Introducing PBS Profile
PBS Aperture Priority on a Satisfaction 75
What is PBS Profile?
Back in 2022, we started talking to matt3o about a new keycap profile he had designed called “Penguin Belly Slide” or PBS for short. You might know matt3o from the two keycap projects he’s already released - MT3 and MTNU - but PBS is different from these in that it’s a uniform profile - meaning every row has the same shape.
Uniform profile keycaps offer a ton of flexibility - since every row has the same shape, you can move keys to different rows. And when you’re using an ergonomic board, board with negative or low tilt, flat board, or tented board - uniform profiles usually provide the best typing feel. But uniform profiles are also great on your typical angled boards as well - most modern Apple keyboards and laptop keyboards use uniform profiles, as an example. And because each row is the same shape, you typically get a more uniform sound across the keyboard compared to sculpted caps.
The Uniform Profile of PBS
Matt3o’s goal with PBS was to create a uniform profile that everyone would enjoy typing on - could he make a DSA keycap, but better? In his words, “Uniform profile keycaps really need more attention and I do hope PBS will lead the keycap revolution.” And we believe that he’s achieved that with PBS!
PBS has a medium/low height, being a little more than 7mm at its tallest point. The surface of the keycap was optimized for ergonomics - the front and back of the cap are cylindrical, but the scoop is spherical. The end result is an extremely comfortable keycap that has a wide scooped contact area for your finger to rest on.
In comparison to other uniform keycap profiles, PBS’s finger contact area is larger than DSA’s. XDA is much flatter, and doesn’t offer much in the way of comfort. SA R3 is quite tall, which some people find hard to type on. And KAM is taller than PBS with a less pronounced scoop.
Comparison of uniform profiles
Material and Manufacturing
To bring PBS profile to life, with matt3o’s blessing, we decided to partner with Keyreative. Keyreative is known mostly for their KAM and KAT profiles - but have excellent technology and the capability to produce new keycaps. Over the past 6 months or so, matt3o, Keyreative, and our team have been refining the keycaps, and they’re finally ready!
The keycaps will be PBT material, and the side walls are 1.5mm thick. The end result is a great sounding keycap. Since the keycaps are PBT, and for maximum flexibility, we’ve also chosen to utilize dyesub on the keycaps. This allows keycap designers to use any legends they’d like to - they aren’t locked into a single typeface as with doubleshot keycaps. And both normal and reverse dyesub will be available. Using dyesub, MOQs are also not as high as with doubleshot, so we hope that more design options will be available.
Furthermore, choosing PBT dyesub helps make PBS profile more affordable - and we hope that this will encourage more people to try it out!
PBS Strawberry Milk on a Satisfaction 75
What’s Next?
Now that we have final samples of PBS caps, we’d love to share them with the world! Our first few sample sets are shipping to various different content creators, so hopefully you’ll be able to hear more opinions about it.
Next month, we hope to be able to sell blank PBS keycaps as in-stock sets. While they won’t have any printing, they’ll be aggressively priced so that it’s affordable for anyone to try the profile out. Later, we’ll be stocking a Black on Black set, so that those of you who prefer having legends can also try out PBS.
PBS Black on Black
And in late August, we plan on launching our first design via pre-order in collaboration with maxvoltar. He’s brought his MV Classic design to PBS, and we’re excited to get started with it! Kitting is still being finalized, but we’re planning on offering a traditional base kit along with one more tailored towards 40s/Ortho/Ergo boards. If you’re interested in this, please let us know by filling out this IC Form.
After that, we hope to launch more PBS sets with your help! We have PBS Aperture Priority from AkukoLabs, PBS Strawberry Milk, and PBS Galaxy all waiting to run after launch - but we're always looking for more!
Call for Designs and Vendors
Our intent for PBS isn’t to keep it to ourselves - we want anyone to be able to run their own PBS set. If you’re a vendor interested in running your own PBS set, or stocking some PBS blanks, please reach out to us!
And if you’re a designer who loves uniform profile caps - or would just like to design something for a great uniform profile, we’d love to hear from you too! PBS is already in Keyboard Render Kit 2 - so you can already start making renders of your upcoming designs. To get in touch and submit your design, check out the design submission form on our contact us page.
We really think matt3o hit it out of the park here with this profile, and that this is the best uniform profile on the market. We want to share it with everyone!
