Peripheral players look over, is the optical axis keyboard a mechanical keyboard?

With the popularity of e-sports games, players have higher and higher requirements for peripherals. After all, now there are not only requirements, but also conditions. It is not the era of the 90s when arcade halls insisted on using three buttons.

Playing games requires a better experience, not only good opponents and good teammates, but also good equipment. Whether it is MOBA type or FPS type e-sports, the proportion of keyboards is actually quite a lot. In MOBA games such as LOL, the keyboard is mainly used to release skills, so as to perform combos; while in the FPS type, many interactive operations still need to be performed through the keyboard, and more importantly, the position is mainly based on the keyboard.

A good keyboard is not only helpful for recording, but also more helpful for e-sports games that require high-speed response and accurate output signals. Many friends will choose a better mechanical keyboard as a game peripheral. So, is the optical axis mechanical keyboard considered a mechanical keyboard?

Friends who have used mechanical keyboards understand that each key of a mechanical keyboard is essentially a switch, just like the commonly used electrical switches in our daily life.

Through the animation of the cherry axis, we can clearly see its working principle and structure. Among them, the ABS part connected to the keycap is the shaft core. When we press the keycap with our fingers, the force acts on the shaft core. The movement of the shaft core pushes the deformation of the metal sheet to generate a signal, and the spring restores it.

The above three pictures are disassembled MX shafts. In the past, most of the shafts on the market were of this kind of MX structure, that is, similar to mx shafts. Among them, the two metal sheets inside the shaft body, the brass-colored one with a simple structure is the static piece, which is responsible for signal conduction; the red copper-colored one with a complex structure is the moving piece, which is "hit" by the shaft core to generate a signal of.

That is to say, the moving piece is beaten and makes a sound; the static piece just tells the circuit that the moving piece has been hit, so the signal is fed back to the device. You know, the keyboard is essentially an input device.

In essence, the traditional switch is a mechanical mechanical structure. Therefore, many people have doubts that the only mechanical axis that generates signals from this mechanical principle is the mechanical axis.

It's as if we're all used to calling every four-wheeled vehicle that travels a car, which is strictly wrong. Among the regular motor vehicles on the road, in addition to using gasoline as power, there are also diesel and natural gas. As early as the early 2000s, many taxis in Guangzhou chose to switch from oil to gas, and there were also many gas stations. Foreign countries also use ethanol or other fuels for driving. In essence, diesel vehicles, gasoline vehicles, and natural gas-powered vehicles are all internal combustion locomotives, and the essence is still the same.

Then, the words of new energy vehicles are complicated. There are pure electric vehicles, BYD's DMI model, Lixiang's extended-range model, and hydrogen energy vehicles under development.

Excluding the concept of hydrogen energy, new energy vehicles are now mainly driven by electricity. Whether it is hybrid or extended range, the essence is that chemical energy is converted into kinetic energy, and kinetic energy generates electric energy to drive the motor.

I don't care if you call it a dual-engine, DMI, or extended program. Do you have to go to a gas station to refuel in essence? After all, in this kind of hybrid power, the battery capacity is relatively small, and it can only solve short distances. As for the unplugged one, the only option is to go to the gas station, there is no other option.

Let's take a look at the controversial optical axis motion picture again. It is also pressed onto the axis core through the keycap, and the axis core moves from top to bottom.

Like new energy vehicles, our old gasoline car drivers can drive without additional learning (Tesla's single-pedal mode says otherwise). How the power is generated, whether it is two-stroke or four-stroke, or electric drive, these have nothing to do with the driver, we just need to drive safely. At least for an old driver like me who has been driving for 20 years, when I drive a Tesla, BYD, Leap, or AION, I just get in the car and drive according to my original driving habits.

Then why do you say that the optical axis is not the mechanical axis?

All accessories of the optical axis shaft body are different from the traditional axis in that there are two light-emitting originals with two pins each. Such originals replace the traditional bronze medals, which is the most direct improvement of the bloody hand!

The optical axis uses an infrared switch to replace the traditional metal switch, and uses the on-off of the optical signal to realize the button, so that there is no physical friction and other losses, and there is basically no possibility of damage!

Before the keycap is pressed, the light signal is blocked. After pressing, the same way is formed, so that the button function is realized

Due to the different structure, the stroke speed is only 0.2ms, and the life can reach 100 million times.

Is the optical axis a mechanical axis? Is the optical axis keyboard a mechanical keyboard? This is a controversy that has existed since the birth of the optical axis. In fact, strictly speaking, the optical axis keyboard can be classified as a mechanical keyboard, or not!

The working principle of the traditional mechanical switch is to make the internal spring contact when pressing the keyboard to achieve signal triggering, but its disadvantages are very significant, as long-term use will inevitably lead to oxidation and wear of the spring; The trigger method is no longer through the spring, but through the blocking and connection of infrared light. When pressing the keyboard, the internal infrared light that was originally blocked will be turned on, and then the signal input will be achieved. Therefore, there will be no oxidation of the traditional mechanical axis. And the problem of wear and tear, the lifespan is naturally much stronger. At present, the keystroke life of the optical axis has even reached 100 million times, and most of them are also waterproof and dustproof.

The feel of the first-generation optical axis is obviously different from that of the classic MX axis. There is no sense of paragraph, and it is also a bit soft. But Lightshaft's founder Raywing was quick to react. Starting from the second generation, the optical axis has added a hammer to produce a crisp sound. The rebound strength and the like are also adjusted through the spring.

To a certain extent, the feel of the second-generation optical switch is very close to that of the classic MX blue switch.

Key mechanical moving parts such as the shaft material, shaft structure, shaft guide rails, and shaft springs that constitute the core of the keystroke feel and keystroke sound still exist, and therefore still have the same feel and sound as a mechanical keyboard. Of course, different colors of the switch body, other feel is not the same, this is the same as the traditional mechanical switch. Therefore, it is not wrong to say that the optical axis can also be classified as a mechanical keyboard.

Therefore, the optical axis is still a mechanical keyboard.

So, what do you think?