Understanding Various Keyboards

[Whichmotherboard]

My keyboard is an A4Tech Bloody B760 which I've been using for years and for now I'm happy.

Browsing around I've seen various other keyboards from Corsair's K63 (around $100) and Razer's Huntsman Elite to $150 custom keyboards.

 

In terms of function/performance and not aesthetics, in what ways are those $100-$150 Keyboards better than the one I'm currently using?

[OhioYJ]

Peripherals are very subjective. It really comes down to what you like best. Some people prefer membrane keyboards, and that's fine too. Mechanical keyboards aren't automatically better. 

 

If you like what you have that's what I would keep using.

[Guest]

I am using the razer huntsman v2, I got mine for $160 a while ago but I think ive seen it for less.

 

I think its one of the best in terms of input latency and responsiveness if thats what you care about most. It works very well for games that require low input lag, like esports or anything else that requires fast/precise inputs.

 

I dont like that it tries to install its razer bloatware when you plug it in though, you can get around that easily though.

[rikitikitavi]

3 hours ago, Whichmotherboard said:

In terms of function/performance and not aesthetics, in what ways are those $100-$150 Keyboards better than the one I'm currently using?

- some kbs may have lower latency, but 'gaming' or 'super brand' doesn't guarantee that

- some kbs have more customization like reassigning keys, creating macros or completely rewriting its firmware

- some kbs have mechanical switches (similar to yours or completely different), some might have membrane

 

As for the specified keyboards, can't help you there, neither are my preference. For reference, I game on a wired Anne Pro 2, but work on ergo/customizable kbs.

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

9 hours ago, Whichmotherboard said:

In terms of function/performance and not aesthetics, in what ways are those $100-$150 Keyboards better than the one I'm currently using?

Could be things like latency and build-quality overall, but really it is hard to say without comparable tests of three keyboards, as the marketed specs tick all the boxes (e.g. super fast switch delays, 1000Hz polling etc.)

 

Actual latency is both hard to measure accurately, as well as hard to predict. I am far from an expert in this, but thinking about how a keyboard works you get:

• delay of the switch, i.e. a mechanical switch closing the circuit or an optical switch changing states. Should be reasonably short, but bad mechanical keys could have significant "bouncing" of the metal contacts, delaying a stable signal somewhat
• the controller on the keyboard needs to register the change in state. This means it needs to regularly check the state to begin with and also do a good job to account for this ominous bouncing
• said controller then needs to transmit this to the PC via USB, bluetooth, dongle
  • wire should be pretty fast, but especially bluetooth might add extra latency here

So with all of these in mind, some vendors might put more money into R&D and/or components to improve this for latency.

 

I would not that there are clearly diminishing returns, as a step from e.g. 30ms to 10ms might be more noticeable, than from 10ms to 3ms. So for the majority of people it will likely be similar to effective resolution (taking view distance into account) and refresh rate, where gains are hardly/not noticeable beyond a certain point.

 

Other big selling point could be firmware customization or extended support from the vendor in terms of repairs or extra switches, goodies in the box, wristrests, quality of materials, etc.

 

 

[Whichmotherboard]

2 minutes ago, GarlicDeliverySystem said:

Could be things like latency and build-quality overall, but really it is hard to say without comparable tests of three keyboards, as the marketed specs tick all the boxes (e.g. super fast switch delays, 1000Hz polling etc.)

 

Actual latency is both hard to measure accurately, as well as hard to predict. I am far from an expert in this, but thinking about how a keyboard works you get:

• delay of the switch, i.e. a mechanical switch closing the circuit or an optical switch changing states. Should be reasonably short, but bad mechanical keys could have significant "bouncing" of the metal contacts, delaying a stable signal somewhat
• the controller on the keyboard needs to register the change in state. This means it needs to regularly check the state to begin with and also do a good job to account for this ominous bouncing
• said controller then needs to transmit this to the PC via USB, bluetooth, dongle
  • wire should be pretty fast, but especially bluetooth might add extra latency here

So with all of these in mind, some vendors might put more money into R&D and/or components to improve this for latency.

 

I would not that there are clearly diminishing returns, as a step from e.g. 30ms to 10ms might be more noticeable, than from 10ms to 3ms. So for the majority of people it will likely be similar to effective resolution (taking view distance into account) and refresh rate, where gains are hardly/not noticeable beyond a certain point.

 

Other big selling point could be firmware customization or extended support from the vendor in terms of repairs or extra switches, goodies in the box, wristrests, quality of materials, etc.

 

 

the KB i used (B760) claims to have a 0.2 ms delay by using optical switches. So if nothing else, it is atleast on par or better than most KB under $50 price range?

[GarlicDeliverySystem]

1 minute ago, Whichmotherboard said:

the KB i used (B760) claims to have a 0.2 ms delay by using optical switches. So if nothing else, it is atleast on par or better than most KB under $50 price range?

It claims that, right, but does it really have that?

If you look carefully, the claim is only about the switch part, all the other parts (controller, connection) are not in there.

 

It is probably fast, but if you use it in bluetooth mode it is probably as fast as most other keyboards because that is the rate limiting step in this sequence of events.

 

As others stated: what is better in this context? I would not trust the advertised marketing specs here, because they never show how they measured these things or what they actually mean (some have at least some fine print)