What does the cpi button on a mouse do?

When buying a mouse to check the mouse parameters, you will often see the words DPI or CPI, and gamers often confuse DPI with CPI. In order to give you a correct understanding of the difference between CPI and DPI and the role of CPI buttons, we have made this article.

CPI vs DPI

What is CPI?

CPI is the abbreviation of count per inch, which means the number of samples per inch, that is, the number of pixels that can be accommodated in one inch of the surface of the mouse sensor. Therefore, CPI is used to represent the coordinate change that the mouse engine can receive when the mouse moves 1 inch (about 2.54 cm) on the mouse pad. The number of pixels to move on the screen.

Smaller CPIs have fewer samples per inch, which can make your mouse pointer move more slowly across the desktop, requiring longer realistic travel distances from one side of the screen to the other. Conversely, a higher CPI will make your mouse pointer move faster, requiring less actual movement for the same pointer movement, but may make your pointer uncontrollable.

What is DPI?

DPI is the abbreviation of English Dots Per Inch, which translates as “pixels per inch”. It was originally a term in the printing industry and is used to indicate the resolution of the printer, that is, how many pixels the printer can print within one inch of distance. However, because the “CPI” originally used to represent the performance of the mouse engine is difficult for most people to understand, some manufacturers have borrowed the word DPI, which is more popular, to replace the “CPI” originally used in the mouse industry in order to promote their products.
Therefore, the current mouse DPI is the original CPI, which represents the sensitivity of the mouse. The higher the DPI, the more sensitive the mouse, and the faster the movement speed. For example, at 1000DPI, when your mouse moves one inch on the surface of the mouse pad, the mouse cursor will move 1000 pixels on the desktop.

The CPI button on the mouse is used to switch the mouse CPI (count per inch), which is to adjust the sensitivity of the mouse. Usually, the manufacturer will list the CPI of the mouse in the parameter specification, which is convenient for users to understand the current CPI value and change it as needed.

Is a higher or lower CPI better?

Whether a lower or higher CPI is better depends on your usage habits, usage scenarios and screen resolution.

The appropriate CPI of the mouse has a great relationship with the resolution of the screen. Using a low CPI on a high-resolution monitor can make mouse movement very slow, making you keep moving the mouse inefficiently and tire your wrists. Using a high CPI mouse on a low resolution monitor will make the mouse move very fast, and the mouse will scramble around the screen and cannot be controlled precisely.

At present, the resolution of 4K monitors is 3840x2160, and the resolution of 1K monitors is 19201080. If your mouse CPI is 1000, then on a 1920×1080 monitor, it takes 1920 to move the mouse from the far left to the far right. ÷1000×2.54 (divide the horizontal display points of the monitor by the CPI of the mouse, the unit of the value is inches, since 1 inch = 2.54 cm, multiplying by 2.54 is the number of cm the mouse needs to move) ≈ 4.87 cm. If the screen resolution is changed to 3840×2160, then using the same mouse to complete the same operation, it needs to move about 9.75 cm, and the operation distance is doubled, so that the operation experience will also have a very obvious change.
The second is usage scenarios. Different usage scenarios may also require different CPIs. Some users will use lower CPIs during work, and set higher CPIs to be more responsive when playing games.

Most know, users have their own usage habits. Some people are used to CPI of 800, some people think that 1000CPI is good, and some people are used to CPI of 400-600. For different users, there is no unique CPI. Standard, but most mice have a base DPI between 800-1600.

Conclusion: If you think that the current CPI of the mouse is enough for you to use and has no adverse effect on your normal operation, then there is no need to replace the CPI, a higher or lower CPI will not necessarily make your experience better, it may also make you worse user experience. If the current CPI of the mouse makes you feel that the movement is too fast or too slow, you can reduce or increase the CPI accordingly, so that the movement speed of the mouse can match your usage habits and current usage scenarios.

What is a good CPI for mouse?

There is no fixed good CPI, but the most commonly used DPI is between 800-1600. Even for professional gamers, the CPI of most mice is below 3000.

Is CPI the same as DPI?

Now the CPI and DPI in the mouse both refer to the sensitivity of the mouse and refer to the same thing. But actually CPI and DPI are different things. DPI is the abbreviation of Dots Per Inch in English, which is used to indicate the resolution of the printer, that is, how many pixels the printer can print within one inch of distance. However, because the “CPI” originally used to represent the performance of the mouse engine is difficult for most people to understand, some manufacturers have borrowed the word DPI, which is more popular, to replace the “CPI” originally used in the mouse industry in order to promote their products.