Mouse DPI vs sensitivity

[Unfocused]

I used to think that the amount of DPI a mouse has translates to how accurate it is ie. it won't 'skip' pixels etc.

Now I know that's not exactly what DPI relates to. My question is - what's the difference between hardware determined DPI and software determined sensitivity?

Does: 1600DPI/1.0 sensitivity = 800DPI/2.0 sensitivity?

I'm a low sensitivity player - would it be better for me to play at a high DPI and compensate for it with low sensitivity or the other way around?

I'm using a regular 800DPI mouse atm (Creative Mouse Optical 3000) and will be switching to a Razer DeathAdder and am wondering whether I should even use the additional DPI it provides.

 

[AtomicSpark]

A higher resolution (DPI) will allow more precise and accurate movements. Sensitivity, on the other hand, determines how far your courser moves in relationship to mouse movement. The default sensitivity for mice probably varies with each manufacturer (maybe even the models too), so I wouldn't recommend making up mathematical ratios to compare the two.

 

[Unfocused]

A higher resolution (DPI) will allow more precise and accurate movements. Sensitivity, on the other hand, determines how far your courser moves in relationship to mouse movement.

Well, see - that's what I used to think as well. But while the second sentence is true, I'm not sure if the first one is true as well.

Recently I played with my friend's G7 (the first mouse I played with where you could change DPI on-the-fly) and by changing the DPI I was basically changing how sensitive the mouse was. Kind of like changing the brightness with the buttons on the monitor, rather than in the Video settings.

A few days ago I read a review of the DeathAdder mouse. It stated that the 1600DPI setting is for high-sensitivity players. So that got me thinking ever more, that maybe the DPI is basically a hardware-determined sensitivity.

A quote from the overlock.net forums:

A higher DPI will not create more dots in between that do not exist. That is impossible. It will simply make the mouse cursor move a greater distance when the mouse is moved 1 inch. This does not make it more accurate, if anything it becomes more inaccurate.

Each dot is a pixel on the screen. If you move the 1600dpi mouse one inch on the mouse pad, it moves across 1600 pixels on the screen. If you move a 400dpi mouse one inch, it moves across 400 pixels. Really the only thing DPI affects is the distance the mouse pointer moves when you move the mouse one inch. And distance does not equal accuracy. The "accuracy" of a mouse is based on it's tracking quality, and there really is no measurable quantitative specification for tracking quality that I know of.

 

[The Brick]

Few things here. First, before I go into it, ALWAYS use the highest DPI the mouse can support, unless it's higher than 2000. Next to that, use windows sensitivity 6/11 (middle).

That second quote is completely missing the point of a higher DPI. If you use a 400dpi and increase the sensitivity by a factor of 4, you will get the same cursor speed, but a quarter of the accuracy. It will skip pixels. This issue goes away for low sensitivity players, and people with a low screen resolution. Low sensitivity because every movement translates to less pixels moved on the screen, thus making the minimum required DPI for pixel accuracy to be lower. Low resolution users have less pixels per distance, so that also lowers the required DPI for pixel accuracy.

So, for accuracy, it's best to up the DPI and compensate the sensitivity (NOT WINDOWS SENSITIVITY). Don't change the windows sensitivity, it will affect the quality of data output from the mouse. If it's not at 6/11, it will disregard and corrupt some of the movement that the mouse picks up. To compensate this, the razer drivers offer a much better control of windows sensitivity (without changing the sensitivity in games).

Now there's the issue of movement tracking at high mouse speeds. Some mice's max speed can be affected by the set DPI. For example the deathadder improves a LOT, the higher the DPI is set. It can read up to 4m/s at 1800DPI. That is unhumanly fast, so at 2.8m/s at 900dpi and 2.3m/s at 450dpi are still fine. [source]


If you really want to optimize and get the best out of your mouse, read this guide. It covers all above and more.
http://www.overclock.net/computer-peripherals/173255-cs-s-mouse-optimization-guide.html

But I would recommend that you disregard this guide's advice to not install the deathadder drivers. Just so you can alter the windows cursor speed through the drivers and because it already tweaks the windows acceleration (still install the mousefix).

 

[Unfocused]

I was hoping The Brick will come to save the day. Thanks for the info, mate :thumbs:

BTW, I've got a flat desk and never used a mousepad with my previous mouse. However both with the previous mouse and with this one (maybe even more so; or perhaps I'm more sensitive to the issue atm) I experience slight 'skipping' when moving the mouse slowly. It's not related to the optics, but to the fact that the mouse slightly 'sticks' to the desk and I can't maintain a constant slow speed as it stops every few millimeters and then 'lets go', hence the 'skip'. I assume a proper mousepad (for like 60% the price of the mouse ><) would fix that issue?

 

[The Brick]

Absolutely. When you get a mousepad, keep the deathadder in mind. If you want a big cloth mousepad, you pretty much have only one option (and a great one it is). Everglide Titan fnatic.