7 Things You Must Know About Rubber Membrane Keypad

Rubber membrane keypad with a high resource and clear operation when pressed. Many models are quite noisy, and not everyone is comfortable with long-travel keys. However, it was these models that showed themselves best in games.

Also on sale you can find a scissor mechanism with a small stroke and quiet operation. They consider convenient for work, but are more expensive than membrane ones.

In the near future, an optical keypad expects to release, in which each button is an optical sensor that trigger when the beam interrupt.

Button layout of rubber membrane keypad

The letters on the rubber membrane keypad place as standard, but the control buttons can interchange, have different sizes, or simply be absent. Pay attention to how the keys locate on the previous keypad and pick up a similar one. Then you don’t have to relearn and get nervous because of the unusual layout.

Separately, you should pay attention to the distance between the buttons. If they locate close, mistakes will occur more often when typing. In addition, there is a high risk of pressing two keys at the same time.

Button markings on other membrane keypad

Erased letters on the keys are the most common reason for changing the keypad. Therefore, when choosing a rubber membrane keypad, pay attention to the technology of marking. For ease of perception, we arrange them by cost and durability:

• painting;
• thermal printing;
• laser application;
• engraving,
• multilayer casting.

There are other options – sublimation, silk-screen printing, as well as varieties of laser marking: foaming (on black keypads), charring (on white ones).

Key Height based on personal comfort and preference

Button heights are:

• High – convenient for games and consider the most common.
• Low keys – comfortable if you have to type a lot of text.
• There is also an intermediate option with an average button height.

The height of the buttons should also be chosen based on personal comfort and preference. If you’re comfortable typing on tall buttons, don’t change your habits.

The presence of a digital block on rubber membrane keypad

Numeric keypad provides comfort when working with numbers and texts. If the computer is common for surfing the net or as a multimedia center, the digital block can neglect.

If you really liked the keypad without a numeric keypad, you can always buy it separately. However, this will cost extra money and require an additional port to connect.

Additional keys on a classic keypad

The classic keypad equips with 104 keys. However, many models equip with additional functionality:

• Media management;
• Inclusion of wireless technologies;
• Screen brightness adjustment;
• System startup, hibernation mode and many others.

Also, many gaming models can additionally configure for certain commands.

Rubber membrane keypad: Connection method and power supply

Keypads are divided into:

Wired – connected and powered through 1 or 2 USB or PS / 2 connectors. If your computer has a shortage of USB ports, take a closer look at the second option.

Wireless keypads connect to tablets via a USB adapter, and to computers using a receiver based on a Wi-Fi modem supplied in the kit. Their main drawback is the need to have a supply of batteries or charge batteries in a timely manner.

Backlight: buttons can be highlighted

The backlight is a pretty handy option that helps you work and play on your computer in the dark. The inter-button space and letters on the rubber membrane keypad can highlight.

When choosing a backlit keypad, you should pay attention to the following features:

• brightness adjustment;
• change of color scheme;
• the ability to highlight individual blocks of keys.

Playing and typing is more comfortable when the keypad is at a slight angle. Therefore, non-slip feet make typing more comfortable.

The choice of color also determines the usability of the keypad

Rubber membrane keypad works, because during games, users rarely look away from the screen. For office work, a light keypad is the best option. There is no contrast between the text on the screen and the design of the keypad, which is good for the eyes. 

In all other cases, the color selects in accordance with personal preferences and the color design of the computer corner. The only point that you should pay attention to is the color layouts. It is convenient when they are different, but both are clearly visible against the background of the keys.

Moisture-resistant rubber membrane keypad and flexible portable models

Various models can equip with USB ports for quickly connecting a flash drive, have a palm rest, touchpad and even a wheel, like on a mouse. On sale you can find both moisture-resistant keypads and flexible portable models.

Gaming keypads can be modular, that is, they can consist of several separate blocks that are convenient to use in certain game scenarios.

If you need advanced functionality for games or work, pay attention to such options as the presence of software on the keypad and the ability to customize key combinations – macros.

One-handed keypads, carrying only the WASD block

Despite the purely gaming profiling of the rubber membrane keypad, it has been widely common when working with graphic and video editors, since for the most part they allow you to program buttons for a sequence of actions, which simplifies work in complex software. Module with a relay, as in the previous design, a module for 2 relays, although only one involve.

Your set of modules may differ, but this is not critical

In the final design, it is more convenient to use a membrane keyboard, on which all the buttons sign and the conclusions are made from a convenient side. For example, this one:

Based on the designations and arrangement of the keys of this rubber membrane keypad, I made a start when implementing the functionality.

Conclusion

When you turn on the timer, we immediately find ourselves in the time input mode. The desired number is simply typed on the numbers on the keyboard. If you suddenly made a mistake, then by pressing the [ #] key we erase the last dialed digit.