“Ghosting” is a problem which refers to the inability of most keyboards to read more than two key presses at once. Because of the way keyboards are designed – with a stack of plastic sheets to create a grid of wires underneath – pressing more than a couple of keys the same time leads problems in the keyboard’s ability to know what other keys were pressed. Only the first two are reported and the others become “ghosts.” (See a more thorough explanation of this over on TechFlash).
For gamers, ghosting can be a major problem. Previous attempts at solving the issue have resulted in anti-ghosting keyboards from Razer and Logitech which have allowed between 5 and 10 simultaneous key presses. However, the new Microsoft SideWinder X4 gaming keyboard is the first to offer an all-over anti-ghosting solution.
With this new device, you can press up to 26 keys at the same time. That may be a bit of overkill, actually. I don’t know of any games that require you to push that many buttons at once, but gamers will certainly appreciate the possibility.
The new keyboard is due out in March of this year and will sell for $59.99.
