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CSE Keyboards

01 / 06 · Types and layouts

Keyboard types and layouts

How a membrane keyboard works compared with a mechanical one, what QWERTY, Dvorak and Colemak mean, and what you gain or give up with each size, from 100% down to 60%.

Membrane or mechanical

How efficient a keyboard is depends on two things: the technology that detects key presses and the way the keys are arranged (the layout). Together they directly affect typing speed, measured in words per minute (WPM).

The two technologies

Membrane keyboard

Three flexible layers: the top and bottom ones carry conductive traces that form a matrix, and the middle one is a spacer with a hole under each key. When you press, a rubber dome pushes the top layer through the hole onto the bottom layer, and the controller reads that contact as a key press. The key has to be pressed all the way down (“bottoming out”) to register.

  • Very low production cost
  • Quiet operation
  • Better resistance to liquids, thanks to the sealed construction
  • A “mushy” feel with no clear tactile feedback
  • Lower durability: the rubber domes lose elasticity and need more and more force
  • Pressing all the way down can tire the hand and slow typing
  • Prone to ghosting on cheap models

Mechanical keyboard

Every key has its own switch, with a housing, a spring, a stem and metal contacts. The key registers at the actuation point, before the end of its travel, which makes typing faster, more accurate and less tiring.

  • Durability of tens of millions of presses per switch
  • You can choose switches to suit your preferences
  • More efficient for heavy use: programming, writing, gaming
  • The metal contact “bounces” when pressed (contact bounce), so the firmware has to apply debounce
Ghosting
“Phantom” key presses when three or more keys are held at once. It happens on cheap keyboards that have no isolation diodes in the matrix, so the controller cannot tell certain combinations apart.
Debounce
At a microscopic scale, the metal contact does not close cleanly but produces a burst of very fast pulses. The firmware’s debounce algorithm (a short delay or a signal filter) turns them into a single valid key press.

From the thesis, chapter 2.1

Logical layout: QWERTY and others

The logical layout is which character each physical key produces. It is separate from the shape or size of the keyboard.

QWERTY

The most widespread layout. Its historical design was meant to stop the arms of mechanical typewriters from jamming, not to optimise typing speed today.

  • Fingers travel long distances
  • Frequently used letters sit in harder-to-reach positions

Dvorak and Colemak

Alternative layouts designed for ergonomics: the most frequent vowels and consonants sit on the home row.

  • Less finger movement
  • Higher typing speed
  • Lower risk of repetitive strain injury (RSI)

The layout can live in the keyboard

A keyboard does not send letters like “A” or “B”; it sends standardised HID scan codes. Custom firmware such as ZMK can map any physical key to any code, so you can run QWERTY, Dvorak or Colemak from the keyboard itself, whatever the operating system is set to.

From the thesis, chapter 2.1

Physical layout: 100% to 60%

The physical layout is how many keys the keyboard has, how they are arranged and how big they are. Choosing one is a trade-off between having every key at hand and freeing desk space for a better posture.

On the electronics side, a bigger layout means a more complex scanning matrix on the PCB, with more rows and columns, and therefore more GPIO pins from the microcontroller.

The common sizes, from full-size (100%) to 60%: each step removes a block of keys.100%full sizeTKLno numpad75%nav keys in one column65%no F-row, arrows kept60%no F-row, no arrowsAlphanumericF-rowNavigation, arrowsNumpad
The common sizes, from full-size (100%) to 60%: each step removes a block of keys.

The sizes and their trade-offs

100% (full-size)

Every block of keys, including the number pad (numpad).

  • Best for entering numbers often: accounting, engineering, data entry
  • Every function is direct, with no key combinations
  • The width pushes the mouse far out and adds strain to the shoulder

TKL (tenkeyless, 80%)

A 100% without the numpad. Many consider it the best balance.

  • The mouse sits closer to the centre of the body, so the hand travels much less
  • Keeps the navigation keys and the function row, which suits programmers

75%

A more compact TKL, with the navigation keys stacked vertically to save horizontal space.

  • Keeps almost every key of a TKL in a small footprint
  • Good for crowded desks and for carrying around
  • Often uses non-standard key sizes (e.g. a shorter right Shift), which complicates the PCB and compatibility with keycap sets

65% and 60%

Minimal sizes without the function row (F1–F12); 60% also drops the dedicated arrow keys.

  • Maximum desk space and a minimal look
  • Your hands never leave the centre of the keyboard
  • The missing keys are reached through layers, so the efficiency comes with experience

From the thesis, chapter 2.1

Layers: the Fn key

Compact sizes work thanks to layers, a firmware feature. The Fn key changes the keyboard’s state: while it is held, the firmware switches from the base key map (Layer 0) to a secondary one (Layer 1).

The same physical key can then send a different code: “1” becomes “F1”, “I” becomes the up arrow, and so on. An experienced user becomes very fast, because their hands always stay on the centre of the board.

In short

A keyboard’s real efficiency comes from the combination of switch technology, a logical and physical layout chosen to cut needless movement, and the feel and sound that come from how the plate is mounted.

From the thesis, chapter 2.1

In the shop

Written from Ștefan-Emanuel Ciupitu’s bachelor thesis “Wireless multifunction keyboard using the nRF52840 module” (Suceava, 2025).