Membrane keyboard
A membrane keyboard is a computer keyboard whose "keys" aren't separate, moving parts, as in most other types of keyboard, but rather just have their outlines and symbols printed on flat surface. Very little, if any, tactile feedback is felt when using such a keyboard.
Membrane keyboards, which work by electrical contact between the keyboard surface and the underlying circuits when keytop areas are pressed, were used with some early 1980s home computers, and have been much used in consumer electronics devices. The keyboards are very inexpensive to mass produce, and are more resistant against dirt and liquids than most ordinary keyboards, but due to their low or non-existent amount of key movement are difficult to type with for most people, especially when more than a few tens of characters need be typed in sequence.
Aside from early hobbyist/kit/home computers and some video game consoles, membrane-based QWERTY keyboards are used in some industrial computer systems, and are also found as portable, even "rollable-collapsible" designs for PDAs and the like. Smaller, specialised membrane keyboards, typically numeric-and-a-few-control-keys only, have been used in access control systems (for buildings and restricted areas), simple handheld calculators, domestic remote control keypads, and other similar devices where the amount of typing is relatively small and/or infrequent.
The following home computers and other devices were equipped with membrane keyboards (QWERTY unless specified otherwise):
- Atari 400 – note: full-travel replacement keyboards a la Atari 800 were available
- Cambridge Z88 – arguably a mix between membrane and chiclet keyboard
- Magnavox Odyssey² – aka Philips Videopac G7000, a video game console
- RCA COSMAC VIP – 16-key hex keypad (i.e., 0,1,...,9, A,B,...,F)
- Sinclair MK 14 (initial version) – 20-key extended hex keypad
- Sinclair ZX80 and ZX81
- Synertek SYM-1 – 29-key extended hex keypad
- Timex Sinclair 1000 – U.S. version of ZX81
See also: chiclet keyboard
