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If you’re looking to invest in a new mouse or you’re just interested about how mice function then this will be a good read. I cover the way optical and laser technology functions and I compare the two in order to find out which one’s better.

The optical mice’s reputation boomed in the late 1990s when it started being shipped as an extra feature to a lot of personal computer systems. The optical mouse became increasingly popular among users because it made working with the mouse much easier compared to the traditional ball mouse. Since then obtaining a regular ball mouse has become somewhat of a challenge.

But how does the optical technology really function?

The optical mouse is equipped with a light emitting diode (LED) and photodiodes which the mouse makes use of in order to recognize movement relative to a plane i.e. a desk top or a mouse pad.

Essentially, optical mice are supplied with an optoelectronic sensor (a small low-resolution video camera) which makes successive pictures of the surface on which the mouse operates. The photos of the surface that the sensor takes are captured in continuous succession and compared with each other in order to conclude how far the mouse has moved.

present-day optical mice work on most surfaces. Several exceptions are glass, mirror and other specular materials.

The color of the light emitting diode (LED) of the optical mice is mostly red simply because red diodes are inexpensive but it is not irregular to see blue light emitting diodes nonetheless.

Unlike ball mice optical mice don’t have any moving parts which leaves almost no room for mechanical malfunctions and optical mice are more durable.

The light emitting diode (LED) of battery-powered wireless optical mice only glows steadily when movement 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?

As a substitute of using a light emitting diode (LED) the laser mouse is armed an infrared laser diode. The small infrared laser the mouse is armed with essentially increases the resolution of the photo made by the mouse. The laser enables around twenty times more surface tracking capacity than conventional optical mouse technology.

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

Because the laser diode, that the mouse employs, emits infrared light it’s most often invisible for the naked eye.

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

To answer this question we should bear in mind the dpi (dots per inch) each technology is able to detect.

On the one hand ,the ordinary 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 much more precise and accurate when in comparison to an optical mouse. That added sensitivity is why most professional graphic designers and gamers favor the laser mouse over the optical mouse.

In conclusion, laser mouse technology is arguably the better one. I say arguably because some users find the added sensitivity more or less distracting while just checking their email or browsing the Web.