Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

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lexlazootin
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Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by lexlazootin » 28 Sep 2017, 12:20

Razer is coming out with some 'new' optical switches which should have near zero debounce which is pretty neat

Image
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/razer- ... 35287.html

The idea isn't new since china has been doing this for a little bit now with Bloodys 'Lighting Strike' series of keyboards that offer the same thing.

Although it's not optical Cherry actually makes a keyboard with sub-millisecond debounce with a analog sensor?!?

https://www.cherry.de/cid/corded_keyboa ... RD_60.htm?

I personally can't work it out but it looks cool.

But keyboard latency is something that isn't really covered much which i think is pretty annoying because i would prefer to have a keyboard with little to no latency for the uses i need.

There is also a neat trick you can do with regular switches, instead of registering a press after holding it down for X ms, make it register instantly and then just don't register anything from that key for the next X ms. That way it's instant with the same effects. I read in this post
https://summivox.wordpress.com/2016/06/ ... ebouncing/
that you can have EMI issues with it registering but I wish personally more people would let you switch to this design.

It kinda sucks that we don't have many options for low latency switches yet as the next keyboard i buy might have 30ms worth of latency for no reason other then lazy designing.

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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 28 Sep 2017, 13:24

Keyboard latency benchmarking is something we might even look into -- as we expand into new topics in the future (2018+)!

This, however, can be quite tricky to test reliably, but I have ideas. We are expanding into new lag topics...
...Given we posted 4 new input lag articles in under 2 months! (Aug 11 to Sept 27)

Covering specific elements in the whole input lag chain, from humans, to software, to hardware.
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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by Sparky » 28 Sep 2017, 16:03

Chief Blur Buster wrote:Keyboard latency benchmarking is something we might even look into -- as we expand into new topics in the future (2018+)!

This, however, can be quite tricky to test reliably, but I have ideas. We are expanding into new lag topics...
...Given we posted 4 new input lag articles in under 2 months! (Aug 11 to Sept 27)

Covering specific elements in the whole input lag chain, from humans, to software, to hardware.
I think the trickiest part of it is deciding whether to include the mechanical aspect of latency in your measurement. I think the most useful and repeatable option is to use a microcontroller with USBHost capability(or a raspberry pi maybe), to drive a solid state relay that bypasses the physical switch. Ideally, characterize the bounce characteristics of the mechanical switch separately, and emulate that. It's important to capture latency from both the scan rate of the keyboard, and the debounce algorithm, and the latter may act differently on a clean edge than a noisy one.

The mechanical aspects of the switch are also important, but depend heavily on how the key is pressed. It's difficult to have a clear "start" of the keypress, and difficult to get test inputs that are both humanlike and repeatable.

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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by astronin42 » 15 Nov 2017, 05:24

What kind of wireless keyboard and mouse would be best for a gaming PC? I know, I know, you can't beat wired, but I want a gaming PC hooked to my living room TV, and wired just won't do for that purpose.

Razer has a couple of wireless mice that look like they'd work well, but nothing in the way of keyboards.

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lexlazootin
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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by lexlazootin » 15 Nov 2017, 08:27

Logitech.

They have really proven they care about response times and have shown how the click latency on their wireless mice have less latency then razer wired mice. They also released a wireless keyboard so i would expect the same.

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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by sharknice » 16 Nov 2017, 00:58

lexlazootin wrote:Logitech.

They have really proven they care about response times and have shown how the click latency on their wireless mice have less latency then razer wired mice. They also released a wireless keyboard so i would expect the same.
Yeah. They have a new wireless mechanical gaming keyboard, the G613 that sounds like it's really good. I don't think there really are any other wireless mechanical gaming keyboards.

And the new wireless gaming mice from logitech are just as good as wired mice. There is no added latency. The same isn't true with Razer's wireless mice or any other brands from what I've seen. If you want no-compromise wireless gaming Logitech is your only option.

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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by JTF195 » 14 Feb 2018, 01:01

I just picked up one of the new-ish Bloody B975 keyboards with their latest LightStrike Libra switches, and it definitely feels perceptibly more responsive than my Razer BlackWidow Chroma (v1)

Aside from the feel of typing and gaming (particularly in rhythm games) I tried out Bloody's own latency tester application, which instructs you to use a pencil or something to press one key on each keyboard simultaneously. I tried that as well as manually pressing the keys myself, and it did seem to register 5-15ms faster, even when I was deliberately focusing my attention on the Razer keyboard.

Obviously my experience is purely anecdotal, so YMMV, but I'm very impressed.

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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by Chief Blur Buster » 14 Feb 2018, 19:57

JTF195 wrote:I just picked up one of the new-ish Bloody B975 keyboards with their latest LightStrike Libra switches, and it definitely feels perceptibly more responsive than my Razer BlackWidow Chroma (v1)

Aside from the feel of typing and gaming (particularly in rhythm games) I tried out Bloody's own latency tester application, which instructs you to use a pencil or something to press one key on each keyboard simultaneously. I tried that as well as manually pressing the keys myself, and it did seem to register 5-15ms faster, even when I was deliberately focusing my attention on the Razer keyboard.

Obviously my experience is purely anecdotal, so YMMV, but I'm very impressed.
Thanks for the great feedback!
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Re: Razers new optical keyboard switch and some rambling :)

Post by lexlazootin » 15 Feb 2018, 07:17

I've been doing a little bit of research since making this post and i found out a few things

Ducky uses 10ms debounce for their keyboards, Vortex uses 6ms KBParadise uses 25ms on their 107version but can be flashed to 106 which is 6ms.

KBParadise told me they use 25ms because they had some users complaining about 'chattering' keys. I think this was a pretty bad move by them because i don't think this is a debounce issue and more of a broken switch issue as i did see a few people on their Facebook talking about it but only with specific keys making me believe that they tried to fixing the issue of a broken switch after 2 years of use with a giant bandaid.

From what I've read and heard, capacitive key switch don't have debounce at all (rubble dome and Torpe). I don't understand how that would work but that means you could get 0ms debounce if you're willing to spend on the money on expensive Topre keyboards. The only keyboard this would make sense to use is the Leopold FC660C since you can buy TMK Alt Controller which then you can ensure 0 debounce and lowest latency.

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