A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout

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Keyboard

A computer keyboard is a peripheral modeled after the typewriter keyboard. Keyboards are designed for the input of text and characters and also to control the operation of a computer. more...

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Physically, computer keyboards are an arrangement of rectangular or near-rectangular buttons, or "keys". Keyboards typically have characters engraved or printed on the keys; in most cases, each press of a key corresponds to a single written symbol. However, to produce some symbols requires pressing and holding several keys simultaneously or in sequence; other keys do not produce any symbol, but instead affect the operation of the computer or the keyboard itself. See input method editor.

Roughly 50% of all keyboard keys produce letters, numbers or signs (characters). Other keys can produce actions when pressed, and other actions are available by the simultaneous pressing of more than one action key.

Designs

There exist a large number of different arrangements of symbols on keys. These different keyboard layouts arise because different people need easy access to different symbols; typically, this is because they are writing in different languages, but specialized keyboard layouts for mathematics, accounting, and computer programming also exist.

The number of keys on a keyboard varies from the original standard of 101 keys to the 104-key windows keyboards and all the way up to 130 keys or more, with many of the additional keys being symbol-less programmable keys that can simulate multiple such as starting a web browser or e-mail client. There also were "Internet keyboards," sold in America in the late 1990s, that replaced the function keys with pre-programmed internet shortcuts. Pressing the shortcut keys would launch a browser to go to that website.

Connection types

There are several different ways of connecting a keyboard which have evolved over the years. These include the standard AT (DIN-5) connector commonly found on pre-80486 motherboards, which was eventually replaced by the now common PS/2 or USB connection. Prior to the iMac line of systems, Apple Computer used ADB, a proprietary system, for its keyboard connector.

Alternatives

A standard keyboard is physically quite large, as each key must remain large enough to be easily pressed by fingers. Other types of keyboards have been proposed for small portable equipment where a standard keyboard is too large. One way to reduce the number of keys is to use chording, i.e. pressing several keys simultaneously. For example, the GKOS keyboard has been designed for small wireless devices. Other two-handed alternatives more akin to a game controller, such as the AlphaGrip, are also used as a way to input data and text. A relatively new type of keyboard, the I-Tech Virtual Laser Keyboard, works by projecting an image of a full size keyboard onto a surface. Sensors in the projection unit identify which key is being "pressed" and relay the signals to a computer or PDA.