The Difference Between Optical Switches And Mechanical Switches

It seems a lot of people are not familiar with the Optical switch because it’s a relatively new trending product. So, today we’ll be talking about some of the differences between optical and mechanical switches.Get more news about Mechanical Optical Switch,you can vist our website!

What are Optical Keyboard Switches and How do They Work?

As the name implies, the optical switch uses light induction to trigger the switches. It works with the mechanical switch to block the light beam. When the switch is pressed, the stem of the switch moves downward, triggering the light sensor on the PCB and activating the key.

That’s why optical switches are faster than the traditional switch as no physical contact is needed to send an electrical signal; eliminating the need for a debounce delay.

Also, because there is no physical contact, these switches are usually more durable. The lifespan of the traditional switch is 50 million key presses while the optical switch can double that life span and can last 100 million.

To be clear, optical switches still have mechanical components. Just like a standard mechanical switch, they have physical moving parts. When you press the key cap, a stem moves within a shaft, and a spring pushes the switch back to its reset position. Optical switches can have the same physical characteristics as regular switches, similar to a linear action (like Reds), tactile (Browns) and clicky (Blues).

Additionally, optical switches remove the need for soldering switches to a PCB. However, since optical switches are not widely used in mechanical keyboards, there are limited switches to choose from unlike mechanical switches.

At Keychron, we have designed and produced our own Keychron optical switches to use on the K8 keyboard. Also, we have created Keychron optical switches for the K2 in the future.

The K4 currently utilizes the LK switch, but we will use the Keychron optical switches for the K4 very soon. We are determined to make the optical switch in all our keyboard series.