What is an Optical Mouse?
An optical mouse doesn’t use sensor bars and a roller ball like a mechanical mouse. Instead, it bounces light off a surface to determine where it’s located and whether or not you’ve moved the mouse. Because an optical mouse works using a CMOS light sensor, you don’t have to worry about any moving parts. Desktop dirt and dust can still block the lens, but this is easily wiped off and you don’t need to take the mouse apart to do it. Optical mice are ideal in households with pets, because you don’t have to worry about dirt or fuzz accumulating and clogging the mouse sensors. They’re also great if you have an aversion to dusting, and you tend to accumulate fuzz or dirt on your desktop. You can use an optical mouse in a workshop or other area prone to dust or smoke without worrying about the mouse getting gummed up or having to clean it every couple of days. Pictures Become Movement An optical computer mouse works by bouncing light off a surface and taking hundreds of pictures per second to
An optical mouse uses a small light-emitting diode (LED) to project a light to the surface. From that, the light bounces back into a complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) sensor. The CMOS sensor then transmits the image to a digital signal processor (DSP) to be analyzed. The DSP analyzes by detecting patterns in the picture and detecting how those patterns have moved after each image that is sent. This process is done at 18 MIPS (million instructions per second), so it’s very quick. Based on how far the patterns move in each image, the DSP sends corresponding coordinates to the computer to produce the movement of the mouse. Because this cycle takes place hundreds of times a second, the outcome is a smooth movement of the cursor on the screen. In other words, there are hundreds of pictures taken, each second, of the surface in which the device is moved upon. From that the software determines how far the optical mice moves by changing patterns in each picture. Then the optical m
Before I tell you about my mouse, let me briefly explain how an optical mouse works. Inside, on the bottom surface, there is a light emitting diode (LED) and from its name, you can easily deduce its purpose. Once light from the LED hits a surface (example, your table top), it is reflected onto a sensor. This sensor is actually a camera and semi-conductor (all in one) and is usually made up of a special type of metal (not the camera component). Silicone-oxide is used for microchips, but the sensor in an optical mouse is made up of different materials (depending on the manufacturer). Anyway, once this sensor picks up the reflected light from the surface, it sends the image to a digital processor. This processor then looks for changes in image patterns since the last image recording and then performs lightning-quick calculations to determine how far the mouse has moved. Now all this happens at a rate of approximately 2000 images and 20 million instructions per second (varies for different
An optical mouse uses camera technology and digital processing to compare and track the position of the mouse, rather than a ball and rollers used on older mice. This technology, first introduced by Agilent technologies in 1999, helps give users more precise performance without the maintenance and cleaning needed on older mice. Inside each optical mouse is a small camera that takes more than a thousand snapshot pictures every second. A small LED (light-emitting diode) provides light underneath the mouse, helping to highlight slight differences in the surface underneath the mouse. Those differences are reflected back into the camera, where digital processing is used to compare the pictures and determine the speed and direction of movement. This differs from older-technology mice, in which a round ball rolled against a mouse pad to indicate movement. Optical mice have a number of benefits over older technologies. One of the biggest benefits is that the elimination of the mouse ball, whic
