What is DPI exactly?

Frozen · July 2013

I was just reading the alien/marine sensitivity thread, and it raised this question for me which I thought was a difference enough for a new thread. If not feel free to move it

But, what is DPI doing? I see these people playing with their DPI AND in-game sensitivity. But why wouldn't you leave your mouse on a maximum setting (I truly ASSUMED this was just increasing the smoothness of movements when turning, but never tested it), and then just mess with the in-game settings?

Does DPI not effect the mouse smoothness?

I remember in ns1 when i switched from the free Dell mouse to a Razer Diamondback at 1600 DPI I could literally move the mouse for smaller numbers of pixels than with the dell.

So is it possible that I would give myself an advantage with 1600 DPI instead of 3500? (I'm using a Deathadder)

Edit: Specs because everyone is misunderstanding xD
-Razer Deathadder currently running at 3500 DPI
-Func.net Surface 1030 (smooth side) (From NS 3.0 Beta 3

)

cyanide · July 2013

DPI is Dots per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch (2.54 cm).

Inregards to gaming. i think lower dpi is better unless you have a 72 inch monitor or insane resolution. No real advantage in aiming. Just need to use 1 sens + 1 dpi and practice.

Frozen · July 2013

cyanide wrote: »

...
Inregards to gaming. i think lower dpi is better unless you have a 72 inch monitor or insane resolution. No real advantage in aiming. Just need to use 1 sens + 1 dpi and practice.

Thanks! But... Can you expand on why it's better? Sounds to me like it's still better to just lower your in-game sensitivity.

I use 1 sense and 1 dpi, but I gauge my sensitivity based on my arms reaction to a 180 with the idea that a skulk could only ever bite me once if I have a shotgun. But that's for that other thread and why I made a new one

joshhh · July 2013

In real laments terms, think of dpi as the mouses' sensitivity to the surface it is on. The higher the dpi, the more data the mouse will read when it is moved. Since the mouse is reading more data every inch it is moved, the cursor moves faster.

DPI can sometimes hurt your aim as well. With an high dpi, the mouse is prone to pick up more micro detail on your mousepad. This can cause unnatural stutters or twitches in your aim. (At least from experience)

cyanide wrote: »

DPI is Dots per inch (DPI) is a measure of spatial printing or video dot density, in particular the number of individual dots that can be placed in a line within the span of 1 inch (2.54 cm).

This is the real definition.

Caboose · July 2013

Some gaming mice have ajustable dpi, which is effectivly sensitivity. My g400 has 5 settings that I can change in game, lower DPI = lower sensitivity = more accurate aiming, higher = faster turns. Partucularly on aliens, I find myself using a few of the settings for different classes.

Just use what feels good for the situation.

Frozen · July 2013

joshhh wrote: »

In real laments terms, think of dpi as the mouses' sensitivity to the surface it is on. The higher the dpi, the more data the mouse will read when it is moved. Since the mouse is reading more data every inch it is moved, the cursor moves faster.

DPI can sometimes hurt your aim as well. With an high dpi, the mouse is prone to pick up more micro detail on your mousepad. This can cause unnatural stutters or twitches in your aim. (At least from experience)

Just for my own pride, I had no trouble understanding what DPI physically is lol.

But ok, I'll be lowering my DPI because I'll twitch and lose control on fast turnarounds occasionally when using the smooth side of my surface 1030, which I prefer. Hopefully the DPI drop will eliminate that effect

cyanide · July 2013

in terms of aiming and dpi. You won't get that shot off quicker if ur dpi is higher. The benefit of dpi is to help move accross large surfaces quicker and easier when using a higher res/72 inch mmonitor.

There is no real known advantage when it comes to gaming. infact, most pro gamers generally lower there DPI between 450-1000. Ofcourse there will be the exception.

The best example of lower sens is it minimizes natural twitching from arm. A good example i give people is. Majority of average pool players actually play better after 1-3 alcoholic beverages because it stops the little twitches in your arm while aiming.

Frozen · July 2013

cyanide wrote: »

in terms of aiming and dpi. You won't get that shot off quicker if ur dpi is higher. The benefit of dpi is to help move accross large surfaces quicker and easier when using a higher res/72 inch mmonitor.

There is no real known advantage when it comes to gaming. infact, most pro gamers generally lower there DPI between 450-1000. Ofcourse there will be the exception.

The best example of lower sens is it minimizes natural twitching from arm. A good example i give people is. Majority of average pool players actually play better after 1-3 alcoholic beverages because it stops the little twitches in your arm while aiming.

I'm speaking about a digital stutter where my mouse wont work for <1s

ScardyBob · July 2013

Mouse DPI = Between Mouse and Cursor
In-game Sensitivity = Between Cursor and Crosshair

It doesn't matter which one you adjust (i.e. hold mouse DPI constant and adjust in-game sensitivity or hold in-game sensitivity constant and adjust mouse DPI). However, I find it useful to figure out your most desirable settings in two ways:
1. Adjust your DPI/sensitivity till the max distance you're willing to travel on your mousepad is a 360 turn in-game
2. Increase/decrease your DPI/sensitivity on whether your constantly either over or undershooting your target (e.g. if your overshooting your target = reduce your DPI/sensitivity and vice versa)

cyanide · July 2013

why won't your mouse work? it sounds faulty to me if that's the case.

Agiel · July 2013

ScardyBob wrote: »

Mouse DPI = Between Mouse and Cursor
In-game Sensitivity = Between Cursor and Crosshair

It doesn't matter which one you adjust (i.e. hold mouse DPI constant and adjust in-game sensitivity or hold in-game sensitivity constant and adjust mouse DPI). However, I find it useful to figure out your most desirable settings in two ways:
1. Adjust your DPI/sensitivity till the max distance you're willing to travel on your mousepad is a 360 turn in-game
2. Increase/decrease your DPI/sensitivity on whether your constantly either over or undershooting your target (e.g. if your overshooting your target = reduce your DPI/sensitivity and vice versa)

Something that does matter however, is what speed your mouse is set to in Windows. For a 1:1 mapping between DPI and pixels the slider needs to be set to 6/11. Anything higher than that and it will skip pixels and anything lower than that will ignore input from the mouse.

What I normally do is I make sure the Windows mouse speed is set to 6/11, then I adjust the mouse DPI (or CPI if you're a steelseries fan) to what feels comfortable for non-gaming stuff, and then I set the in-game sensitivity to what feels comfortable for gaming (currently ~30cm for a 360).

Caboose · July 2013

Another advantage of DPI is that you can do this.

cyanide · July 2013

change ur x and y sens levels? i HIGHLY do not recommend this for gaming.

Caboose · July 2013

I'd like to know why you have that opinion?

I've been playing that way for months. 1200 Base, and incremental increase in x axis for faster turning while still retaining vertical accuracy. I do pretty OK.

I switch between all 5 settings. depending on what I'm doing, get down to 200x 200y for sniping in some games, 2500x 1300y I find good for lerking. 1800x 1250y for skulk, etc.

joshhh · July 2013

It is just bad practice in general mouse use. But if it works for you, more power to you

Gliss · July 2013

you should just use the dpi that's default for your mouse or whatever one it works best at

having high dpi in a lot of mice can cause negative acceleration though and that sucks

ezekel · July 2013

400 dpi

Never change, ever

By the way, changing your sensitivity consistently will mess with your muscle memory, While I base most games off my counter-strike settings, I always make it so I can only do a 180-190degree turn

However ns2 is one of the few games where I can do an entire 360 across a 17" mousepad, but I'd never change the sens ever.. it will make you inconsistent

And diff x/y axis is not good, maybe in like a plane simulator game or something it'd be useful but I don't recommend that for any type of fps game

Frozen · July 2013

Well, my goal being to keep the same sensitivity with a more consistent feel.

I lowered DPI to 1600 and am adjusting my sensitivity from there. It doesn't feel extremely different but it definitely hasn't had any glitches, so it's staying.

The real hero is disabling "enable pointer precision" in Windows

ScardyBob · July 2013

ezekel wrote: »

By the way, changing your sensitivity consistently will mess with your muscle memory

Frankly, I don't think this applies to NS2 as much. You may want your marine sensitivity to be consistent with other shooter games, but I frequently find myself needing a higher sensitivity with aliens to maintain my muscle memory.

pat · July 2013

ezekel wrote: »

400 dpi

Never change, ever

By the way, changing your sensitivity consistently will mess with your muscle memory, While I base most games off my counter-strike settings, I always make it so I can only do a 180-190degree turn

However ns2 is one of the few games where I can do an entire 360 across a 17" mousepad, but I'd never change the sens ever.. it will make you inconsistent

And diff x/y axis is not good, maybe in like a plane simulator game or something it'd be useful but I don't recommend that for any type of fps game

this is bro science at its finest

where's the research to support this

nSidia · July 2013

cyanide wrote: »

change ur x and y sens levels? i HIGHLY do not recommend this for gaming.

I remember a lot of cs players doing it for fast turns but better control on the recoil. Imo make your DPI as high as you can and just go download all those reg mods for the mouse to lower the sensitivity. I play on 2700 dpi right now. I might go up to 3000 but you should go to at least 1000. Also get a hard mouse pad that will help a lot.

Caboose · July 2013

As I said, my base is 1200 dpi, it works, it's the default for the mouse, I can lower it. I change it for the flying lerk and the wall/ceiling jumping quick turn skulking. I don't need high sens on my y axis because there's really no need to look up/down faster, but left/right, definately. My muscle memory is used to switching between what I have. I usually don't go above that for marines, often lower, but for aliens, it's useful. I also have the same DPI setings for other games, I ajust it based on what I'm doing. sniping is 200, jet flying higher x axis sens. At least on pub servers, I do well enough.

Frozen · July 2013

Agiel wrote: »

Something that does matter however, is what speed your mouse is set to in Windows. For a 1:1 mapping between DPI and pixels the slider needs to be set to 6/11. Anything higher than that and it will skip pixels and anything lower than that will ignore input from the mouse.

@Agiel What I normally do is I make sure the Windows mouse speed is set to 6/11, then I adjust the mouse DPI (or CPI if you're a steelseries fan) to what feels comfortable for non-gaming stuff, and then I set the in-game sensitivity to what feels comfortable for gaming (currently ~30cm for a 360).

So in my Windows settings I put the slide on 6/11? Then DPI, you say, isn't impactful on gaming performance so I set it as I feel comfortable. (I only use Windows for NS2, I'm on a Macbook. So whatever DPI is best for NS2 is what I want to use).

Then I can set my in-game sensitivity to anything? Or is that ideally at 6/11 on it's slider as well?

It's going to take me atleast 15-20 hours before I can feel comfortable with disabling pointer precision, so I want to make sure I'm doing everything I can NOW, before I go start scrimming on a sensitivity I'm not sure I'll be keeping for long

cyanide · July 2013

majority of pro gamers that i've spoken to are at 450dpi. Personally i use 800 thou.

Mattk50 · July 2013

Im not quite sure if the windows mouse sens setting affects ns2, but for the games which it does, it should always be at the 6/11 setting to prevent silly brokenness.

Ghosthree3 · July 2013

They do if you don't use raw input (use raw input).

Also in regards to dpi, it really REALLY doesn't matter what dpi you use. Use a dpi that is comfortable to use your desktop with (I use 2400 because with 2 monitors it's nice to have to barely move the mouse to navigate it), then just adjust your sensitivity in game til it's what you want for distance in cm/360 degrees. Seriously, having 2000 dpi and 1 sensitivity is no different than 1000 dpi with 2 sensitivity (I believe that math is right?).

tldr; All that matters is distance in game to turn 360 degrees, what "settings" you use to achieve this are irrelevant.

ritualsacrifice · July 2013

I run at 3000dpi with 0.5 in game sensitivity.. seems to work fine for me. I've tried lower dpi + higher sens but it didn't make much of a difference, just felt a little less smooth.

Visor1 · July 2013

turning on raw input in the ns2 options can help with cursor issues to

Frozen · July 2013

ritualsacrifice wrote: »

I run at 3000dpi with 0.5 in game sensitivity.. seems to work fine for me. I've tried lower dpi + higher sens but it didn't make much of a difference, just felt a little less smooth.

Lower DPI + higher sens Is where I settled but it's the only thing I didn't see a noticable increase in my aiming potential with. Everything else has helped immensely.

1. Raw input on
2. Disable windows pointer precision
3. FOCUS on your lmg when playing with your settings. Let everything else fall into place once you have "muscle memory" to twitch and track to a point you're comfortable with.

edit: raw input ON

Golden · July 2013

mattji104 wrote: »

ritualsacrifice wrote: »

I run at 3000dpi with 0.5 in game sensitivity.. seems to work fine for me. I've tried lower dpi + higher sens but it didn't make much of a difference, just felt a little less smooth.

Lower DPI + higher sens Is where I settled but it's the only thing I didn't see a noticable increase in my aiming potential with. Everything else has helped immensely.

1. Raw input off
2. Disable windows pointer precision
3. FOCUS on your lmg when playing with your settings. Let everything else fall into place once you have "muscle memory" to twitch and track to a point you're comfortable with.

I think you mean Raw Input On

Ghosthree3 · July 2013

mattji104 wrote: »

ritualsacrifice wrote: »

I run at 3000dpi with 0.5 in game sensitivity.. seems to work fine for me. I've tried lower dpi + higher sens but it didn't make much of a difference, just felt a little less smooth.

Lower DPI + higher sens Is where I settled but it's the only thing I didn't see a noticable increase in my aiming potential with. Everything else has helped immensely.

1. Raw input on
2. Disable windows pointer precision
3. FOCUS on your lmg when playing with your settings. Let everything else fall into place once you have "muscle memory" to twitch and track to a point you're comfortable with.

edit: raw input ON

Just so you know, changing windows settings at all after enabling raw input is pointless. It's like you're ignoring the whole point of raw input.

What is DPI exactly?

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