Can IR devices' performance be improved by simply replacing IR leds?

Hello all..

I have this brand new wireless keyboard/mouse bundle that I got several years ago as a gift, but never used (tested them but decided to stick with the wired setup since I felt a small delay because of wireless transmission time).

I got them out now and I'd like to use them, and I'm wondering if I can improve the transmission time and make this delay shorter, with a small fix, like replacing the IR led on keyboard/mouse/receiver ??

Also, does replacing the IR led help with IR range?

So basically my point is, do you get any improvement JUST by replacing IR leds? or there has to be some change in the circuit, and what's feeding these leds?

Thanks in advance,

You got it several years ago? Technology in this field has improved much, it is not worth it. Give it to charity and buy a new set (as I do not know where you live or your personal situation, this may seem callous, I appologize). E

No, replacing the LED's wouldn't make any difference - if you want wireless then buy a more modern one, and try it in a shop first.

I've seen a few Chinese LED's of dubious origin work well when brand new but degrade rather quickly. I attributed a particular TV remote's loss of its range over a few years to this but never tried to fix it. I've also seen seven segment displays of similar origins lose their brightness after just six or eight or ten weeks of continuous operation. I wonder if an unused IR device would suffer from this malady though.

I was a dedicated wired man until recently and actually sold the almost unused but older wireless keyboard and mouse that came with my legacy gamer at a yard sale for $10. Their performance was just that disappointing. Now I'm using the Logitech Unifying devices and I'm quite happy. They still don't handle really rapid mouse click and key presses quite like a quality wired device but unless I'm playing games with them (their receiver, that is) connected to a USB 1.1 port, I rarely notice.

Ir peripherals are past. The new ones are the 2.4GHz tx and rx, and no noticeable delay. I play online games, with my wireless mouse. I have no delay whatsoever due to my mouse. And it's not very expensive nowadays. Even amount of clicks isn't dropped with my mouse, still high in dota -apm is always +-140 even when playing chilled

i usea realy cheap wireless mouse from argos (£5) with the laptop and its great!! i dont do many games though but i dont think it would have a problem with speed its just a dongle for usb and the mouse

Thank you all for your input..

I actually am using this temporally, which is why I kept it all this time.. as a back up. My main keys died on me, and I dusted this out til I get a new one.. but I was always wondering about if there is a simple way to improve IR signal in general, and I took it as a chance to ask about this.

To be fair, you don't really feel the delay unless you're maybe 1.5 - 2 meters away, or if batteries started to die. it does have bigger issues though.

@cachehiker I wasn't impressed with the IR signal since day one... it's not a new issue. that's why I decided to keep using my high end wired... plus I don't like to keep changing batteries.

If you used a transistor or a opto device to amplify the o/p of the ic sending codes to the led then you could switch an array of leds, maybe 3 or 4, this would increase your range but reduce battery life, all things weighed up maybe you'd better forget it.

dr pepper said:

If you used a transistor or a opto device to amplify the o/p of the ic sending codes to the led then you could switch an array of leds, maybe 3 or 4, this would increase your range but reduce battery life, all things weighed up maybe you'd better forget it.

Click to expand...

Presumably you haven't read his concerns with it? - it's over high latency, not range.

I read but obviously didnt get that latency was the issue, I got the impression range was the o/p's issue, oh well.

it was both latency and range...
and rf wireless IS the way to go...