I have a lot of thoughts about the mechanical keyboard, and I can’t finish it in a while, so let’s divide it into several parts. As we all know, the most important thing about a mechanical keyboard is the axis, that is, the key switch. The axis determines the use experience, price and so on of the mechanical keyboard. The main part of today's introduction is several common axes.
Since we are going to talk about mechanical keyboards, let’s first talk about the types of keyboards. There are four main types of keyboards: mechanical structure keyboards, plastic film structure keyboards, conductive rubber keyboards, and non-contact electrostatic capacitor keyboards. Among them, the conductive rubber keyboard is similar to the handle of the Nintendo Famicom. It is a product that transitions from mechanical to film. The price of electrostatic capacitance keyboard is relatively rare.
Mechanical keyboard factory
Mechanical structure keyboards are actually very old. When I first came into contact with mechanical keyboards, I saw many people worshiping them, and even completely abandoned the most mainstream film structure. In fact, it is unnecessary. Be aware that mechanical keyboards are actually very old. It has been widely used as early as the 1980s. Therefore, the mechanical keyboard is actually very old. It is expensive and relatively difficult to manufacture and has a lot of noise. Therefore, it is gradually replaced by the thin-film technology with mature technology and low price. How to define a mechanical keyboard? Sound and feel are actually not the definition criteria. The so-called mechanical keyboard means that each key has a separate switch to control the closure. Usually we call this switch "axis".
Thin films are the mainstream today
Another common one is the film structure, which is the plastic film structure keyboard mentioned earlier. Because mechanical keyboards have many shortcomings and are not easy to popularize, membrane keyboards came into being, and we use almost all of them now. To decide whether a keyboard is made of thin film does not depend on the key components, but whether it is composed of 30% conductive film. The upper and lower layers are circuit layers, and the middle layer is an insulating layer. The transparent plastic film is very soft, and the cost is low. The technology is not complicated. deeply loved by consumers,
The white protrusions on the membrane keyboard are the rubber contacts, which are also part of the key assembly. There are some membrane keyboard keys that use mechanical components, which can be mistaken for mechanical, but they are rare these days.
There is no absolute strength or weakness between mechanical keyboards and membrane keyboards. On the surface, the membrane keyboard is more advanced, with low noise, anti-manufacture, and suitable for various environments. There are no more than two reasons why mechanical keyboards are popular in recent years: firstly, the main hardware such as CPU, graphics card, and memory is what you pay for, and more spending will bring high performance. These hardware usually have unified standards and the gap is not too big. In order to achieve a strong sense of self-satisfaction, players can only turn their attention to peripheral products. The retro technology of mechanical keyboard looks more elegant, so it is naturally one of the choices. Furthermore, the mechanical keyboard shafts are separated to form a separate concept, and their manufacturing and production are occupied by a few factories, and the quality and types are controlled. Therefore, there are very few fakes in mechanical keyboards, so it is easier to be trusted by consumers. . Consumers have demand and manufacturers naturally follow up, and the current market has been formed under the influence of all parties.
In short, the mechanical keyboard is different but there is no need to raise it to a certain height. Everyone has different needs and preferences. The mechanical keyboard has a unique feel and the membrane keyboard is affordable and easy to use. Despite the gratifying growth of the former in recent years, film is currently or will be the absolute mainstream for a long time to come.
