How do Computer Keyboards Work? 🤔⌨⌨🛠

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You probably use a computer keyboard for dozens of hours a week, but have you ever wondered what it looked like inside of them or how it worked? Also, what's the difference between a basic and a mechanical keyboard? And what makes that clicking sound? Well, in this video, we're diving into both basic keyboards and mechanical keyboards, so stick around!
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Table of Contents:
00:00 - Exploring Computer Keyboards
01:06 - Teardown of a Basic Computer Keyboard
02:09 - How do Basic Keyboards Work?
04:22 - Scanning Through the Computer Keyboard
06:21 - Sponsored Section
07:39 - Exploring Mechanical Keyboards
09:58 - Laptop Keyboards
10:32 - Outro
Key Branches from this video are: How does your Mouse know when you move it? How do Scroll Wheels Work? How does Computer Hardware Work?
Erratum:
Animation: Mike Radjabov
Script: Teddy Tablante
Twitter: @teddytablante
Modeling: Prakash Kakadiya
Voice Over: Phil Lee
Sound Design: www.drilu.mx
Sound Effects and Music Editor: David Pinete
Supervising Sound Editor and Mixer: Luis Huesca
Animation built using Blender 3.5.1 www.blender.org/
References:
A Beginner's Guide to Switches www.theremingoat.com/blog/beg...
Apple's Butterfly Keyboards vs. Scissor Switch Keyboards www.macrumors.com/guide/butte...
How Do Mechanical Keyboards Work: Guides to Pick the Right Switch fittingchairs.com/how-to/how-...
Wikipedia contributors. "Keyboard Matrix". "Keyboard Technology". "Computers". Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Visited May 10th 2022
#MechanicalKeyboard #Keyboard #Mechanical

[@darpax_]

I am a Computer Engineering Student, I wish this is how our professors visualize and teach us electronics

[@Tyvototuo]

Same

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for real i have the same wish 😟😟😪

[@addanametocontinue]

You realize these videos take a lot of skill and time to make. No way your average professor, even if really good as explaining things, is going to have the time nor skillset to produce such videos.

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Hey there fellow human with same pfp

[@MrTyty527]

@@addanametocontinue that's why we have this channel and we appreciate the collective effort!

[@killlinah]

The production level is amazing and yet very underrated

[@religionbuster7180]

it has 1.1m subscriber later this will have a million views. you dont even know what underrated means.

[@akhmadali5064]

how you can come with 'underrated' statement

[@coin777]

Underated is such overated word right now.

[@truck.-kun.]

Nothing's underrated. This will explode

[@custardtart1312]

Tired old cliche from someone who’s only just found the channel. Goon.

[@cedricbrun4241]

As always incredible level of animation, is it possible to make a behind the seat video where you explain how your animations are made, how long it takes etc. I think it would be really interesting for the audience.

[@innovativeadvertising6463]

Hey {{3}}, I totally agree with your suggestion! A behind-the-scenes video explaining the process of creating those incredible animations would be super interesting. It would give the audience a deeper understanding of the time and effort it takes to produce such high-quality content. I'm always fascinated by the creative aspects of technology. Keep up the great work! 💪🖥🎬

[@f.antonio1113]

I was scrooling to write the same commentary

[@WowYesWow]

Yes

[@PCBWay]

The editing and visuals in your videos are superb. Thank you for sharing such informative and high-quality content.

[@innovativeadvertising6463]

Hey there! Thanks for your comment. While I appreciate your positive feedback, I couldn't find any reference to keyboards in your comment. However, if you're interested in optimizing your desktop setup, a handy tool I recommend is the HOTO Compressed Air Capsule. It's a compact device that offers powerful vacuuming and blowing capabilities, perfect for keeping your keyboard and other areas clean. It's reasonably priced and has some great features. Check it out! 🛠⌨️

[@KKKYS_NIGA69]

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[@breadles_]

this is a really good explanation of how keyboards work. however, one thing to note is that mechanical keyboard clicks on clicky switches generally come from a click mechanism, not the contact between the metal leaves. this can best be demonstrated by using a key switch without a click mechanism, such as a linear switch. which will generally be much quieter than clicky switches. other than that, most of your information is correct. keep up the great work!

[@janivniv]

yeah, wanted to say the same thing :P if it were to be made from the metals then the sound would be much more metalic than plasticy

[@yurio3693]

Hi breadles

[@breadles_]

@@yurio3693 hi

[@ivanalaskevich4736]

In fact, a click creates a blow of a plastic cap on the upper face of a mechanical button. The sharper and stronger pressing, the louder this sound. If you press the button slowly, or do not push the keycap to the lowest position, the sound of this keyboard is much quieter. For "blue" mechanical buttons, an additional sound is created by the impact of… that white element on the bottom of the button. It is also enhanced by keycap. The sound of the membrane keyboard is muffled by rubber dome. There is no such thing in mechanical buttons, so the sound is stronger. If you put a rubber ring between the keycap and + thing on the button, the sound from pressing will also be quieter.

[@daniellewilson8527]

Thanks. I love learning

[@94D33M]

Could you suggest any silent keyboard that does not make any sound at all ?

[@ivanalaskevich4736]

@@94D33M Rather not, I'm not well versed in the keyboard market, I just know approximately how they work. And I'm not even sure that a 100% silent keyboard is exists, there will always be at least some noise from moving parts. All I can advise is to go to a real store and listen with your own ears, instead of believing ads like “Wow! This keyboard is really silent!”. . . . Although there are 2 more or less silent options ... but you obviously won't like them. "Laser keyboard" and a tablet with a virtual keyboard. There are no moving parts - nothing to make noise, but they are far from comfortable.

[@asdfsdfsadfasdfsf]

@@94D33M there are no silent kb that doesnt make any sound. the only nearest to silent is touch like on smartphone. or something like a laser keyboard but they are really not practical to use as daily keyboard. you only have 2 choices, membrane cheap and feels like trash. and mechanical kb with silent switch. but both are not really silent tho.

[@nikolay9584]

If you hit keys on membrane keyboard rather then press it is very loud. Trash cheap keyboard without metal base plate drums times louder then clicky Cherry MX Blue.

[@sharkieislive]

I am a CS student and this is really fascinating to watch 😄 I always thought how all these keys can be taken in account with such small amount of input lines ..the concept was matrices was amazing and inspiring

[@Steamrick]

Mind you, the input shown was the super-budget option that minimizes complexity. The tradeoff is that when you press more keys at once, there are combinations where the controller is unable to tell which and how many are pressed in total. More expensive keyboards will have different control layouts that allow for more keys to be pressed simultaneously.

[@user-ot1qi4mc3n]

Lovin the narration, and seeing the visuals and graphics improve from your first video is actually inspiring me to keep learning and get better.

[@Dinco422]

This video is so good. Explaining regular simple yet very complex stuff that basically everyone uses at these detailed explanations, is chefs kiss :)

[@xiaolong321]

You sir are a a real contributor of knowledge to the world. Your videos should be standard material in universities :) Complex topics explained in an easy, understandable and awesome visualized way! Keep on going, THIS is what youtube really needs, not the 1000th channel about some crap....

[@TechySkills]

donation and no comment? *OPERATION SWARM, DEPLOY*

[@Darsh0606]

@@TechySkills yeeee

[@supers.k9375]

🎉🎉🎉

[@MyB4llsHurt]

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[@oatmilk9918]

Wonderfully produced video as always, but there are some errors/incorrect definitions worth noting; 1:14: The 104 'keys' are actually 'keycaps'. 1:24: The rubber dome sheet isn't under the keys, it is the keys (the actuation mechanism). 1:41: At the start you mention the cost of wired office keyboard, but are now discussing a wireless one which isn't a big deal, but a little misleading. 2:24: I'd phrase it 'when the user presses down on the 'keycap' or 'when the key is pressed, the rubber dome collapses'. This is an issue of calling the keycap a key 5:23: (might be incorrect) Would have been good to explicity call this polling rate and give the frequency in Hz. 5:27: I could be wrong here, but scanning is constant. You can't start scanning when you detect a key because you need to be scanning to detect the key in the first place. 8:05: Not all of them click, but given the target audience this makes sense. 8:12: Ironically, you call these keycaps on the mechanical keyboard but not the membrane one. 8:16: An unfortunate side effect of using Cherry MX blues as the example switch is that this slider design is unique to click-jacket switches and isn't representative of linear, tactile, and other clicky switch designs. The slider in MX blues is more commonly called a 'click jacket' because it's separate from the blue stem and pole. 8:53: This is just incorrect. The leaves contacting each other is not the source of the clicking sound in any MX-style switch. The actual souce of the click is the click jacket hitting the bottom housing. The pole hitting the bottom housing creates that 'clack' sound. 9:04: You also actually never explained why this switch is tactile. The animation shows it, but it is not explained. 9:00: Again calling the keycap a 'key'. 9:11: The stem and slider in MX blues is actually separated to create hysteresis. What you described is travel distance to actuate the switch, which all MX-style mechanical switches have (typically around 2mm). 9:37: Eh, I would argue most rubber domes are more tactile than MX blues. 9:40: The keycap hitting the rubber dome isn't the source of tactility, the collapsing of the rubber dome is.

[@Matoakas]

This channel, that I only found out abt days ago, is amazing. Not only do you answer questions I've had, but also many I - by seeing your thumbnails - wasn't aware of I wanted answered. You do it in such a tremendous way as well! How easy you explain it, is paradoxically not easy. It takes skill to do that in the educational way as you do. Simple and straight to the point. Other than the sponsor section, no time is wasted on anything irrelevant to the content. To me, honestly, that is such a relief - to listen to something that is professional and entertaining, without any annoyance or irrelevancy. Real chill too, with the calm way it's explained. What's so impressive, I think, is you do it the same way in every video - no matter the topic. Many of which are complex. Still, whether it's graphic cards or lithium batteries, inside 30-ish minutes, you make it so anyone can understand it. So, respect! Great video! Great channel!

[@joaolucamendes5503]

This videos feels both like an orgasm to the brain by finally understanding all this tech to its finests details, and an orgasm to the eyes. Those animations are beautiful, smooth and so close to real... I can't believe people can access this for free...

[@alexdsdebasis]

i just amazed to see , what a marveous 3d editing ? how much efforts are inserted to make this topic cleareley understandable. Thank you for making such educational video for free .

[@The88Cheat]

I would love if you guys did a video like this that shows us how you make these kinds of videos. Like how you go from getting the physical item and how you break it down and model it on a computer. That would fascinating!

[@Duspende]

This is one of the few channels where I don't skip the sponsor segment. This is all super fascinating and I love to learn about whatever. Literally whatever. As long as it is in this format. Sent from my mechanical keyboard.

[@triadwarfare]

Whether you watch the sponsor segment or not, the creator still gets paid. Don't feel guilt in skipping sponsor segments.

[@lionheart657]

what took me half a term to learn the basics i learned in 10 minutes from this channel. Keep it up!

[@lucaslopes.0]

The amount of effort and quality dedicated to these videos is awesome, thank you!

[@najiibrashiidabdi5014]

This is the bst videos I've ever seen on KZbin they're so detailed and easily understood. Thank you @Branch Education

[@anixxx2]

Sorry to inform you, but the click mechanism explained is incorrect. The click in not produced by snapping of metal contact points of the leaf, but when the click jacket(white part below blue stem) strikes the bottom of the stem or the switch.

[@douggale5962]

It is fun to watch technical content that is so accurate and correct. I thought it was going to be a thing about the USB specification scan code map, the boot protocol, and report based keyboard class interfaces, but you did something better, less USB focused and more keyboards in general.

[@triadwarfare]

As someone who has a mechanical keyboard, his information about mechanical keyboard is incorrect and incomplete and I feel he should have done a bit more research since a lot of information about mech keyboards are out there since the pandemic, from Tahea Types and Switch & Click.

[@smohammadhn]

Animation level MASTERPIECE ... thanks to the production team

[@shinmentakez0]

I really appreciate this channel. It is too brilliant.

[@kairu_b]

The animation and explanation are so well-done.

[@maestro8766]

Oh my G! best tech youtube video watched in my 15+ years of usage. WHat a brilliant content!

[@bliglum]

Great vid! The renderings are excellent, very clear and easy to understand.

[@Marcus-vb8sm]

Quality of your work ever TOP [ information , animations and didatic ]...Brasil, Thanks!

[@headgasket_]

Love it. The voice is very calming and crystal clear. Videos are also top quality and very easy to understand. The modelling of all those components is very very interesting. I'd definitely love to watch how these videos are made from scratch.

[@Choshmeesh]

Thanks for existing, man. Love your videos.

[@devcybiko]

Good description. And there are side effects like ghosting and rollover that you've glossed over. The use of diodes to prevent ghosting. But the production values are very good and this is a great introduction to keyboard design.

[@greenfish1332]

I want to correct you at 8:15, the “slider” isn’t there on most switches and is mostly just a clicky [blue] switch thing and the slider and stem are one of the same on most switches. On clicky switches it’s commonly called a click jacket because it’s what makes that click sound. When the click jacket passes the tactical bump I’m pretty sure the contacts act like a leaf spring and slam the click jacket to the bottom of the switch thus making a click noise. The contacts also don’t make much noise on activation point if at all.

[@DebuMazumder]

You guys are the one of a kind and best in the world....a big support from India.

[@marko9413]

I think it might be useful to add that in 5:45 the voltage input on „row 6” goes down because „turning a column off” means connecting it directly to the ground thus making the current flow that way (cause there is only cable resistance there) rather then through higher resistent microcontroler - which explains 0V on row 6 input.

[@TirzaBoi]

there are more than 1 type of mechanical keys. -blue and brown: clicky/tactile, giving a bump and a click(blue is loud) -red and black: linear, smooth all the way(black is harder to press) -Etc

[@mafuukan]

Significant topic depth and top notch illustrations as always!

[@nesseihtgnay9419]

I can't wait for you guys to make a video for microprocessors, keep up the amazing animation. You guys deserve more views and subs.

[@dude3d]

I appreciate the effort on animation. And the explanation also very clear ❤️

[@noobff6890]

this video is very underrated im amazed by the minor knowledge you gave on every thing

[@hakier_]

Very well described. Thank you!

[@CuriousParrot]

Amazing breakdown of mechanical keyboard intricacies! Learned how an oscilloscope helps in reverse engineering the design. Can't wait to apply these insights into my own projects. Appreciate your clear explanations and the upcoming Keysight event info. Subscribed and excited for more deep dives into the tech that fuels our world!

[@BPhotography9]

Amazing video ❤❤❤❤❤, simply explaining the mechanism of keyboard. Keep up the good work. 😊

[@stevenallan5822]

Something we use everyday and just take it for granted. Nicely explained. Thanks.

[@jpraczbr8413]

Ah yes, mechanical keyboards, a very talked point on rhythm game communities since its said that mechanical keyboards can improve how you play not only for the more tactile feeling but also from higher pooling rates (the rate of the "pulses" that is talked about at 5:15).

[@adenosinetp10]

osuuuuuuuuuu

[@iFireender]

nope, polling rates is something different. Polling rate is on the USB side of things.

[@daniellewilson8527]

@@iFireender What is it.

[@Diskpartitional]

@@daniellewilson8527 The polling rate is how often the keyboard sends data to the computer, so response time can be faster. This can be hundreds or thousands of hertz.

[@iFireender]

@@daniellewilson8527 as @DiskPartition said, it's the USB side of things. Keyboards don't just send data as they get it, but they get asked by the computer x times a second, where x is the polling rate, "Hey, any new keypresses?" That has nothing to do with the switches of the keyboard, rather, just the control electronics.

[@hussainabbas1341]

The animation is amazing, thank you so much and keep going

[@din3lka]

wow, both of them work exactly as I thought. I'm really impressed with my mind

[@joeniemand9047]

I really enjoyed this video and shared it also. The voice is very comfortable to my ears. I wish there was more detail on the laptop keyboard also as that would have been helpful to a personal situation. I found the video animations to be extremely captivating. I'll go watch some more now for fun.

[@Metalrasputian]

This was an awesome video! I think one thing to note is the specific mechanic switch type you showed was a clicky switch, which is not the only design regime. There's generally two other mechanical designs (which are separate from new hall effect switches as well!) The slider present in these switches is separate from the stem as they're intended to "Bottom out" the slider separate from your key stem. That's used to create a tactile AND audible feedback for when the actuation occurs. Which is why typists prefer that switch. However, linear and tactile switches are different. The "slider" portion is actually a part of the stem, it's all one piece. For linear switches, this means there's no tactility aside from the stem bottom and topping out, so no feedback on when the leaf springs makes contact. This is because there is no valley in the stem's point of contact with the leaf spring. It just slides past the leaf spring smoothly. Tactile switches use the same valley to engage the leaf spring to give you a tactile indication of actuation but no audible "click" feedback, since it's all one piece and that slider doesn't slam into the bottom of the switch housing. Again, great video! The animations were superb.

[@dannyr055]

For some reason I always thought that all the computing to find out which key was pressed was done by the actual computer, thank you. Your videos are amazing

[@shahinrahman1459]

Incredible & detailed explanation. Thank you so much

[@creed404]

That keyboard matrix explanation is great and easy to understand thanks

[@MilkyasMarkos]

wow i am a freshman CS students and this is the type of explaining that I think would be perfect. thank you a lot. i will watch your other videos too

[@kanaipathak4426]

Excellent visuals. Thank you for putting together such a detailed explanation.

[@ahmadawad5855]

Started to watch this channel when I was a college student, now after 4 years, I'm an Engineer at Amazon and still watch this awesome videos. Whoever is behind this channel, you're exceptional :)

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What kinds of things are you working on?

[@UncleForHire]

"I'm an Engineer" 😁 "at Amazon" 😕

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​@@UncleForHire why "😕"?

[@Vuden13]

What kind of engineering?

[@user-pe4ug9od4i]

Fantastic work as always!

[@shubhamnath5119]

Awesome Video. Highly Appreciated 😊👍🏽

[@Bandrik]

Holy crap, your production value and attention to detail has skyrocketed. I imagine those 3d models take a while to build, let alone animate, but they make things so much easier to understand. Thank you!

[@mohammadabbas8511]

wow 🎉 This video is just the best never thought i would come across something like this, to enlighten me more on how keyboards works Keep the great job man much love❤

[@javierandreiotaku]

Man, I can't believe that I didnt find this channel before, this production level is incredible

[@Bigclover]

Very professional explanation 👏🏻

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Even the AD was interesting , great work! 👍👍👍

[@TheOnlyName]

So glad I found this channel!!

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Your animations are so clean. I look forward to your next video 👍🏼

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Beautifully done!

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This channel should have more subscribers. This is one of the best divulging channels on YT.

[@AnasAli_06]

Your videos are always easy to understand even if you're not from the engineering industry and just watching for the sake of knowledge

[@UnkleTurbo]

Thank you for the knowledge!

[@christopherdarling95]

Such an incredible and informative video! I have learned so much about computers from your videos!

[@orbik_fin]

I wish you'd gone into more detail about the mechanics of the rubber dome, like how its shape affects the hysteresis of the stress-strain curve, and thus the tactile feel. And the reason why discrete-switch (or "mechanical") keyboards became popular for playing games wasn't mentioned. It's that the cheap key matrix can't distinguish keys that form a right angle on it, and thus many 3-key combinations are blocked. This can be solved by including a diode on each cross point, but that's way more complicated than just mass producing printed plastic sheets. But for discrete switches they're just a cheap additional component.

[@infinnite4938]

i would love to learn tutorials on how these animations are made, for beginners, all in one!! beautiful!! and using blender! i wonder how much experience the animator has, and how much time it takes to make these videos, so us beginner animators can also have hope of carrying on and becoming as good as these people!! LOVELY, GREAT WORK

[@Eivraiiih]

the animation is Dope! Subscribed!

[@Dr_Larken]

As someone who uses a keyboard multiple times a day, this is awesome! This channel is truly underrated!

[@yazanjordan3103]

this channel is awesome thank you guys

[@BrilliantDesignOnline]

I am amazed at how accurately the L K270 keyboard is modeled. It is actually my daily driver I typed this with. And due to coffee spills, I have had it apart and rinsed it out so I know the internals well, and it still works. You can actually run the shell and the keys through the dishwasher and then let it dry out completely.

[@morkovija]

top shelf content right here. Thank you

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Thanks to our COA preethi mam for this link

[@heliosex7238]

Another great video! Thanks for taking the time to make it

[@guilherme5094]

Awesome! Thanks guys👍!

[@dbforeigner1438]

Honestly, Branch Education is one of the best channels on KZbin that I've ever found.

[@sumdude4]

Always love watching these videos. I already knew a good amount of it but it's always a nice refresher. Also When I saw that wireless keyboard I had a Leonardo pointing at screen meme moment. I have that same exact keyboard for my media center!

[@ouuuaburger2093]

Whoever is animating these videos, that dude is most genius, hardworking man on earth.

[@noahmwanza2703]

This is so fantastic and amazing.Thank you, very much for the content.

[@drxym]

I had to dismantle a Kawai electric piano recently to fix some keys and internally it's quite interesting. it's mechanical in the sense that the keys have weight and travel similar to a real piano but right at its core it's some silicone pads and contacts. So you push the key to overcome the weight and the force of the contact, presumably voltage over the contact is what translates into striking a note.

[@nickiogr]

Amazing work!

[@SirBSpecial]

Very good video. Good explained and everything but I missed the analog switches with light barriers in them and how the pcb works.

[@bluedeckelectronics]

Thank you for all your videos ! Great videos ! Great source of info !

[@whedon25]

Very informational love the animation and production always looking forward for the next video.

[@Convolutedtubules]

I'd love to see an episode about the plastic Vernier caliper. Thank you for this incredibly high quality educational content.

[@BariumCobaltNitrog3n]

@Bbccr3444 So cute when bots interact.

[@franckhebo4435]

Thanks you for this incredible beautiful explanation on keyboards. It is always a pleasure 🎉

[@TheBoomerBoss]

Animation and depth is amazing!

[@BartZeroSix]

I don't understand why there is only a few hundred thousands views on each video. This deserve so much more!

[@Chriss120]

the attention to detail on your videos always amazes me.

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Amazing 😍 keep this amazing work 👍👏

[@aguxxx16]

increible!!! muy bien explicado! me encantan estos videos

[@aseemaishwarya]

Thanks for satisfying my cravings for logic gates ❤

[@scottfranco1962]

I recently switched back to a mechanical keyboard. The feel of it is much better and I can type better with it. Professional tools for professionals. You also didn't discuss N-key rollover, which requires a diode on each key. This also makes a big difference in typing quality.

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Love your videos! Please do some networking - optic fibre, copper, ethernet, etc.

[@dil173]

your channel and power cert videos are my IT go to lessons.

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Great Video! 🎉🎉 Thank you! ❤

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Thanks for your hard work

[@vivaldi42]

An incredible video! Thanks!