Optical Versus Laser Mouse Technology   by Dimitar

in Computers / Hardware    (submitted 2012-01-10)

The optical mouse's fame really took up for the better in the late 1990s when it started being shipped as an additional feature to a lot of pc systems. The optical mouse got more and more approved among users because it made working with the mouse much easier compared to the usual ball mouse. Since those times finding a regular ball mouse has become somewhat of a challenge.

So how does the optical technology really work?

The optical mouse is supplied with a light emitting diode (LED) and photodiodes which the mouse employs in order to track motion relative to a plane i.e. a desk top or a mouse pad.

Principally, optical mice are armed with an optoelectronic sensor (a small low-resolution video camera) which makes successive photos of the surface on which the mouse operates. The photos of the surface that the sensor takes are done in steady succession and compared with each other in order to determine how far the mouse has moved.

The modern optical mice work on almost any surface. Several exceptions are glass, mirror and other specular surfaces.

The color of the light emitting diode (LED) of the optical mice is for the most part red just because red diodes are low-priced but it is not irregular to find blue light emitting diodes nonetheless.

Dissimilar to ball mice optical mice don't possess any moving parts which leaves almost no room for mechanical malfunctions and optical mice are less breakable.

The light emitting diode (LED) of battery-powered wireless optical mice only glows steadily when motion is tracked down. The rest of the time it flashes every so often in order to save energy.

But what's the difference between the optical mouse and the laser mouse?

In lieu of using a light emitting diode (LED) the laser mouse is equipped an infrared laser diode. The small infrared laser the mouse is provided with significantly increases the resolution of the image made by the mouse. The laser facilitates for around twenty times more surface tracking capacity than standard optical mouse technology.

Glass laser mice (a.k.a. glaser mice) can also be used on mirror or transparent and translucent surfaces.

Since the laser diode, that the mouse employs, casts out infrared light it's normally invisible for the naked eye.

But which one is better? The optical or the laser mouse?

To answer this question we should consider the dpi (dots per inch) each technology is able to track.

On the one hand ,the common range for the optical mouse starts from 400 to around 800 dpi.

On the other hand, the range of the laser mouse is oftentimes above 2000 dpi. The capability of laser technology to track such high dpi makes the laser mouse a lot more precise and accurate when compared to an optical mouse. That increased sensitivity is why most professional graphic designers and gamers adopt the laser mouse over the optical mouse.

To wrap it up, laser mouse technology is arguably the superior one. I say arguably because some users find the greater sensitivity rather distracting while simply checking their email or browsing the Web.

About the Author

I'm a tech geek and creator of LaserMouseHq.Com - a website dedicated to helping people choose the mouse that best suits their needs - whether it be a laser mouse or an optical mouse.