Exploring Different Keyboard Sensing Technologies
lttlabs.com39 points by viraptor 7 days ago
39 points by viraptor 7 days ago
Does anyone know why alanlog optical switches never gained traction, but analog magnetic ones did? Sounds like optical ones should be cheaper to manufacture, with all the same benefits?
I believe that keys with optical switches are less reliable, being sensitive to things like sensor misalignment or dust.
I have not used any keyboard with optical switches, but several decades ago I have used keyboards with hall sensors, which had a superb quality and reliability, much better than anything that I have used later.
Sadly, I had to abandon the first keyboard that I have used with computers owned by me, which had Hall sensors, because it was not IBM PC compatible (its origin was in some DEC-compatible video terminal and I had used it with a Motorola MC68000 based PC, which I have replaced with a PC/AT clone, for which I had to use a compatible keyboard, of much lower quality).
Otherwise, I am certain that it would have remained perfectly functional until today, unlike the many keyboards that I had to replace since then, when too worn out.
I don't know how their switches worked, but the Wang 2200 terminals¹ that my father worked with had an interesting angle on tactile feedback; on each keypress a single chunky solenoid attached to it physically moved to give a satisfying "chunk" noise and vibration.
The idea presumably was to give solid mechanical feedback to professional typists used to the same from electromechanical typewriters throwing the type arm onto the platten.
Note this was late 70s/early 80s so I may be confusing/conflating it with other machines.
¹ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_2200#/media/File%3AWang22...
This was a fun read. Hall effect switches especially feel like they came out of nowhere in the last couple years, but seeing them broken down like this makes the hype make more sense.
Minor physics nitpick in the article "...and a gradually widening conductor lets the inductance increase proportionally with key travel instead of jumping abruptly as the metal traverses the field. As the key is pressed, more of the cone moves into the field produced by the coil, inducing eddy currents in the metal. Following Lenz’s law, those currents oppose the original field, which increases the coil’s effective inductance..."
L, the inductance, is reduced, not increased due to insertion of a conductor, unless the conductor is ferromagnetic. A non-ferromagnetic conductor will expel flux due to generated eddy currents, lowering flux-linkage, therefore L, assuming driving coil current is held at a steady rms magnitude.
Is the mechanical keyboard craze still going on?
At some point everyone was talking about / showing off their mech keyboard in developer scene. I don’t think I’ve seen much in recent years.
I myself went deep into that for a while. Got a couple of keyboards and now I have two Apple Magic Keyboards. Don’t even know where I stashed my mechanicals.
It's less as hyped as during covid, but it's definitely still going strong. Its a hobby/collector thing. Cheaper than cars/watches/audio collecting.
The foam has disappeared, but the enthusiasts are going on. While it's not a craze, I believe mechanical keyboard is still superior for longer writing sessions (Apple's and Logitech's scissor switch keyboards are pretty good, too).
Gamers are moving to hall effect switches because of the things they enable, but from what I have seen, some people are still building their keyboards, and people still use mechanical keyboards.
I'd love to continue use mine, too, but they are bit too noisy for my office, and I don't continue computers at home as much, anymore.
Another chilling effect is caused by the tariffs, because people can't get their keyboards or parts as easily anymore. I got mine from Kickstarter directly, but it's impossible for me now.
Various patents expired and now you can get excellent typing keyboards from China for $30-50. Basically everyone I know who types for a living has one.
Gamers have moved on to analog keyboards which are controversial because some of their features straddle the line into cheats. e.g. with an analog keyboards you can negate all inertia in Counter-Strike or do speed tricks in Trackmania not otherwise easily accessible to keyboard players.
Could you give examples of excellent typing keyboards from China for $30-50? Every mechanical keyboard I've owned eventually suffered from key chatter or inconsistent actuation.
In India, many brands are now offering low-cost mechanical keyboards. They were costly earlier but one can find super amazing one with 50% less cost now.
I absolutely love my UHK [1] split mech keyboard that I ordered from Hungary several years ago. It’s the only one I stuck with after trying some other popular ones. Other than being split, the keyboard layout is standard so it’s easy to adapt to.
It probably helps me avoid RSI. I keep an apple trackpad between the two splits, so I never use a mouse. And a microphone in the middle as well, you can guess why. I clamshell my MacBook and almost always work on a monitor. Besides ergonomics, the biggest benefit is the on-board programmability; it lets me define custom layers and macros so I can trigger complex window management, app switching, and IDE navigation with simple key combos.
[1] https://uhk.io/
They have become mainstream, so they are not special any more.
Even keyboards with what used to be enthusiast features, such as aluminium case, double-shot PBT keycaps, switch foam, plate foam, flex cuts, hot-swap, damping, etc. are available off-the-shelf at very reasonable prices now.
Mechanical keyboard is still a sensible choice. With the advent of cheap 3D printing and custom PCBs, there's now also a lively DIY community, especially for odd/split layouts. I don't think it's a craze. It's just a hobby.
It's still a craze but the people who want a nice keyboard to use daily found theirs and drifted away from the novelty/modding, I think.
I've used a HHKB Pro 2 since 2010 and it's still going strong. I have a replacement ready if/when it dies, but other than a shiny space bar it looks and feels like new.
> Is the mechanical keyboard craze still going on?
It depends on your definition of "craze".
Mechanical keyboards are more popular than ever, and became mainstream to the point where nowadays they are just considered keyboards. Even Logitech sells whole product lines of mechanical keyboards, and even has specialized lines of mechanical keyboards.
Also, multiple companies sell ergonomic keyboards that fall within the "craze" classification. Even if they don't ship with noisy switches, they are still in line with what mechanical keyboards were known for.
Nowadays even the pure mechanical keyboards have non-mechanical switches. Optical, magnetic, hall effect, etc. they ship in the standard cherry MX form factor. But aren't mechanical.
A few years ago you had blue switches, red switches, brown switches... You could count the types of switches with your fingers. Nowadays the offer is so vast that you can't keep track. Some companies even sell sample kits with an array of different types of switches for customers to try out. That's a relatively new development.
And do I need to mention the massive inflow of mechanical keyboards on offer from cheap Chinese manufacturers? We're not looking at 400€ mechanical keyboards, but 20€ mechanical keyboards.
The truth of the matter is that in the past you barely had any choice in keyboards. You could choose brand and color, but it was always the same keyboard. Anyone who wanted something beyond this pattern was drawn to mechanical keyboarss. Not today.
So, knowing this, do you think it is a "craze"?
Utilitarian device to type on became an object of obsessive consumption, collection, customization, showing off, fashion (RGB lighting, forced mechanical over scissor distinction even though many people prefer the latter, etc). Yeah of course it's a craze, without scare quotes.
The same gear obsession happened to the gaming mice world, but it was much tamer by comparison.
My general experience with Cherry style mechanical key switches is disappointment. In my almost 40 years of computing they are the only type of key switch that have consistently given me issue. I've owned at least five boards at this point with them, and they all eventually have issues.
They're like owning a sports car, you have to get used to opening them up and cleaning the contacts, desoldering switches, oiling stems. They're just too high maintenance.
I gave that life up when the P key stopped working on my WhiteFox mid outage and I had to frantically switch keyboards.
My daily driver for the last five years has been a rubber dome Sun Type 7. It has given me zero problems, no one complains about the noise, it's got that so ugly it's cool "retro chic" thing going even though I bought it new direct from Oracle.
I still have multiple IBM buckling spring boards from when I was a kid and none of them have ever given me an issue.
That's pretty interesting. My first mechanical keyboard (Logitech G710+ with genuine Cherry Brown switches) withstood daily bashing of 7+ years, and it still types like the first day. Considering I wrote a Ph.D. on that incl. code and manuscript, it has been used relatively heavily, mixed with some gaming.
I have two other 75% mechanical keyboards, but they are not used as much, and I can't give any feedback on their longevity, but high quality switches do endure from my experience.
On the other hand, I had quite a few top of the line Microsoft keyboards, which were built very well, but their stems wear down after some time, even though their membranes survive. They become a workout instead of being a work enabler, then they are given away.
I want a keyboard switch with a weight on the end of a lever, typewriter or piano style. Or some other mechanism whereby the resistance would be constant or even reverse-linear-ish (from gravity and momentum), not linear (from a spring). But as far as I know no such thing exists. :(
In the piano-/synth-keyboard world, this is accomplished by 'interlocked blades', consisting of two curved blades interconnected with notches for each key, allowing the curve of the pressure mechanism to be tuned according to the depth and scale of the notches.
Its always curious to me that this technology hasn't been adopted in the QWERTY keyboard field, although that may be due to patents .. as I understand it the piano keyboard manufacturers are very aggressive about protecting these patents, and its one of the reasons that all synth manufacturers get their keybed mechanisms from the same supplier (Fatar TP9S) .. though recent technology has moved on to use piezo-electric switches.
https://www.fatar.com/products/tp9s/
(Some other interesting details here: https://www.fatar.com/products/)
There do exist switches with an almost flat force-curve, but those I've seen have been very light. For example 30g Topre.
