Your Keyboard Might Be Lying to You

Many standard keyboards cannot register every button you press at once. If you hit too many keys simultaneously, your computer may ignore some inputs or register phantom ones instead of the ones you actually pressed.

This phenomenon is caused by how keyboards are wired in a grid-like matrix. To save costs, manufacturers often group keys together, which creates ghosting when specific combinations overlap. High-end keyboards use N-key rollover, or NKRO, to give every single key its own dedicated circuit. This allows gamers and fast typists to press dozens of buttons at once without the hardware missing a single beat.