N-Key Rollover and Anti-ghosting for Keyboards as Fast As Possible
Techquickie
·Techquickie
·2015-05-07
·
901 words · ~4 min read
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key rollover often referred to as ghosting by the marketing Departments of
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keyboard manufacturers which by the way is an incorrect use of the term ghosting
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but we'll talk about that in a bit is a measure of how many key presses can be
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registered simultaneously by a keyboard
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it's represented using the format of X key rollover where X is the value that
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represents the number of keys that can be pressed simultaneously the max
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rollover rating a keyboard can have is n key rollover or nkro which signifies
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that every key on the keyboard can be pressed simultaneously and every single
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one of them will be registered by your computer now let's go back to ghosting
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for a second it has a few meanings nowadays traditionally and this is the
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proper definition ghosting refers to an extra third key press being registered
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on your computer as a result of two completely unrelated Keys being pressed
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simultaneously on your keyboard so you're typing away and you hit a and L
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at the same time and on your screen a l and
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I or some other third letter would pop
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up this is extremely rare on any type of
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modern keyboard so when you see anti- ghosting on the packaging for your new
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keyboard what the manufacturer is often referring to is a very weak three key
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rollover implementation that sometimes doesn't even cover the whole keyboard
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and offers only partial coverage on certain keys that users are likely to
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press together like W A and G for FPS
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Gamers typically this kind of anti- ghosting is only seen on inexpensive
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rubber Dome or membrane keyboards a quick side note here though guys is that
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if you want to test out what value of key rollover your keyboard actually has
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Microsoft of all people has an awesome tool to do so online there's a link in
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the video description so be sure to check that out now back to rollover it's
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not just membrane keyboards with shoddy implementations here even on mechanical
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keyboards until recently users were often surprised to find that full End
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Key rollover only worked on the dated PS2 connector with the USB interface
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only being capable of six key rollover which can register up to six letter keys
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and four modifiers at the same time which is why many hardcore mechanical
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keyboard fans have stuck with PS2 and why some mechanical keyboard
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manufacturers still include PS2 adapters in the packaging for their keyboards in
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recent years however new developments have allowed full End Key rollover to be
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functional over USB which is why companies like ducky and Corsair can
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offer it on their keyboards no matter which plug you're using so the astute
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among you might be asking yourselves by this point in the video is n key
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rollover even necessary I mean it's certainly cool you know and for geeks
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like me you know more technology is more better but outside of some very specific
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cases like programs that allow you to use your keyboard as a piano probably
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not in my personal experience including gaming word processing web browsing and
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Hardware testing I've yet to really feel like I needed to press more than and six
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letter keys and four mon fires all at the same time but let us know in the
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comments if you can think of some situations where it would be important
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to you like uh that time you wrote a letter with your
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face speaking of your face do you ever wake up in the morning reach for your
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razor and realize that it has turned into a rusty dangerous mess but you just
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shave with it anyway because you don't want to go to the trouble of going to a
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store finding an employee asking them to unlock the razors which are behind a you
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know an indestructible sheet of plexiglass cuz apparently no one in the
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adult world can be trusted to have access to sharp objects if so really
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Luke I already gave you some Dollar Shave Club razors and if you happen to
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not be luke then never worry about that hassle Again by subscribing to today's
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further explanation needed I hope anyway quit wasting your time and money on
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guys like the video if you liked it dislike it if you disliked it leave a comment letting me know if you have suggestions for future fastest Possible
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videos just like this one and as always don't forget to subscribe for more videos just like this