If you’re an oldschool computer user, MX Blue switches may remind you of the clicky keyboards from the 1980’s. Some switches give strong tactile and audible feedback for keypresses, while others give almost none unless the key is pressed all the way in. Switches have different levels of force, measured in grams (g), needed to depress the key, as well as different levels of tactile feedback that they give. The most common switches are Blue, Green, Brown, Clear, Black, and Red. Nearly all mechanical keyboards use switches made by Cherry, and they are typically denoted by the color of the switch. When you feel the tactile feedback on a mechanical keyboard, you know you’ve registered a keypress on the computer.

For mechanical keyboards, there are different mechanical key switches that all feel different, and give different levels of tactile feedback. the membranes contacting each other that tells the computer when a key has been pressed.įor the most part, nearly all rubber-dome keyboards feel the same, and give little tactile feedback, that is, you don’t know how exactly how hard you have to press a key for it to register on your computer. The main difference between these types of keyboards, as you can tell, is the physical switch being depressed vs. Now, the difference between that and a mechanical keyboard, is that instead of a membrane being depressed, a key on a mechanical keyboard depresses a physical switch, and when that switch is pressed, a signal gets sent to the computer. When these membranes contact, the keyboard gets a signal that a key has been pressed and sends that information to the computer. The membrane is underneath each key, so when you press the key down, the membrane depresses and makes contact with another membrane on the base of the keyboard. Most keyboards you encounter nowadays are rubber-dome or membrane keyboards. What is a “mechanical” keyboard and what is different about it that sets it apart from the $10 keyboard that you’ve been using? How are different mechanical keyboards different? Should you buy one? Great questions, with somewhat tricky answers.

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