A comparison of Myanmar PC keyboard layouts

Many PC keyboard layouts have been developed for Myanmar language (Burmese), but there is no standard keyboard layout yet. This paper reports a comparison of well-known Myanmar keyboard layouts such as CE, Win Myanmar, Zawgyi Myanmar, MyaZedi, and Myanmar3. The primary research focuses on examination of keyboard mapping, keystrokes per character (KSPC) and characters per minute (CPM). Its result shows that all of the mappings of current Myanmar PC keyboards are similar and based on the old Myanmar typewriter keyboard layout. Another interesting point is that KSPC value depends on key assignments of various signs, dependent consonant signs and subscript characters.