DPI vs Mouse Sensitivity

[TheCaptain53]

I've often wondered what the practical difference is between a high DPI and a high mouse sensitivity. Anyone care to enlighten me?

[Toddwjp]

same thing really, i suppose polling rate could also be included in sensitivity but it usually high enough for non csgo to not notice.

 

polling rate = how often mouse updates its position

 

dpi = 2000 dpi will have the mouse cursor move twice as far as a 1000dpi mouse cursor for the same physical movement,

 

sensitivity, generalised term to make it easy to understand and explain to non technical people

[misthosg]

I've often wondered what the practical difference is between a high DPI and a high mouse sensitivity. Anyone care to enlighten me?

Often I think that they are the same thing except that mouse sensitivity is more of a generalized term that is more relative to what someone considers sensitive. They are basically synonyms of each other.

[TheCaptain53]

Often I think that they are the same thing except that mouse sensitivity is more of a generalized term that is more relative to what someone considers sensitive. They are basically synonyms of each other.

So why would anyone get a mouse with a DPI specific to their needs as opposed to turning up the mouse sensitivity via software?

[Dzzope]

DPI gives accuracy to the sensor.. sensitivity tells the cursor how much to move given an input to from the sensor.. Higher DPI will also translate to faster movement. Polling rate is simply how often it sends updates to the computer.

[TheCaptain53]

DPI gives accuracy to the sensor.. sensitivity tells the cursor how much to move given an input to from the sensor.. Higher DPI will also translate to faster movement. Polling rate is simply how often it sends updates to the computer.

So why don't people use a mouse with a high DPI and just turn down the sensitivity via software should it be necessary?

[ZetZet]

DPI gives accuracy to the sensor.. sensitivity tells the cursor how much to move given an input to from the sensor.. Higher DPI will also translate to faster movement. Polling rate is simply how often it sends updates to the computer.

not really. Most mice perform best at low dpi.

 

So why don't people use a mouse with a high DPI and just turn down the sensitivity via software should it be necessary?

because he was wrong.

[Rampiks]

don't use more then 1000dpi, and and use mouse sensitivity in windows

[TheCaptain53]

don't use more then 1000dpi, and and use mouse sensitivity in windows

What's the reason for this? My mouse sits at 1000 DPI but I don't have enough experience with 'gaming-grade' mouses to know the difference.

[Rampiks]

What's the reason for this? My mouse sits at 1000 DPI but I don't have enough experience with 'gaming-grade' mouses to know the difference.

because DPI = CPI (counts per inch) and most gaming mice have 1000hz polling rate (updating 1000 times a second) which is the max of USB. so the mouse tells a new position 1000 times a second and with dpi/cpi on 1000 it counts 1000 a second to. anything more just makes the mouse less accurate 

[TheCaptain53]

because DPI = CPI (counts per inch) and most gaming mice have 1000hz polling rate (updating 1000 times a second) which is the max of USB. so the mouse tells a new position 1000 times a second and with dpi/cpi on 1000 it counts 1000 a second to. anything more just makes the mouse less accurate 

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Just out of interest, is it unadvised to get a mouse with a rating of 6400 DPI and then turn that DPI setting down? What does this do to the performance/accuracy of the mouse?

[ZetZet]

don't use more then 1000dpi, and and use mouse sensitivity in windows

what? No. Using anything other than 6/11 in windows results in acceleration...  <_<

[Rampiks]

what? No. Using anything other than 6/11 in windows results in acceleration...  <_<

with windows on 6/11 i find 1000dpi just perfect (what i have been using)

[Verne]

There's quite a lot of bad information being thrown around here, just read something like the Mouse Guide 2.0 for what each aspect of mousing means and how they work. There are plenty of other resources that dispel mousing myths and go deeper into the details if you just google around a bit.

 

Simply put, DPI (CPI being the correct term) is just how far the cursor moves on the screen for each inch the mouse itself moves, which can be put simply as speed. Sensitivity is pretty much same, but on the software side of things.

 

As for the 1000 CPI and 1000 Hz thing above, its bullshit. In this context, the polling rate is how smooth the cursor animation is, and has nothing to do with how far or how fast it travels. Polling rate is kind of the frame rate of the cursor. edit: to try to elaborate. The cursor will move the same distance at 125Hz and 1000Hz, but the cursor position is updated more often between the start and end point with higher polling rate, making it appear smoother. The benefit being you can react faster to any necessary quick changes.

 

My usual recommendation is to set Windows mouse speed to 6/11 and disable Enhanced Precision. Tweak the CPI in your mouse's own software to as low as you can stomach and finally tweak each game's sensitivity slider as needed.

[justinpowers]

There's quite a lot of bad information being thrown around here, just read something like the Mouse Guide 2.0 for what each aspect of mousing means and how they work. There are plenty of other resources that dispel mousing myths and go deeper into the details if you just google around a bit.

Simply put, DPI (CPI being the correct term) is just how far the cursor moves on the screen for each inch the mouse itself moves, which can be put simply as speed. Sensitivity is pretty much same, but on the software side of things.

As for the 1000 CPI and 1000 Hz thing above, its bullshit. In this context, the polling rate is how smooth the cursor animation is, and has nothing to do with how far or how fast it travels. Polling rate is kind of the frame rate of the cursor.

My usual recommendation is to set Windows mouse speed to 6/11 and disable Enhanced Precision. Tweak the CPI in your mouse's own software to as low as you can stomach and finally tweak each game's sensitivity slider as needed.

Wow bro[emoji2] You just taught me something, thanks!

[Rampiks]

As for the 1000 CPI and 1000 Hz thing above, its bullshit. In this context, the polling rate is how smooth the cursor animation is, and has nothing to do with how far or how fast it travels. Polling rate is kind of the frame rate of the cursor.

i do know that polling rate is mouse frame rate, any other means i my post was not what i meant about it

[Dzzope]

not really. Most mice perform best at low dpi.

 

because he was wrong.

Depends how you use your mouse... some people like to move the mouse a tiny amount, in this situation, higher DPI give much more accuracy.

 

I you like to move the mouse allot, then yea, lower dpi is good.

 

Polling rate is literally how many times a second the OS asks the mouse for an update.

[ZetZet]

Depends how you use your mouse... some people like to move the mouse a tiny amount, in this situation, higher DPI give much more accuracy.

 

I you like to move the mouse allot, then yea, lower dpi is good.

it doesn't depend. sensor is most accurate at low dpi, a person using the mouse in no way changes that fact.

[TheCaptain53]

So what's the difference between high DPI with low sensitivity vs low DPI with high sensitivity?

[Dzzope]

it doesn't depend. sensor is most accurate at low dpi, a person using the mouse in no way changes that fact.

have to say I'm not aware of any tests around this.. but it's very counter intuitive.. Higher dpi should mean that it can sense smaller movements.

[ZetZet]

have to say I'm not aware of any tests around this.. but it's very counter intuitive.. Higher dpi should mean that it can sense smaller movements.

no higher dpi means that it has less data to work with when sensing movements. in low dpi you move it across more surface for the same amount of movement. it's not counter intuitive it's actually exactly how it should be.

 

So what's the difference between high DPI with low sensitivity vs low DPI with high sensitivity?

software sensitivity just multiplies what sensor gives.

sensor works best at low dpi so low dpi with higher sensitivity is the most accurate setup.

[TheCaptain53]

 

no higher dpi means that it has less data to work with when sensing movements. in low dpi you move it across more surface for the same amount of movement. it's not counter intuitive it's actually exactly how it should be.

 

software sensitivity just multiplies what sensor gives.

sensor works best at low dpi so low dpi with higher sensitivity is the most accurate setup.

 

Is there any reported performance/innacuracy issues with turning down the DPI/CPI of a mouse? For example, using a mouse quoted at a CPI of 6200 and then turning it down to 2000.

[Dzzope]

 

no higher dpi means that it has less data to work with when sensing movements. in low dpi you move it across more surface for the same amount of movement. it's not counter intuitive it's actually exactly how it should be.

 

That still sounds backwards...

 

High DPI means it has more data from the same area.. as in more data points per inch = more accuracy. lower means less data points meaning well, less accuracy.

Look at cameras (both are types of light sensors) more data in same area.. Higher accuracy.

 

If you have a link to some kind of test, I'd be glad to read up on it... but everything ever has been higher accuracy / data with higher dpi..

As said, I've not done any research into this, i'm just going by how my head understands things to work (which is usually reasonably good but not everything works as expected)

[ZetZet]

High DPI means it has more data from the same area..

Look at cameras (both are types of light sensors) more data in same area.. Higher accuracy.

No wtf it doesn't have more data. It has less data. CPI/DPI means COUNTS per inch. So if you move an inch your mouse counts 6500 times in an inch. If you want to move 6500 counts with 500 cpi you move 13 inches. It has 13 times more data to work with. CPI is not a measurement of sensor capabilities like resolution, it's how sensor can interpret the data it collects and send it to the computer. That is why new mice have higher CPI/DPI, they are capable of sensing more, but having more data is STILL BETTER.

[Dzzope]

No wtf it doesn't have more data. It has less data. CPI/DPI means COUNTS per inch. So if you move an inch your mouse counts 6500 times in an inch. If you want to move 6500 counts with 500 cpi you move 13 inches. It has 13 times more data to work with. CPI is not a measurement of sensor capabilities like resolution, it's how sensor can interpret the data it collects and send it to the computer.

CPI is not the same as DPI.. in any terms..

 

So the question becomes.. Why isn't everyone still using an old style 400dpi bog standard optical mouse (with more buttons and designs / ergonomics)

 

Also, your logic of moving farther gives you more data is wrong.. it just takes more area to get the same amount of data.. if your moving the mouse in a 1 inch square (like I know some people do, they love the sensitive mouse) then higher dpi means that it should be able to detect much smaller variations in the surface.

 

That or I'm fundamentally missing something from how it works. Not trying to piss you off, or say your wrong BTW, just trying to understand the mechanics of it..

Again, If you have an article or such that goes into it, I'll be happy to read it.