A
digital piano (not to be confused with
electric piano and
electronic piano), also known as
piano synthesizer, or
weighted keyboard, is a modern
electronic musical instrument; a special type of
electronic keyboard or
synthesizer designed to serve primarily as an alternative to the traditional acoustic
piano, both in the way it feels to play and in the sound produced. It is intended to provide an accurate simulation of an acoustic piano. Some digital pianos are also designed to look like an acoustic piano, both the upright or grand piano body style. Digital pianos use either an electronic synthesized emulation of the piano sound or a sampled piano sound, which is then amplified through an internal loudspeaker. Digital pianos typically have weighted or semi-weighted keyboards, which attempt to recreate the playing sensation of an acoustic piano.