KEYBOARDS
MECHANICAL
EXPLAINED
M
echanical keyboards are well
established as the premium option
for PC buyers, but just what is
supposed to be so good about them and
which model is right for you? With all the
dozens of keyboard layouts, switch types,
keycaps and other extra features to consider,
the choice can seem overwhelming.
Thankfully, though, armed with just a few key
bits of information, you can much more easily
whittle down your options.
Membrane switches
So-called mechanical keyboards are
essentially those that use any sort of switch
underneath the key other than rubber dome
membrane switches. The latter are the
cheapest sort of keyboard switch that you’ll
find, and are used in the keyboards you can
buy for well under £10.
When the key is pressed, it pokes against a
little dome of rubber that in turn buckles and
presses against a thin sheet of plastic with a
circuit printed on it – the titular membrane.
The dome will then either connect two
parts of the circuit via a conductive pad on its
underside, or press one printed circuit sheet
against another to join the circuit. The dome
provides an initial resistance to being pressed
then collapses, providing a degree of tactile
feedback – you can feel when the dome gives- and it then acts as the spring to return the
key to its starting position.
It’s a clever system, and membrane
keyboards can be incredibly cheap to
manufacture, but generally, they suffer from
several major drawbacks. The first is that
having a little rubber dome that collapses
when pressed doesn’t make for a particularly
consistent feeling movement. In order to
produce keyboards at the scale required to
make them so cheap (most of the time), the
rubber domes aren’t manufactured to a high
tolerance, so the keys of a cheap keyboard
can feel inconsistent.
The second problem is that the switch
is required to bash down on the circuit
below it in order to register a press. This
means you always have to bottom out
the switch, requiring a certain amount of
force. In contrast, mechanical switches are
generally triggered before the key bottoms
out, allowing you to type with a lighter
action, although many users actively prefer
mechanical switches that are quite hard
to press.
EDWARD CHESTER TEACHES YOU ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT
MECHANICAL KEYBOARD SWITCHES
This requirement in turn means there’s
really only one type of feel to these sorts of
switches – an initial resistance then a mushy
release. Meanwhile, mechanical switches
can offer all sorts of different actions, from
smooth, light and linear, to stiff, tactile
and clicky.
The final major issue is that membrane
designs generally wear out much more
quickly than mechanical switches. The
contact pads tend to be very thin and wear
through quite quickly, while the rubber itself
can deteriorate. It’s not uncommon for a
rubber membrane keyboard to start to feel
a little unresponsive after just a few months,
and cheaper ones can be worn out after just
a couple of years. Mechanical switches solve
all these problems.Rubber dome membrane keyboards are cheap to
produce but their thin plastic sheets and rubber
domes wear out quicklyFEATURE / DEEP DIVE