Gaming keyboards are advanced keyboards that are designed to aid in improving and optimizing a user’s gaming experience. This could range from a more ergonomic setup to programmable keys, with each feature unique to the individual gamer. Most people view the computer keyboard as just a peripheral item used for typing up work reports or for social media ranting. However, augmenting your PC setup with a uniquely-built gaming keyboard can allow you to unravel your full gaming abilities; this is made possible through the help of some gamer-friendly features. Gaming keyboards can be quite useful for a broad range of users, from diehard or hard-core gamers to starters looking to gain a competitive edge.

 

An important difference between standard issue keyboards and gaming keyboards is the infrastructure of each individual key. Gaming keyboards can come with either mechanical or membrane-based keys, with the choice often boiling down to individual preference.
Keyboard Preference
There are two options for the choice of keyboard for gamers, the mechanical keyboard and the membrane keyboard
Mechanical keyboards are very important for gamers. This is because it guarantees fast-paced gaming, that requires minimal effort and depression for each tap, and delivering a firm and satisfactory bounce-back. Each of the keys has its own switch, allowing for swifter response times and more tactile feedback.
For membrane keyboards, they are all connected to the same infrastructure below the keys. In membrane keyboards, the required force is a bit higher and the key usually need a full depression before the tap registers. The choice of membrane keyboards by gamers boils down to the ease with which their fingers can move from one key to the other because of the slimmer keycaps and softer response of the keys.
Backlighting
Aside the choice of keyboards from the two options discussed above, there are other subcategories that allows gamers make the perfect choice of keyboard.
When surfing the wide variety of mechanical gaming keyboards for instance, you’re most likely to see the term ‘Cherry MX’ succeeded by a color, which represents a category of mechanical switch. The colored key categories differ on things such as weight activation, depression required and level of feedback.
Finally, the decision on this often comes down to individual preference. Generally, a less responsive set of keys is favorable especially if the user intends to use the keyboard for both gaming and typing. The clicks give a sound response while they’re working. For a keyboard that’s only for gaming, a light activation weight and depression level with a tactile response is the perfect choice.
The backlighting of the keys stands for the category each keyboard falls under. A red set of keys will contain a cool neon red illumination, although many high-end keyboards permit you to make your backlight color choice.
Programmable Keys
Considering the frenzy pace of many of gaming’s most exciting captions, players should be able make complex keystrokes at a moment’s notice. The use of macro keys help gamers to complete an action that might ordinarily take several seconds, all it takes is just a click of a button. A reduction of a series of actions to one keystroke allows the gamer to think and act fast during the course of the game. Macro key is considered cheating; hence it’s banned in gaming competitions.
Smart Keyboard
The introduction of built-in LCD track panels to the right of the keyboard has been seen in increased number of gaming keyboards. In gaming, the track pad can provide useful information, such as mini-maps and game stats.
There are several other provisions made to ensure an added comfort and convenience always desired by gaming enthusiasts. Using a number of in-built ports, gaming keyboards can be used as a middleman between the monitor and the user. With Mic in/out ports and USB pass-through, fiddling around behind the monitor to get peripherals working becomes unnecessary.

A staple of gaming keyboards are the media controlling keys, which permits playing, pausing, fast-forwarding and rewinding your movies and music without the help of the mouse.