Can Anyone Identify this Keyboard?

[Me@Work]

Hello keyboard experts. :becky:

I've been trying to identify what model of keyboard this is for a long time now and I figured this would be a great place to ask. It's the 68-key compact keyboard seen in use in the "GATTACA" movie. I bet this is the only movie in which a keyboard was used as a murder weapon!

It has 4 arrow keys, no function keys and a big backspace and enter key.

Here are some pictures for reference:




NEW Blu-Ray Screenshots (click for best quality):

[chimera15]

lol  Wow that's awesome. I have to re-watch that movie.  Maybe there's some hint in the credits?  Is that the one he had at work that he had to worry about his hair dropping into and keeping clean and junk? or a different one? They had those at the work workstations?  Is there a windows key on it?

[ch_123]

They don't. That was IBM being lazy and making an Enter to cater to both sides of the pond. Then the Chinese manufacturers copied it, because hey, that's what they do.

[chimera15]

I dunno but am concerned that genetically perfect people need such a large key just to hit ENTER.

Not everyone was genetically perfect in Gattaca. Just the people that had those jobs.  I doubt a keyboard manufacturer could afford to cater just to the perfect people. lol

That is a really awesome keyboard though.  I loved that movie, it makes me wonder if it had something to do with what my ideal of what the perfect keyboard is. lol

I'd loved to figure out what it is too.  Getting that movie to see. lol  Wonder if they have it on blueray or something. lol

Is the case cracked on it revealing a green pcb when it was damaged? So it really might be a mechanical??  Wow that board would be really rare if it really is a real keyboard.  Does it have scenes where he's typing on it?

[Me@Work]

lol  Wow that's awesome. I have to re-watch that movie.  Maybe there's some hint in the credits?  Is that the one he had at work that he had to worry about his hair dropping into and keeping clean and junk? or a different one? They had those at the work workstations?  Is there a windows key on it?

Yeah that would be it! They used the same keyboard in the whole movie. You see it at their workstations and also in a few other spots. I can't tell on the Windows key, but the three keys on the right from top down are Home, PgUp, and PgDown. I assume the last one is End. I think the key to the left of the space bar is a backslash but I can't tell for sure.

Notice that the {} and =+ keys are mixed up in the top right picture compared to the top left one. I assume it was just a mistake by whoever was "bloodying" the keyboard up.

[microsoft windows]

I dunno but am concerned that genetically perfect people need such a large key just to hit ENTER.

After using typewriters with those big Enter keys, I've gotten used to them. In the keyboards (especially laptop ones) with the split Enter key (Enter / \|) I often hit both the \ and Enter keys when I return. It's a pain sometimes.
\
But, again, like I've always said, different keyboards are for different people.

[chimera15]

It does show a typing scene.  It's clearly not a clicky.  I'd say either alps creams, or brown cherries...  Looks like an amazing board.

Could probably id it by listening to it and going through the audio clips.

I take it back, there's a second scene where it may be a clicky in fact, where he's still a janitor and using it, difficult to tell..hmmm...

[chimera15]

Definite pcb:

[Me@Work]

It does show a typing scene.  It's clearly not a clicky.  I'd say either alps creams, or brown cherries...  Looks like an amazing board.

Could probably id it by listening to it and going through the audio clips.

I take it back, there's a second scene where it may be a clicky in fact, where he's still a janitor and using it, difficult to tell..hmmm...

Interesting idea, I always assumed it was a clicky but it was 1997 so you never know. Here's a video that shows the sound pretty well, just skip to 4:37:

http://www.youtube.com/v/dyerhQ-UerM

[chimera15]

The terminals they had set up were pretty next gen for 1997 too... hmm.

I'm guessing right now it's an early cherry board, just looking at the way the plastic is on the edges, I've seen that kind of thing before like on tg3's, ..but no idea what it might be exactly.

I'd say it was a tg3 if it had a function row, but it doesn't.

[Me@Work]

Hmm, too bad there isn't any name visible on it. Is there perhaps a list of cherry boards somewhere? I wouldn't mind looking through one by one, should be easy enough to identify...

[chimera15]

It's interesting that it doesn't show any indication of function keys at all.  I would be leaning toward the side of saying that it was a cut down none functional board right now.  Or maybe some kind of terminal or non windows based system I'm completely unfamiliar with.

[chimera15]

Hmm, too bad there isn't any name visible on it. Is there perhaps a list of cherry boards somewhere? I wouldn't mind looking through one by one, should be easy enough to identify...

I doubt there's a full list.  Besides cherry keyboards themselves, there are lots of off brand keyboards that use cherries like the tg3/deck, the scorpius m10, and it was even shown that they used cherries on 286 laptop keyboards in the early 90's..so difficult to pinpoint it by going down a list.

[Me@Work]

It's interesting that it doesn't show any indication of function keys at all.  I would be leaning toward the side of saying that it was a cut down none functional board right now.

Oh really? What kind of connection do you think it used? I never noticed a cord... where wireless peripherals really around at that time?

[chimera15]

Oh really? What kind of connection do you think it used? I never noticed a cord... where wireless peripherals really around at that time?

No....that's another indication it's a good chance it's a fake or a cut down from another board.  Though I suppose ir was, but I doubt it'd be bluetooth back then.

Maybe it's a mac keyboard though...didn't they have early keyboards without function keys? hmm...

It seems odd if it was a cut down keyboard that it would have the right side row like a real compact...but the lack of function keys, or any indication of them is really odd.

Then again, on the broken board, why go to the trouble of putting a pcb inside of it..maybe just to mount the switches? I don't get it.

[Me@Work]

No....that's another indication it's a good chance it's a fake or a cut down from another board.  Though I suppose ir was, but I doubt it'd be bluetooth back then.

Maybe it's a mac keyboard though...didn't they have early keyboards without function keys? hmm...

It seems odd if it was a cut down keyboard that it would have the right side row like a real compact...but the lack of function keys, or any indication of them is really odd.

Hmm, well you're right about the old Mac keyboards, I don't think they started getting function keys until the mid 90s. They weren't wireless though, they had a connector that looked like a PS/2.

Also, what about the possibility of the function keys being accessed with an Fn-type key like on the HHKB?

[chimera15]

Hmm, well you're right about the old Mac keyboards, I don't think they started getting function keys until the mid 90s. They weren't wireless though, they had a connector that looked like a PS/2.

Also, what about the possibility of the function keys being accessed with an Fn-type key like on the HHKB?

Yeah, but they would still have an indication on the side or top of the key that the function key was there.

I wish I could get a better look at the modifier keys.  The copy of movie I have isn't detailed enough to really read them in any scene I can find.

Looking at the broken/bloody one, it looks to me like a strip of plastic was glued onto the back of the board all the way across..  Coupled with the fact that a keyboard wouldn't buckle or come apart in that way if it was really used to murder someone, or slam someone, is really making me think right now that it was a cut down board.  Also the rest of the scenes don't show any shots from behind the board/boards..  

The only thing really making me doubt that right now is the side page up/page down row.

[chimera15]

Look at this:

I'd say right now, at very least it had a function row cut off.



But then again, maybe they just cut the top off so they could make it look distressed...sigh Difficult to say.

[Me@Work]

Hmm, I definitely see your point, although at that quality it's just about impossible to really tell. I'll see if I can get my hands on a better quality copy for some improved screenshots.

One thing to consider is that from a filmmaking perspective, sawing off part of the keyboard doesn't make very much sense. The only reason I can think of for wanting to do it would be to remove a logo, but it seems like there are much easier ways to accomplish that (i.e. paint it). I would imagine that little though was put into selecting the keyboards, they probably just looked in a computer catalog and said "that's good enough" and bought 20 of them, or whatever. I doubt that would have bothered doing any kind of hardhack customization with it...

[chimera15]

Hmm, I definitely see your point, although at that quality it's just about impossible to really tell. I'll see if I can get my hands on a better quality copy for some improved screenshots.

One thing to consider is that from a filmmaking perspective, sawing off part of the keyboard doesn't make very much sense. The only reason I can think of for wanting to do it would be to remove a logo, but it seems like there are much easier ways to acompish that (i.e. paint it). I would imagine that little though was put into selecting they keyboards, they probably just looked in a computer catalog and said "that's good enough" and bought 20 of them, or whatever. I doubt that would have bother doing any kind of customization with it...

Yeah, maybe, but they obviously put a lot of thought into the workstations, for instance all the screens they used were custom slideshows and stuff on them.  It's obvious the terminals weren't functional at all, but still, it's obvious the look they were going for was really important and foremost, not to mention played an important part in the plot in several occasions, so I wouldn't put it past them to do that sort of thing.

You pointed out that none of them had cords, which would no doubt have interfered with the smoothness of the scenes and look of the film, so they all, or at least the few that were filmed all had to have their cords clipped, so that alone was a bit of customization that would indicate that maybe there was more.

[ak_nala]

Definitely not an Apple board.

BTW - The AEK keyboard with a full set of function keys came out in 1987, though the smaller-sized boards those on a budget were often forced to buy didn't have function keys until the iMacs came out in 1998 (IIRC, before the B&W G3 tower only all-in-one type Macs usually came with a keyboard).

The real giveaway is that string of keys just to the right of the enter key. Though early small Apple boards had the L-shaped Enter (labeled Return, however, and some inverted L's), nothing I know of (even prototypes) had that extra string of keys.

Looks closer to some Cherry boards I've seen pics of.

[ak_nala]

In looking over some pics, the closest Apple ever came to this board was the first "Apple Keyboard" (M0116) that came out at the same time as the AEK I in 1987. Same basic layout and number of keys except, of course, in Platinum coloring and with a numpad instead of that extra row of keys on the right.

The only black board Apple put out before the iMac mini-boards was for the 20th Anniversary Mac, and it was completely different.

[ch_123]

Film prop?

[chimera15]

Film prop?

That's what I'm thinking right now, but I just looked up when bluetooth was invented, and it was 1994...maybe this is an early bluetooth keyboard?

[chimera15]

Here's a cherry I've never seen before.  My guess is that it is a cut down, or early cherry.



http://cgi.ebay.com/KEYBOARD-WITH-MSR-CHERRY-MODEL-MPOS-G86-NEW_W0QQitemZ260522687507QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca85cbc13


Most likely it was a compact like this that they chopped the function key row off of, as well as decorded it.

They probably just ran them all through belt saw or something.

[ak_nala]

Good find.

I thought I had seen something like that.

[ricercar]

That's lust-worthy. And buildable. What a nice combination.

[Me@Work]

Here's a cherry I've never seen before.  My guess is that it is a cut down, or early cherry.

Show Image

http://cgi.ebay.com/KEYBOARD-WITH-MSR-CHERRY-MODEL-MPOS-G86-NEW_W0QQitemZ260522687507QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca85cbc13


Most likely it was a compact like this that they chopped the function key row off of, as well as decorded it.

They probably just ran them all through belt saw or something.

Nice find chimera15, that's a pretty sweet board. Although looking at how close the function keys are to the other keys it seems like cutting them off would be very hard. The one they used would have had to have the function keys separated further above I think.

I was thinking on the Bluetooth thing, they may have just had a regular corded board, but cut the cord off. As you said there's no need for it to be 'functional'.

I have a friend with the GATTACA Blu-ray so I'll borrow it off him and post some shots by next week, hopefully that will help.

[ricercar]

Oops. I've lost the essential simplicity.



Much better.

[didjamatic]

I'll take a HHK Cherry's.

Win keys !!!

[AndrewZorn]

totally forgot about this part.  i have the blu-ray.  maybe it would help if i watched movies once in a while.


here you can see the hole from where the cord was removed (it seems, might be a blood drip though, it is hard to follow)


i know it is broken, but that front panel definitely does not look OEM


in this part, the top edge looks smooth / the same piece of plastic as the main body (no extra broken 'lip'?).  hard to know for sure, i got frustrated with the camera movement when it reaches the end of the keyboard.
"Not one error in a million keystrokes" my ass, home row isnt even the least bit shiny

by the way, watching a blu ray on a computer is just as much a pain in the ass as always.  i hope sometime soon i do not have to two (went through 3 though) pieces of software just to get it to play.

[AndrewZorn]

why go through the trouble for a prop when real keyboards exist?  i know they did, i know the stupid reasons, it is just such a waste of money.  sometimes i think "they" spend a lot on movies to MAKE them big-budget.

[chimera15]

totally forgot about this part.  i have the blu-ray.  maybe it would help if i watched movies once in a while.


here you can see the hole from where the cord was removed (it seems, might be a blood drip though, it is hard to follow)


i know it is broken, but that front panel definitely does not look OEM


in this part, the top edge looks smooth / the same piece of plastic as the main body (no extra broken 'lip'?).  hard to know for sure, i got frustrated with the camera movement when it reaches the end of the keyboard.
"Not one error in a million keystrokes" my ass, home row isnt even the least bit shiny

by the way, watching a blu ray on a computer is just as much a pain in the ass as always.  i hope sometime soon i do not have to two (went through 3 though) pieces of software just to get it to play.

Were you able to see if there was a windows key in any of the scenes. Or what the function keys were. Those are some darn nice pictures, but I still can't tell.

[AndrewZorn]

even from your pictures i can tell there is no windows key
i dont know how common the home/pgup/pgdn/end combo is, but it looks an awful lot like the deck's, as do the arrow keys
couldnt quickly find that clear overhead shot like you have

[ricercar]

home/pgup/pgdn/end combo  ... like the deck's

Exactly my thought.

[Me@Work]

Okay, I thought I'd update that I DID get a hold of the Blu-ray version, so here are the same screenshots from that:





Looks to me like there definitely is NOT a windows or context menu key, but there is a Fn key. Also have a look at the first shot which shows the key switch, hopefully that helps, sorry I forgot to add that in my first post.

Appreciate your help.

[ricercar]

Reminds me of they keys in my Commodore SX64 (portable C64, kaypro style).



I've been motivating to take this key switch apart soon. There's no logo or writing on the outside.

[ricercar]

The red reminds me of artificial cherry pie filling, which lends credence to the Cherry switch idea.

The Commodore switches appear to be quite MY like, but there's no membrane over the PC board, only a rubber sheet. I'm thinking there's a steel plunger within a spring, such that the spring is the 'outer' contact, and the plunger makes contact on an 'inner' PC board area for electrical completion. But that doesn't explain how the rubber sheet enters the equation.

[Me@Work]

Regarding the wire/wireless issue, I did find something of interest in the original script:

A WOMAN ASSISTANT whose keyboard was used in the attack has to
     pause as a MAINTENANCE WORKER gives her work station a final
     spray to return it to its former pristine condition.  A new
     keyboard is plugged into her monitor to replace the one taken as
     evidence.

So according to the script it is wired, that doesn't mean it is, of course, but I thought it was interesting.

[chimera15]

Omg, they showed a keycap pulled! What kind of keyswitch is that??  I missed that scene.

[SCTony]

That switch looks similar to the SMK(thanks Alpslover) switches in V-Tech Laser keyboard.

[alpslover]

That switch looks similar to the NMB switches in V-Tech Laser keyboard.

those are smk switches, not nmb.

[quadibloc]

I thought I might have found it, but I see the Enter key is wrong, having the ISO shape and not the AT shape. I thought there were pictures of similar keyboards here, so I searched, and I found one photo of a bunch of keyboards, some with black keys, some with white, some PS/2 and some USB, in woodgrain (but plastic) cases, with the brand name "ARON".

You can see in the photos here, though, that the keyboard in the film does have an Fn key on the left side, so it wouldn't need function keys.

[chimera15]

I thought I might have found it, but I see the Enter key is wrong, having the ISO shape and not the AT shape. I thought there were pictures of similar keyboards here, so I searched, and I found one photo of a bunch of keyboards, some with black keys, some with white, some PS/2 and some USB, in woodgrain (but plastic) cases, with the brand name "ARON".

You can see in the photos here, though, that the keyboard in the film does have an Fn key on the left side, so it wouldn't need function keys.

Ah, you mean the kpt-84..right. It's a Korean board. That was one I came across in my mini mechanical search and thread. There's a review of one here too:

http://geekhack.org/showwiki.php?title=Island:5115

http://geekhack.org/showthread.php?t=5998&highlight=aron+keyboard


Not all of them have an iso return if that's what you mean:



The back space key isn't exactly right, but you're right it is very close.]

It's possible this is an english version with different caps...hmm

That's an alps board too though and doesn't match the switch type that would be indicated here.

[quadibloc]

Ah, you mean the kpt-84..right.

Same company, but a different model. It did not have function keys; however, the case was not of the same style as those in the photograph.

[chimera15]

I think I finally figured this out.  It's a qtronix scorpius, ・QTRONIX Scorpius 83A(QX-083) with the function row cut off.

It matches this spec perfectly.  Double row "backspace" and everything.



This is the European version, so it's slightly different, it doesn't have the same key writing as the blue print, but otherwise identical.

[chimera15]

I nailed it.  Do I win a prize? lol

Here's mine.  I didn't recognize the key cap stem at all, but pulled it off and low and behold.




The funny part is, there's no pcb in these boards.  It's a rubber dome, over a plastic sheet, they must have added it.

I was looking at these to compare to another board I was looking at buying which is similar, and I went..oh wait..that looks familiar. roflol

I picked one of these up a couple years ago, and had it in storage.  I guess that movie really did effect what I think of as a perfect keyboard.

I'm pretty blown away that they would cut the top off this board to get a look in the movie.  Pretty amazing.

Anyway, mystery solved!  Hehehe

[Mental Hobbit]

The funny part is, there's no pcb in these boards.  It's a rubber dome, over a plastic sheet, they must have added it.

Sounds like a fearsome blunt weapon - LOL.
Probably it would have fallen apart from the air drag alone without that pcb.

[chimera15]

Sounds like a fearsome blunt weapon - LOL.
Probably it would have fallen apart from the air drag alone without that pcb.

Yes, it's a very light keyboard.   It's entirely plastic. Which is no doubt why they were able to cut it in half so easily. There's no metal plate or anything like in a hhk.  If you hit someone with it I can't imagine it would do much damage. lol

[AndrewZorn]

maybe controller PCB?
but anyway, yeah, that is it.