The commonly used ordinary keyboard is also called a membrane keyboard. The main differences from a mechanical keyboard are:
1. The workmanship and materials are different.
The mechanical keyboard has a precise structure and is much more difficult to process than a membrane keyboard. In particular, in order to ensure good signal transmission, gold contacts are used inside the mechanical shaft, which greatly increases the manufacturing cost.
Coupled with the use of high-end materials such as POM and PBT to make keys, as well as excellent designs such as no conflict, the price of mechanical keyboards is much higher than that of membrane keyboards.
In order to control costs, membrane keyboards are usually made of plastics such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and polycarbonate (PC), which are much worse than mechanical hard drives and their service life is not as good as mechanical hard drives.
2. The architectural principles are different.
Underneath the mechanical keyboard is a circuit board. The basic structures of the two different keyboards are different. The difference in structure will directly lead to differences in some basic attributes, the first of which is the feel. Membrane keyboards are not pressed down, in fact they are pressed down, but mechanical keyboards are pressed down.
The characteristic of a mechanical keyboard is that each key of it is a separate switch, also called a shaft. Due to the existence of mechanical shafts, mechanical keyboards are generally very heavy, but in terms of feel It also has advantages that membrane keyboards cannot match and can meet the needs of different players.
Because the shafts can be replaced, different types of shafts have different performance and feel, which makes the mechanical keyboard’s DIY capabilities outstanding. Players can replace different types of shafts according to their own needs, which has attracted many enthusiasts.
Underneath the membrane keyboard is the structure of the membrane. The keys of the membrane keyboard can be divided into two structures: crater and scissor-foot (X structure). The crater structure is the most commonly used design in keyboards. The membrane of a membrane keyboard cannot be replaced and is far less flexible than a mechanical keyboard.
The scissor-leg structure has the advantages of low keys, taking up less space, and even stress. However, due to its complicated structure and slightly higher cost, it was first only used on laptops and has only been used on desktop computers in recent years. application on the computer keyboard.
Different from the crater structure, the scissor-foot structure supports the keys from the four corners, so its keys are more stable and the force is even. Although the key travel is shortened accordingly, the feel is better It's pretty good in terms of performance, and the mute effect is even better.
3. The key conflicts are different.
Due to the different structures under the keycaps, mechanical keyboards can achieve at least 6 keys without conflict. A good mechanical keyboard can even achieve no conflict with all keys. This is most obvious when playing games. Mechanical keyboards will also feel much easier for workers such as typing, typing, and documenting.
The ordinary membrane keyboard is obviously inferior to the mechanical keyboard in terms of key conflict. The ordinary membrane keyboard can only achieve 2 or 3 keys without conflict. Therefore, professional e-sports players will not choose membrane keyboards.
Extended source of information: Baidu Encyclopedia - Membrane Keyboard
Extended source of information: Baidu Encyclopedia - Mechanical Keyboard