Keyboard

From Saferpedia

The keyboard is an input hardware device attached to a computer. It is mostly shaped after the keyboard of the old typing machines using a certain buttons arrangement. The standard mostly used in placing buttons on a keyboard is QWERTY, where letters Q, W, E, R, T, Y are the first 6 letters from top to bottom, left to right.

Keyboard types

There are several types of keyboards used all over the world:

• Standard keyboards are alphanumeric keyboards with 101 or 104 keys;
• Laptop keyboards are very similar to standard keyboards only the number of keys is smaller and is possible that numeric keys to be missing;
• Multimedia keyboards have additional keys for access to music, web and other frequently used software;
• Special keyboards are small keyboards used for PDAs small laptops and others. These keyboards are usually placed in smaller spaces;

• Numeric keyboards contain only numeric characters, mathematics symbols, the decimal dot and possibly arrow keys;
• Chorded keyboards are the keyboards used by journalists in court to take notes. These keyboards already have the key combinations inserted so the typing can be faster;
• Software keyboard is actually a software displayed on the screen, just like a keyboard and the pressing of keys is realized by clicking on them with the mouse;

• Folding keyboards, flexible are keyboards constructed from a soft plastic or silicone and can be rolled or packed. They can be connected to mobile devices like smartphone, PDA, etc. and some are water proof;
• Projection keyboard / Laser realize a keyboard projection on a flat surface and use a camera or an infrared sensor to follow finger movement and will count as a key down when it "sees" the finger touching the projected image. For this type of keyboard is necessary to use a flat non-reflective surface;
• Keyboard with Optical Technology, also known as photo - optical or photo - electric keyboards, use light-emitting and optical sensors to detect pressed keys;
• Illuminated keyboards form inside, are keyboards especially used by gamers. They are used in dark places.

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