Polish Keyboard Tester (Programmers)

The layout Polish keyboards actually use: a US board where right Alt adds ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż, drawn under each letter.

Size
Keys
Shape
F-keys

Listening: press any key. Hold Esc for 1 second to release the keyboard (e.g. to use Tab).

Keys tested
0%
0 of 104 keys
Last key
–
press any key
Held now / max
0 / 0
keys at the same time
Key presses
0
No chatter found
EscF1F2F3F4F5F6F7F8F9F10F11F12PrtScScrLkPause~`!1@2#3$4%5^6&7*8(9)0_-+=BackspaceTabQWEęRTYU€IOóP{[}]|\Caps LockAąSśDFGHJKLł:;"'EnterShiftZżXźCćVBNńM<,>.?/ShiftCtrlWinAltAltWinMenuCtrlInsHomePgUpDelEndPgDn↑←↓→Num/*−789+456123Enter0.

Tip: click a key in the picture if your keyboard doesn’t have it, so it doesn’t count against the score.

Chatter (double-typing) detector

A worn or dirty switch can register one press twice. Type normally for a minute, then press any suspect key 20–30 times.

Rollover & ghosting test

Held now0
Most at once0
  • none
Best combination:
  • –

Hold down more and more keys (try ASDFJKL). If the count stops at 6 of these, the keyboard is 6-key rollover. Shift, Ctrl, Alt and Win don’t count toward that limit.

Timing tests

Put a flat hand on the keyboard so 4–8 keys go down at once, lift it, and repeat about 15 times, or drum your fingers across the letters. The keyboard sends each change with its next report, so the gaps between those key events step in whole polling intervals.

Polling rate
–
press keys together
Interval
–
average
Spread
–
standard deviation
Gaps
0
between key events

Press several keys at once to start.

Gaps between key events up to 10 ms, in 0.25 ms steps. A 1000 Hz keyboard makes peaks at 1, 2, 3 ms; 125 Hz at 8 ms.

Event log

EventkeycodekeyCodeLocationRepeatTime (s)Δ ms
Key events appear here.

Polish (Programmers)

Keyboards sold in Poland are US-shaped (ANSI) boards with US legends, and Windows’ default Polish layout, Polish (Programmers), keeps every US key where it is. The Polish letters come from AltGr, the right Alt key: AltGr with a, c, e, l, n, o, s gives ą ć ę ł ń ó ś, AltGr+X gives ź and AltGr+Z gives ż. The picture draws each Polish letter at the bottom right of its key, as many Polish keycaps do.

The tilde key is a dead key in this layout: press , then a letter, for a Polish letter as well ( then a gives ą); press ~ then Space for the tilde itself. The table under this text lists the keys that differ from US.

Polish (214)

The older Polish (214) layout is a QWERTZ typewriter layout with ą ć ę ł ń ó ś ź ż on their own keys and Z and Y swapped. It’s still in Windows, but hardly any keyboards print it. If your letters come out with Z and Y swapped or accented letters appear on the number row, the computer is set to Polish (214).

Switching layouts

  • Windows: Settings, Time & language, Language & region, Add a language, Polski; its keyboard is Polish (Programmers). Switch with Win+Space.
  • macOS: System Settings, Keyboard, Text Input, Edit, +, Polish – Pro, which works the same way with Option.
  • Linux (GNOME): Settings, Keyboard, Input Sources, +, Polish.

The Polish (Programmers) keys at a glance

These keys differ from a US keyboard. The browser code is the name the key sends in the event log, taken from the US key in the same place. AltGr is the right Alt key; on Windows, Ctrl+Alt does the same. Keys marked "dead" type nothing on their own: press one, then a letter, for an accented letter (or Space for the mark itself).

KeyShiftAltGrBrowser codeUS keyboard
EęKeyEE
U€KeyUU
OóKeyOO
AąKeyAA
SśKeySS
LłKeyLL
ZżKeyZZ
XźKeyXX
CćKeyCC
NńKeyNN

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