Have you ever wondered how your computer keyboard functions? It’s pretty likely most folks haven’t really given that a lot of thought. After all, the keyboard is one of the most basic parts of our computing experience- and compared to some other, more complicated segments of the system, it’s not really as complex, right?
Let’s find out.
The part of the keyboard most of you are intricately familiar with is the outer shell. This includes the plastic frame which is placed over the interior components, as well as the plastic shells clipped onto the actual keys. Usually, there are a few LEDs somewhere on the keyboard that indicate when Num Lock, Scroll Lock, and Caps Lock are active.
I’ll spare you any further details here, and assume by the fact that you’re capable of browsing the ‘net that you know how to use a keyboard- instead, let’s take a closer look at what happens when you type.
Underneath the key switches on the keyboard is a thin circuit board. This thin piece of electronics is covered with either key switches or sensors. When you press down on a key, the sensor will transmit an electronic signal to the central processor of your keyboard. The processor will, in turn, transmit that information through the connector cable to your motherboard.
Some keyboards may also include a backlight, typically installed below the circuit sheet/board, and even touch panels or special keys designed for particular programs or games. The firmware and processors of these models will generally look a bit different from your run of the mill systems, though at the end of the day, virtually all keyboards end up serving the same purpose- transmitting data from the user to the machine.
That’s pretty much all there is to it. Not as complicated as a graphics card or a stick of RAM, perhaps, but pretty cool just the same, right?
Image Credits: [Slippery Brick]
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“Central processor of your keyboard” may be somewhat excessive a term to use. As I understand it; it’s a CMOS chip with a network of NAND gates and Schmitt-triggers (Did I spell that right?) that serves to de-bounce the keys and collectively accumulate the keystrokes (Does that sound right?) so that there’s no need to have a wire for each key between the keyboard and the computer.