Black Color PCB Board is More Premium?
Who is high-end electronics in the heart of the black PCB when? Yet, this is not an unusual phenomenon in modern times when we take an overview of the current motherboard designs from many mainstream manufacturers such as Apple, Asus, MSI, and more. Black could, in fact, have also be a premium parameter, to some PCB manufacturers.
Then we should really clear in fact black PCB is high-end PCB like everyone thinks. And that is exactly the case we are going to address today.
So first, let us clarify the solder mask.
Solder mask is the colored ink that is printed directly to the copper foil of the printed circuit board, in the case of IPDs. Common colors include green, red, yellow, blue, purple, white, and black, with green being the most commonly used.
The role of solder mask:
Tracks may not be physically disconnected
Avoid bridge connection to make short circuit during soldering
Only weld what needs to be welded to avoid wasting
Reduce copper ion pollution
Insulation damages and corrosion caused by dust and moisture caused by external environment
It provides high insulation to boost the circuit density
High-end product = a black PCB board?
The reality is that the only thing that distinguishes black PCB, green PCB and blue PCB and yellow PCB is the color of solder resist paint. As long as PCB design and producing processes are identical, there is no performance difference whatsoever. Note, for example, those big brands at the mother’s station do not choose black PCBs from the beginning: until the native iPhone 4, Apple’s product’s mother’s mother was blue. But the black PCB definitely has some obvious drawbacks.
Low surface resolution. Under the situation of lack of light source, the road on black PCB surface is difficult to distinguish.● This brings trouble to factory visual inspection and also it’s a headache for DIY makers.
That is very true, any little stain or scratch is going to show up on a black PCB assuming it isn’t at glossy finish. To compound ugly, black PCB sinks tend to stain with being transported and improperly stowed.
Black pigments are somewhat more toxic. Green inks are cheaper than black inks, but its more toxic because of the composition. And for the PCB manufacturers, they face more complex wastewater treatment needs.
So, what is with these behemoths using black PCBs?
Anti-plagiarism. It could be counter-pirated somewhere because black PCB traces are not easy to visually set apart.
Better visual experience. That black is frequently a synonym for luxury. In the automotive field, the black shape can, to the greatest extent, make its line design extend, and it appears calm. And now this aesthetic is being invoked in the electronic world.
A shell or coat of panels or a matching. Their front panel design looks more preferable with the black PCBs as PCBs have been commonly paired with a black case or chassis.
Cater to user preferences. Black, blue and green are still the most favorite PCB colors to be used by users according to a survey held by the forum, and it is not only color theory having an effect but also the increasing utilization of black PCB design by giants. The user support of purple, yellow and red is low is also worth noting, this is also because the top three products are mostly concentrated in the low-end product line.
Black PCB 101: Clearing common misunderstandings
The so-called black PCB, whether it is black PCB manufacture will increase bad rate?
The black PCB is not a rare application, especially in the premise that most of the PCB factories have automatic detection equipment such as AOI or even X-ray. If a black PCB will greatly increase a factory’s bad rate, it really is contentious whether there is a factory that can produce good quality PCB board.
Black PCBs likely indicate that they have confidence in their RD department and product quality?
Big brands have mature RD department, and black PCBs are seldom inspected and repaired manually. It does not matter to them which PCB color it is. For some of its DIY makers, it is merely hard.
or Black PCB disperse heat better so they are more used?
According to the classical law of radiation of physics, black is a good heat sink, but black can also absorb high heat, which will become a hidden danger in manufacturing and use. We never pick a PCB by its color when we are designing a product, according to its thermal dissipation potential considerations. But if there is a high heat dissipation request, such as high-power LED products, requiring high termal conductivity, metalcore PCBs or ceramic PCBs will be the optimal choices in such cases.
Q2- Why is the default option for all PCB factories green
It should be noted that green is less irritating to eyes. Since we were children, teachers told us that green is good for the eyes, protects the eyes, resists fatigue. Even production and maintenance personnel have no eye fatigue when observing the PCB board for a long time, and less damage to the eyes.
Low cost. 1、Because of the determinate tendency of the producing procedure, the demand quantity of green paint is many times larger than that of other paint, and the cost of procuring green paint is lower than that of other color paints in all time.
First and foremost PCB that will have placed components must go through a correct pick-n-place machine and both of these must be optically positioned and calibrated after soldering the circuit board and AOI elements. A green background gives the instrument a better recognition effect.
In conclusion
Bottom line: black PCB, green PCB or red PCB, does not matter. Then, assuming that the user feeling is the king, the black PCB is beautiful. Other than this, if the PCB is contained in the interior only, color will not matter either green is likely the standard if not.
reference from IPC