can then open the box to see the bold blue used to surround the keyboard inside. As an added layer of protection, Logitech simply surrounds the board with a plastic liner to keep dust and scratches off the various plastic surfaces.

On the left side of the keyboard, with white painted accents surrounding the right side of them, Logitech offers 12 G-keys for adding macros to your gaming sessions.

Under the multi-media keys you get the basic set of nine command keys above the G19s name plaque, with grey arrows keys under that. The number pad is the standard layout of 17 keys.

Looking at the G19s from the side, you can see that the front edge of the keyboard is taller than the back of the keyboard, and leaves the key caps falling away from the rows in front of them.

In the back of the keyboard near where the dual cable comes out of the G19s, there are a pair of USB 2.0 ports to plug in your mouse and headset all right here so you have access to them, maybe even a great place to use a thumb drive, so you don"t have to reach to the PC.

The two meter, thick rubber cable that came out of the back of the G19s is bundled up in this image. At the ends of this dual cable there is a jack for AC power, along with the USB 2.0 connection, with a tag on it showing to install the drivers prior to connecting the keyboard.

On the underside of the keyboard you can see that Logitech offers plenty of cable management. There are two ways to enter the trails at the back of the board - they can cross to the center, and then be run through the various trails near the front edge.

Stepping back and flipping the G19s back over the correct way, you can see the full length palm rest fits well, is incorporated nicely, and looks as if it were all one piece when put together.

It was now time to power the G19s to have a look at how things worked. I got close up for this image due to the fact that the default blue that the back lighting was set to is very dim and tough to see with all of the photo lights on.

When the G19s is first plugged in, the LCD screen will show the above pair of logos, along with the Logitech name for about three seconds, as the system boots up.

Since the drivers are in prior to booting the keyboard, the first thing that shows up is that same list of applications you saw in the software, just displayed on the screen so that you can use the D-pad and cycle through the options.

There is also an image display app that allows you to search through the Pictures folder on the C drive and I just happened to have this image on the PC at the time. With all of the apps that have a search for something feature, you do have the ability via the software to redirect where the software is to look for that media.

Everything about the G19s is better than average on most of the features and outstanding with some. There are a couple, maybe a few reasons, that I wouldn"t find myself using this keyboard on a regular basis. After quite a bit of writing on this keyboard, the keys are laborious to use, even compared to my Cherry MX Green switches, it just wasn"t very pleasurable to use long term, as a typist first and gamer second. There is just an odd feeling to these keys, and I could almost hear my fingertips cry a little with every keystroke. The second thing I didn"t care for was the limited brightness of the backlighting of the keys. When using something like white or light blue, the room has to be pitch black to tell the difference between what appears to be light glowing from under them. The last thing that was sort of a pain was all of the cabling used with the G19s. The thick cable is hard to stay bent and out of the way, and you always need to consider the location of an extra power outlet at your desk to make everything work.

With my personal gripes out of the way, let us now move to the positives. Even if a bit dim, there is a fully customizable backlighting for the keys. There are plenty of G-keys to get you into trouble remembering what they all do. The keyboard offers three profiles, has onboard memory, and via the software, everything is pretty easy to use and figure out with just a few seconds of use. The bottom line with this keyboard is that to get basically the same without the LCD is going to cost you near $100 for a Logitech solution in the same G series. I realize technology is going to cost those who want access to it first, and with the G19s, what it offers including the LCD screen, the pricing is justified at $199.99, even if based on rubber dome switches.

I really do wish that Logitech will take this concept and design one step further, and I would go right out to a store and buy my own with my hard earned cash. Everything about the G19s is so high-end, not only with the basic features and software, but to actually be able to play movies, set timers, tap into YouTube for game tutorials. The only thing missing from this design to sell me on it whole heartedly is if it were to be based off the G710+, and I think in today"s market, a mechanical version is justified even if it were to cost a bit more.

In recent time, China domestic companies like BOE have overtaken LCD manufacturers from Korea and Japan. For the first three quarters of 2020, China LCD companies shipped 97.01 million square meters TFT LCD. And China"s LCD display manufacturers expect to grab 70% global LCD panel shipments very soon.

BOE started LCD manufacturing in 1994, and has grown into the largest LCD manufacturers in the world. Who has the 1st generation 10.5 TFT LCD production line. BOE"s LCD products are widely used in areas like TV, monitor, mobile phone, laptop computer etc.

TianMa Microelectronics is a professional LCD and LCM manufacturer. The company owns generation 4.5 TFT LCD production lines, mainly focuses on making medium to small size LCD product. TianMa works on consult, design and manufacturing of LCD display. Its LCDs are used in medical, instrument, telecommunication and auto industries.

TCL CSOT (TCL China Star Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd), established in November, 2009. TCL has six LCD panel production lines commissioned, providing panels and modules for TV and mobile products. The products range from large, small & medium display panel and touch modules.

Everdisplay Optronics (Shanghai) Co.,Ltd.(EDO) is a company dedicated to production of small-to-medium AMOLED display and research of next generation technology. The company currently has generation 4.5 OLED line.

Established in 1996, Topway is a high-tech enterprise specializing in the design and manufacturing of industrial LCD module. Topway"s TFT LCD displays are known worldwide for their flexible use, reliable quality and reliable support. More than 20 years expertise coupled with longevity of LCD modules make Topway a trustworthy partner for decades. CMRC (market research institution belonged to Statistics China before) named Topway one of the top 10 LCD manufactures in China.

Founded in 2006, K&D Technology makes TFT-LCM, touch screen, finger print recognition and backlight. Its products are used in smart phone, tablet computer, laptop computer and so on.

The Company engages in the R&D, manufacturing, and sale of LCD panels. It offers LCD panels for notebook computers, desktop computer monitors, LCD TV sets, vehicle-mounted IPC, consumer electronics products, mobile devices, tablet PCs, desktop PCs, and industrial displays.

Founded in 2008，Yunnan OLiGHTEK Opto-Electronic Technology Co.,Ltd. dedicated themselves to developing high definition AMOLED (Active Matrix-Organic Light Emitting Diode) technology and micro-displays.