N-Key Rollover, or Why Modern Keyboards Suck
Have you ever tried to play a two-player game on one keyboard? Chances are it wasn’t a fun experience. You press down a few keys, and the rest don’t register at all! What gives?
What we want is called n-key rollover aka NKRO, a feature that older keyboards like the IBM Model M used to have. But these days, manufacturers have been cutting costs. According to this blog, keyboard manufacturers save seven cents per key by using matrix circuits. That’s $7.28 for 104 keys, which makes me wonder how vendors can justify charging over $50 for “gaming keyboards” that don’t have it.
It’s hard to find any keyboards these days with NKRO. Fortunately, the Filco keyboards on EliteKeyboards.com advertise the feature prominently. I’ll have to get one of these.
