Many keyboards support backlit keys by way of individual LEDs placed through or underneath the keyswitches. This feature is distinct from both the [RGB underglow](feature_rgblight.md) and [RGB matrix](feature_rgb_matrix.md) features as it usually allows for only a single colour per switch, though you can obviously install multiple different single coloured LEDs on a keyboard.
QMK is able to control the brightness of these LEDs by switching them on and off rapidly in a certain ratio, a technique known as *Pulse Width Modulation*, or PWM. By altering the duty cycle of the PWM signal, it creates the illusion of dimming.
The MCU can only supply so much current to its GPIO pins. Instead of powering the backlight directly from the MCU, the backlight pin is connected to a transistor or MOSFET that switches the power to the LEDs.
Most keyboards have backlighting enabled by default if they support it, but if it is not working for you, check that your `rules.mk` includes the following:
Most backlight circuits are driven by an N-channel MOSFET or NPN transistor. This means that to turn the transistor *on* and light the LEDs, you must drive the backlight pin, connected to the gate or base, *high*.
Sometimes, however, a P-channel MOSFET, or a PNP transistor is used. In this case, when the transistor is on, the pin is driven *low* instead.
This functionality is configured at the keyboard level with the `BACKLIGHT_ON_STATE` define.
When both timers are in use for Audio, the backlight PWM cannot use a hardware timer, and will instead be triggered during the matrix scan. In this case, breathing is not supported, and the backlight might flicker, because the PWM computation may not be called with enough timing precision.
When using the supported pins for backlighting, QMK will use a hardware timer configured to output a PWM signal. This timer will count up to `ICRx` (by default `0xFFFF`) before resetting to 0.
The desired brightness is calculated and stored in the `OCRxx` register. When the counter reaches this value, the backlight pin will go low, and is pulled high again when the counter resets.
In this way `OCRxx` essentially controls the duty cycle of the LEDs, and thus the brightness, where `0x0000` is completely off and `0xFFFF` is completely on.
The breathing effect is achieved by registering an interrupt handler for `TIMER1_OVF_vect` that is called whenever the counter resets, roughly 244 times per second.
In this handler, the value of an incrementing counter is mapped onto a precomputed brightness curve. To turn off breathing, the interrupt handler is simply disabled, and the brightness reset to the level stored in EEPROM.
When `BACKLIGHT_PIN` is not set to a hardware backlight pin, QMK will use a hardware timer configured to trigger software interrupts. This time will count up to `ICRx` (by default `0xFFFF`) before resetting to 0.
When resetting to 0, the CPU will fire an OVF (overflow) interrupt that will turn the LEDs on, starting the duty cycle.
The desired brightness is calculated and stored in the `OCRxx` register. When the counter reaches this value, the CPU will fire a Compare Output match interrupt, which will turn the LEDs off.
In this way `OCRxx` essentially controls the duty cycle of the LEDs, and thus the brightness, where `0x0000` is completely off and `0xFFFF` is completely on.
The breathing effect is the same as in the hardware PWM implementation.
While still in its early stages, ARM backlight support aims to eventually have feature parity with AVR. The `pwm` driver is configured by default, however the equivalent setting within `rules.mk` would be:
See the ST datasheet for your particular MCU to determine these values. Unless you are designing your own keyboard, you generally should not need to change them.
In this mode, PWM is "emulated" while running other keyboard tasks. It offers maximum hardware compatibility without extra platform configuration. The tradeoff is the backlight might jitter when the keyboard is busy. To enable, add this to your `rules.mk`:
In software PWM, it is possible to define multiple backlight pins, which will be turned on and off at the same time during the PWM duty cycle.
This feature allows to set, for instance, the Caps Lock LED's (or any other controllable LED) brightness at the same level as the other LEDs of the backlight. This is useful if you have mapped Control in place of Caps Lock and you need the Caps Lock LED to be part of the backlight instead of being activated when Caps Lock is on, as it is usually wired to a separate pin from the backlight.
If none of the above drivers apply to your board (for example, you are using a separate IC to control the backlight), you can implement a custom backlight driver using this simple API provided by QMK. To enable, add this to your `rules.mk`:
In this typical example, the backlight LEDs are all connected in parallel towards an N-channel MOSFET. Its gate pin is wired to one of the microcontroller's GPIO pins through a 470Ω resistor to avoid ringing.
A pulldown resistor is also placed between the gate pin and ground to keep it at a defined state when it is not otherwise being driven by the MCU.
The values of these resistors are not critical - see [this Electronics StackExchange question](https://electronics.stackexchange.com/q/68748) for more information.
