One of the most important pieces of equipment in your gaming experience is the mouse. It is after all how the player controls the characters and other interactions on screen. A good mouse is essential for a fun experience. It becomes even more important if you are a player competing at an esports competition or even if you are playing ranked matches online.
A mouse can be judged on many aesthetic and technical factors. The aesthetics of the mouse decide how comfortable it is to hold and use through long gaming sessions. The technical aspect though could be summarized with only one word—DPI. Well, that’s a misnomer but more on that later. You may have heard of it before—but what is it and how much do you need? Let’s answer those questions now.
What is DPI?
DPI stands for dots per inch. It is the measure of the sensitivity of a mouse. Well, not really. I’m lying. The real measure for the sensitivity of a mouse is the CPI (Counts per Inch). CPI is the actual number of steps the mouse will measure when it moves one inch. It is what is used by the mouse manufacturers themselves to measure sensitivity. DPI is a similar term from the world of digital printing. Turns out as more people are familiar with the term DPI, hardware companies prefer to use that term in the product’s marketing to get the point across. Henceforth we will refer to both as DPI.
The higher the DPI, the farther the motion of the mouse pointer on the screen when you move it. So you need to physically move the mouse less at a higher DPI setting. A mouse with a high DPI setting will react to even the tiniest physical movements. This may or may not be what you need though.
But, isn’t there a sensitivity setting in my OS, you may ask. You’re right but that is different from what the hardware offers. See, the software sensitivity setting is another layer of control for the user. The software receives the hardware sensitivity of the mouse—in this case, DPI—and gives you an adjusted value. This adjusted value can be greater or lower than the actual current DPI setting of the mouse. The software does some math (interpolation) to translate the hardware movement to the required software movement. In some cases, this can lead to a laggy and jagged performance with noticeable slowdowns or spikes in speed. The software does its best to predict the desired position of the mouse pointer on the screen. It is a great feature to have but it doesn’t actually compensate for the hardware DPI of the mouse.
Is it Better to Have a Higher DPI?
Yes and No. There is a theoretical limit to the actual number of CPI that can be measured by a mouse that depends on the wavelength of the mouse’s laser. To achieve high CPI numbers, manufacturers, split the counts further virtually. This seems to leads to a smoother experience but leads to noise. This can lead to inaccurate readings while playing the game. To tell the whole story of how sensitive or responsive a mouse rate you have to also look at things like the polling rate, precision, and accuracy. Basically, DPIs are not the end-all and be-all of measuring a mouse’s worth.
So the best DPI count depends on the situation and your personal preference. I could tell you there is a magic number for the correct DPI everyone should use but it comes down to the games you play and your own gaming style.
For playing something like a twitch FPS, I would prefer a higher DPI which means I can move the mouse a little and cover a wider distance on the screen. However, that way, I have to be pixel accurate with my aiming or else, even the smallest movements will cause me to overshoot the target by a big margin. I can live with that if it means I don’t have to move my mouse as much on the table. For playing a Tycoon or sim game I would prefer a lower DPI which means I can leisurely hit the buttons on the screen. So you see, it really varies based on what kind of game you are enjoying. This is my personal preference. As a player, you have to experiment to find your own perfect DPI setting.
How to Find the Perfect DPI
Since the sensitivity and DPI are two features that are doing the same thing basically, you have to keep one of those two constant to figure out what works for you. I would recommend keeping the sensitivity in your OS constant, preferably exactly in the middle, and then altering the DPI. This way, you don’t have to think about adjusting two variables. You know one of them will be the same for a particular OS and you can concentrate on the DPI number for different games and situations.
The DPI can be adjusted in the software that comes with your mouse. Some players recommend a low OS sensitivity and a high DPI for the best results. You can try playing the game with different values and see what you are comfortable with. You can even play games with a set DPI and then plot your game session with the final KD ratio you end up with to statistically figure out what DPI gives you the best chance for winning games. That is an interesting science experiment for you!
Some modern high-end gaming mice come with programmable buttons to adjust the DPI setting as you are playing the game. So instead of sticking to one value for the entire game, you can change the DPI mid-game to get that perfect shot depending on the weapon you are using. A sniper rifle will require lower DPI (for a constant sensitivity) for accurate shots while a spray firing weapon will require higher DPI (for a constant sensitivity) to cover more ground.
One thing to keep in mind is the health hazard of a high DPI. Usually, you need to move your hand to move the mouse across the screen. If the DPI is too high then you can get the same done by just flicking your wrist. This may seem more convenient but it means that your hand is not moving for an extended period of time. This leads to health problems like shoulder pain and even carpal tunnel due to the increased pressure on the wrist. I would not recommend a very high DPI for that reason. It is necessary to keep your arm moving while working or playing on the computer.
In conclusion, whatever DPI you decide to go with, it is important to have fun and pawn those noobs! It is highly recommended to get and practice on a good mouse if you are serious about esports.
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