Mouse Smoothing is an algorithmic change to the position of your mouse pointer. In mouse smoothing, the flow of our mouse movement is slightly changed to have a consistent output. This alteration is much like angle snapping. Modern (gaming) mice report very accurately where the user has moved the mouse, but older sensors (even trackballs) are not as accurate as today’s mice with optical sensors.
Older mice don’t have a high DPI count, which can sometimes make cursor movement appear abrupt. The old mouse is not accurate enough (for example, the “current” trackball mouse has a maximum DPI of 400) it cannot measure enough dots per inch to provide smooth output.
So, to make the mouse move more fluently, the manufacturer simply tested the PC Predicting the direction of mouse movement and adding additional virtual measurement points where it thinks the mouse is moving to create a smoother movement pattern and attractive.
Nowadays, since most office / “regular” mouse users don’t care about pixel-perfect precision, they still don’t need to use mouse smoothing.
The example on the right is an example (slightly exaggerated) of how mouse anti-aliasing affects the cursor.
In this article, we are going to know everything about mouse smoothing along with its applications and benefits. Mouse smoothing is widely used in gaming, graphic designing, and various other applications.
So, if you are really looking to use this thing, this article is going to help you a lot with the same. So, without any further delays, let’s get started.
How to turn off mouse smoothing?
Actually, there are no direct settings to turn on or off a function named mouse smoothing. However, mouse smoothing can be a result of multiple functionalities enabled at the same time. This may include DPI, cursor speed, and other special features.
However, there are several software which you can use to have the same benefits. Most of the gaming mice will have this feature in their devices and the features can be turned on or off using the dedicated software.
Mouse smoothing is going to help you a lot with the things where a high level of preciseness is required.
So, if you want to disable the mouse smoothing function, you can just follow the procedure given below.
- Open the dedicated mouse driver and disable the enhanced precision option
- Otherwise, go to the Control Panel and then click Mouse
- Inside the Mouse menu, choose the Pointer Option tab
- Make sure to disable Enhance Pointer Precision
Mouse smoothing vs Mouse acceleration
It is very easy to get confused between mouse smoothing and mouse acceleration because they are pretty related terms. But, they are actually different. However, both works by interpreting the input from the users. The mouse smoothing works on the preciseness whereas the mouse acceleration is all about the speed and the reach of your mouse cursor.
Mouse smoothing helps us to have a precise flow from our mouse even if we are moving it in a different manner.
In simple words, if you have shaky hands but you want to draw a straight line, mouse smoothing is going to help you with the same. The algorithm will take care of any unwanted turns and try to offer you as straight a line as possible. This helps a lot when you are drawing something or working with graphic design.
Now, when you are aware of the mouse smoothing, the mouse acceleration will be very simple to understand. In simple words, mouse acceleration keeps note of the speed of mouse movement.
For example, if you are moving your mouse at a very slow speed, the cursor will move accordingly by keeping the DPI in considerations.
But, when you move your mouse with an increased speed, your DPI will increase automatically and the cursor will go far away. With this, we hope you are now aware of both these things and now you won’t get confused whenever you think about these terms.
What is the best DPI and Mouse Sensitivity?
There is no such thing as the best gaming mouse DPI. It really depends on personal preference, screen resolution, mouse type, and the game you’re playing. For example, if you play Sniper on the battlefield (or any other FPS game), a lower mouse DPI can greatly benefit you because it allows you to perform slow and precise movements.
If you use P90 in CSGO to spam everyone, you can benefit from higher mouse DPI settings. It is also recommended that you set the game settings to low and the mouse DPI to high (see more info below!).
Mouse sensitivity in games uses software to increase the number of pixels that actually “pop” when you move the mouse. If you increase the sensitivity to speed up the rotation/movement of the characters, this is to increase the number of pixels that jump when you move the mouse. This may increase the speed of movement but will reduce the precision of the mouse movement.
You will notice that in-game mouse sensitivity has a greater impact within a certain range. If you try to aim at a small point in the distance and try to move the mouse, you will notice that your small movements are not precise enough to precisely point to the location that you pointed to with the mouse.
It’s frustrating, it feels like the scope is jumping to either side of the lens and it feels very inaccurate. I compare this feeling to the feeling of playing FPS on a game console.
Is mouse acceleration good for gaming?
Answering this question can be difficult because it is actually a subjective matter. For most of us, mouse acceleration can sound like a complete waste of time and our resources. But, for professional gamers, mouse acceleration can be very helpful.
In simple words, when used in a proper way, mouse acceleration can provide you with great help in making your game experience much better. The mouse acceleration can be a helpful thing when you are playing FPS games.
However, the games where fast mouse movements are not required, you can easily work without the help of this feature.
However, a lot of computer users try to use their mouse with these features. But, it is very important to understand the DPI and have a proper hand on your mouse. Handling the cursor movement with fast motions can be very tough for beginners.
But, as you keep doing it and become fully proficient, you will find it very easy in some applications. In a nutshell, we can say that mouse acceleration is a good thing for gamers only if you know how to use it in any situation.
How do you calibrate mouse sensitivity?
Mouse sensitivity is simply the level of movement your cursor does when you move your mouse from one place to another. The higher the movement of your cursor with the shortest move, the higher is your mouse sensitivity.
It simply means that when you increase your mouse sensitivity, the cursor movement is going to increase or decrease regardless of your mouse movement. With a higher sensitivity, your cursor will go far away as compared to the same movement with low sensitivity.
So, let’s see how you can easily calibrate the mouse sensitivity.
- Go to Windows Control Panel
- Find Hardware and Device and then Mouse menu
- Inside the menu, go to pointer options
- Then, change the mouse pointer speed
- Hit Apply and then see if the sensitivity is good for you or not
How do I unfreeze my mouse?
You will see very few problems with your mouse as compared to any other devices attached to your system. But, sometimes these pointing devices come up with a weird problem. The problem is that your mouse is connected to the system and the cursor is showing up.
But, when you move the mouse, nothing happens. This situation is called a mouse freeze. A frozen mouse is simply a device not able to point anything on your screen.
Now, in order to fix this problem, you can try various things. Some of them are as follows.
- Wired Mouse
In case you are using a wired mouse, make sure to check if the wire is fine and connected properly to the USB port. The next step should be to check if the mouse has a light turned On on its bottom. If there is no light, there could be some hardware issues with your mouse itself.
- Wireless Mouse
Make sure to check if the mouse is connected to your laptop properly through Bluetooth. You can reconnect it to double-check. The next step will be to check if the mouse has enough battery to work with. Also, check if the pointing light is on its bottom.
- Update Mouse Driver
This one is the most common problem in these types of situations. Your mouse might not be able to work because the driver is either outdated or faulty. You will have to update the driver and then the mouse will surely start to work again.
If you have a laptop, you can just use your trackpad to do it. In the case of a desktop, you can use another mouse to update and then connect the first one back into its place.
It will be good if you download the driver from the official website. You can just search Google with your mouse model + driver. Just download it and install it on your device.
Final Verdict
We hope you will find this article helpful to get some information about mouse smoothing, mouse DPI, and mouse acceleration, etc. If you want us to add some more information to this article, just let us know in the comment section.
Also, if you want us to write any other article related to this, we will be happy to do that as well. Make sure to share this article with others if you have found it helpful.
Let us know about any changes you want in this article as well. We keep coming with regular articles here on this blog.
So, stay connected with us if you are interested in reading them.
