D-pad

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A D-pad (directional pad), (also called joy-pad, digital pad or thumb-pad) detects thumb-presses in a plane, indicating direction.

It often consists of self-levelling rocking plate on a central pivot. They are often dished to allow a sideways thumb-motion to also press. Four buttons in a cross-configuration or a touch pad are also considered D-pads when used with a thumb to control direction.

Like digital joysticks, most D-pads have four distinct digital switches: up, down, left and right with diagonals sensed by actuating two switches at once. The switches are most often conductive rubber domes over PCB, which also cater for the self-levelling.

History

Many very early video games have had four buttons in a cross, but rarely for thumb-operation.

The early Intellivision video game system's controller has a featureless circular flat disc which can detect presses in 16 directions.

The D-pad with cross-shaped rocking-plate on a central pivot was first on the handheld video game Game&Watch Donkey Kong. The game character could move only in four directions and not in any diagonal. While Donkey Kong was a success, it was further popularised with the Nintendo Famicom games console which had some games that supported diagonals despite the cross shape.

Relation with joystick

The distinction between D-pad and thumb-stick (thumb-operated joystick) can be floating in some cases, depending on the shape of the pad and its height over the pivot.

Some game controllers (Sega SG-1000 Mark II, Atari 7800) allow a joystick (or thumb-stick) to be attached into the centre of the D-pad. Some joysticks (such as the one for the Atari VCS) are implemented as a stick on a D-pad but with the pivot above the switches

The Neo Geo CD gamepad has a directional thumb-stick with microswitches in four directions pointed towards the centre, like a typical hand-operated digital joystick but with the pivot at the bottom of the assembly.

See also

• Joystick
• Cursor keys