dpi and sensitivity

[ElTorrente]

So I'm playing around with my new Logitech518. It's really nice, and feels great in my hand. In case anyone doesn't know, it's a gaming mouse with 1600dpi resolution. I had a Razer Diamondback, but that mouse was just too small for my hands.

On the mouse there are two buttons that you can press that will either raise or lower the sensitivity of the mouse "on the fly". I noticed that by raising or lowering the sensitivity, that the mouse is adjusting the dpi. Well, I don't like a real sensitive mouse, I like more precision in my movements. If I have my mouse too sensitive, I tend to miss when things get crazy in-game.

So, the question is: Is there any benefit to having 1600dpi if I don't want a super sensitive mouse? Would I benefit from more precision from this mouse if I turn it up to 1600dpi, then turn down the sensitivity in the in-game settings - or do the in-game settings simply adjust the dpi also?

I guess basically I need someone to explain what exactly dpi is, and how it's related to the various "sensitivity" adjustments both in windows and in game.

 

[xTYBALTx]

Tybalt wants to know too. Do you use the Hotas and pedals in BF2?

 

[sniperruff]

you need 6400dpi or so i heard.

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: xTYBALTx
Tybalt wants to know too. Do you use the Hotas and pedals in BF2?

No - in fact I don't fly at all in BF2. Those are for WW2online, IL2, and MSFS. In BF2, I just like being a foot-soldier.

 

[d2arcturus]

Set the mouse at 1600dpi and set the in-game or Windows sensitivity options to what you like.

 

[Valkerie]

I think playing games with a new Microsoft optical mouse is good. When you're playing RTS games, you need a very sturdy mouse that will read on nearly any surface and has very stable clicking.

I'm a Starcraft player, and I can't go with mice that are generally cheap. Quality commanders need quality mice.

 

[d2arcturus]

Originally posted by: Valkerie
I think playing games with a new Microsoft optical mouse is good. When you're playing RTS games, you need a very sturdy mouse that will read on nearly any surface and has very stable clicking.

I'm a Starcraft player, and I can't go with mice that are generally cheap. Quality commanders need quality mice.

MS mouse? :thumbsdown:

MX1000 or new mice from Logitech and Razer with the laser sensor will blow MS away.
The currect Razer mice and Logitech MX510/518 already do.

 

[xTYBALTx]

Originally posted by: ElTorrente

I don't like a real sensitive mouse, I like more precision in my movements. If I have my mouse too sensitive, I tend to miss when things get crazy in-game.

So, the question is: Is there any benefit to having 1600dpi if I don't want a super sensitive mouse?

 

[ElTorrente]

Originally posted by: d2arcturus
Set the mouse at 1600dpi and set the in-game or Windows sensitivity options to what you like.

I am doing this anyway, just in case - but I would love to know what exactly is being adjusted by Windows, and the in-game sensitivity slider - as opposed to the Mouse sensitivity slider (which is adjusting the DPI).

What benefit would there be for the Mouse to adjust the DPI, if Windows and in-game DON'T? Wouldn't the mouse manufacturers want the DPI as high as possible all the time and adjust sensitivity the way the Windows and in-game does? Or.. is there no difference at all - and all methods only serve to turn down the DPI when you lower sensitivity?

What the heck is going on here?

 

[daftpunkit]

this is sort of OT, but what is IL2 and MSFS?

 

[AlCaponeJr]

I tend to think that setting your mouse at 1600dpi and then lowering the sensitivity in-game would offset each other.. I don't know.

I do switch between low and high dpi in BF2 quite a bit.. especially when I'm in driving around in a tank, or mobile AA for example, I go to high sensitivity so I can scan around 360degrees as quickly as possible.. but once I see a target, I quickly adjust down to lower dpi settings so I can be more accurate in my shooting.. so scan at high dpi, shoot at low dpi

 

[Unkno]

it's actually better to have high dpi and just lower your sensitivity.

 

[w00t]

windows sens 3rd bar accelerate clicked off. um 1600 dpi cs sens with mousefix 2 and bf2 lowest sens possible.

 

[Trizik]

DPI stands for dots per inch.

My understanding is that no matter what the sensitivity is set at, a 1600 DPI mouse will track 1600 dots every inch and a 800 DPI mouse will track 800 dots every inch. More dots = more detail = more accuracy. Sensitivity simply speeds up or slows down the time it takes to track those dots.

For example, a 1600 DPI mouse at low sensitivity is just as accurate as a 1600 DPI mouse at high sensitivity. A 1600 DPI mouse at any sensitivity is twice as accurate as a 800 DPI mouse at any sensitivity.

I think the typical Microsoft mouse tracks 400 DPI. It is much less accurate than let's say, a Razer Diamondback (1600 DPI) because it only tracks a quarter of the dots that the Diamondback tracks in one inch. If they were images, the Diamondback would look smooth and rounded while the Microsoft would look blocky.

The reason the pointer of a 1600 DPI mouse at default sensitivity moves faster than the pointer of a 400 DPI mouse at the same default sensitivity is because the 1600 DPI mouse has to track four times as many dots in the same distance in the same amount of time (sensitivity). In order to do that, the 1600 DPI mouse has to track the dots faster than the 400 DPI mouse.

Think of it in terms of big stairs (less DPI) and little stairs (more DPI). To get to the top of a hill in one minute, you could take 50 big stairs or 200 little stairs. You would have to move four times as fast on the little stairs because every little stair is only 1/4 the distance of every big stair. If you were to drive a big truck down the stairs, the small stairs would be smoother because they have smaller gaps.

In summary, sensitiviy is all about personal preference. DPI determines accuracy, sensitivity does not. High DPI is good.

 

[Quorum25]

I?m getting ready to place a post in hopes of finding someone that has done some custom drivers or knows how to make the MX1000 work like the 518 just so that I can get the in-game sensitivity switching with the MX1000.

Here?s the deal about in game sensitivity switching. If you play BF2 you will really appreciate this feature. During normal game play while on foot lm like you, I like to have a low/ med sensitivity for accuracy but not too low because that would mean that I could not turn around quick enough if someone was trying to knife me in the back, so I would like to have lets say a medium sensitivity.

Now from time to time I like to play a sniper. here I want SUPER low sensitivity so that I can be extremely accurate with my rifle sacrificing the "turn around" speed since I can't see crap behind me in time anyway through the scope.

Other times I like to roll in a tank there I want to have SUPER high sensitivity because the dang turret turns too slow as it is designed in the game to be more realistic. If I can crank the sensitive up to max all of the sudden the turret turns very very quickly giving me a distinct advantage.

Having this in-game sensitivity switching is huge. I just was at best buy and they had a demo machine with that mouse attached to it and I played BF2 for 5 mins and was sold on the in game sensitivity switching.

Now I?m not totally sure how it is actually implemented from the Mouse/ driver level. I think it is a hardware thing that actually switches the dpi settings on the mouse on the fly not a software/ driver plug-in that switches the "Sensitivity settings" in windows or the game.

So that is my understanding not sure if I am correct but I think DPI (600, 800, 1200, 1600 and now 2000 (with the new Logitech) dpi) is at the hardware level of the mouse where as sensitivity (think that slider bar in windows or the Logitech config software) is through software at the game/application/ diver level.

 

[w00t]

windows sens 2nd bar dpi at 16000 cs with mousefix and mouse acceleration off at 2 sens in other games ussually the lowest settings.