Before the invention of wireless mouse devices, people were using mechanical computing devices. This computer mouse worked differently than the modern ones. For directing on the screen of the computer, It consists of a ball that rotates the external wheel of the mouse.
As compared to optical and laser mouse which are wireless devices, the traditional mouse( wired ones) has times when it has a faster response. But we can’t deny the fact that both the optical and laser mouse have become more amenable and accurate which is the biggest involvement of technology.
When we compare optically and laser mouse you will find many differences. So in this article, I will explain to you about these two mouse and the major difference between Optical Mouse and Laser Mouse in detail.
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Meaning of Optical Mouse
Earlier, people were using a mouse which consists of a traditional electromechanical transducer and a mouse ball but now we have many alternatives to this old-fashioned mechanical device. One of the alternatives to this obsolete mouse is Optical Mouse.
The optical mouse is an advanced computer mouse that typically uses a light-emitting diode, an optical sensor, and a digital signal processing unit. The Optical mouse senses the changes in the reflective light from a suitable surface and it uses a light source such as an LED and a light detector that can detect the movement of the device related to the surface.
The modern-day Optical mouse comes with an optoelectronic sensor with a small low-resolution video camera. Due to the advancement in technology powerful and inexpensive chips are produced for image processing and are installed in the mouse. This feature allows the mouse to work on different types of surfaces and translate the movement of a cursor to a computer screen. This mouse is very useful in graphical applications and gaming where accuracy is a must.
Meaning of Laser Mouse
From a technological point of view, both the Optical Mouse and Laser Mouse are quite similar. An optical mouse uses an LED to illuminate the surface below the sensors. While the laser comes with an infrared laser diode that is an electrically pumped semiconductor to power the device. This technology was introduced by Sun Microsystems in 1998 but it came to market in 2004. The captured image resolution with a laser mouse is comparatively higher than that of an LED illuminative mouse
Major differences between Optical mouse and Laser mouse.
So here are the major differences between Optical mouse and Laser mouse that you should know about Mouse.
- Technology used
The Optical mouse uses LED for the illumination while a Laser Mouse uses an infrared laser diode. But the newer technology may not always be better as the laser diode can produce a better DPI but the Optical mouse is more reliable and precise that depending on the surface used.
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- Cost-effective
The Optical mouse is less expensive and cost-effective while the laser mouse is more expensive as it uses the latest technology available.
- Tracking movement
The optical mouse uses LED light to track the movement while the laser mouse uses the laser diode to track the usage. This laser mouse uses recent technology when compared with LED lights used in Optical mouse.
- Resolution
The resolution of the optical mouse is 3000 DPI while the resolution of the Laser mouse is 6000 DPI. The laser mouse may use the latest technology but it is not best when it comes to accuracy.
- Surfaces
An optical mouse works better on mousepads and nonglossy surfaces while the laser mouse has no prefered surfaces.
- Accuracy
The optical mouse is more accurate than the laser mouse while the laser mouse is not as good as the optical mouse.
- Button Functionality
An optical mouse comes with a setting of two buttons and one scrolling wheel or three buttons while the laser mouse comes with more functionality as it has extra buttons. The buttons in the laser mouse can be programmed by the user and the numerous buttons can go as many as twelve.
- Battery consumption
When a user goes to the wireless mode of mouse pointing, Optical mouse is not that much better as they have been known to struggle with battery backup. However, there have been improvements in power usage and type of batteries but it is not satisfactory. The Laser Mouse gives a better battery backup and can work for 8 months on Li-on batteries. It is better to use rechargeable batteries with any type of wireless mouse as it can be more economical and more battery life would be possible.
- Users Experience
The optical mouse has proved itself to be a much-improved version of the mechanical mouse but we cannot neglect the fact that the laser mouse has established itself superior to the optical mouse in terms of user experience. The gamers prefer laser mouse because of their higher precision and advanced feature of extra buttons.
Similarities
- Both the mouse capture a flurry of photos at a rate of upto 1000 per second.
- The mouse examines one image at a time, looking for texture or scratches on the surface.
- The mouse check back to back photographs to see if any of the features have moved around.
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The Final Words
The optical mouse can provide higher accuracy and uses an LED to illuminate the surface. It is less expensive and works better on a nonglossy surface and mouse pad. While the Laser mouse comes with a higher DPI which uses a laser diode. It is relatively expensive and works on several surfaces. So these were the main differences between Optical and Laser mouse.
I hope you found this article helpful and it has cleared all your doubts related to the terms Difference between Optical mouse and Laser mouse.
