Want a great PC mouse? Understand these terms

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Enlarge (credit: Scharon Harding)

Many people think of the mouse as one of the most basic PC peripherals. Point, click, and that's it. But modern mice have come a long way, and if you're looking for a more advanced mouse, you may be confused by some of the marketing terminology.

Below, we'll give quick breakdowns of some of the most common terms you'll see when looking for a feature-packed mouse. If you're paying $50 (or even $150 or more) for a mouse, you should know exactly what you're getting.

Optical sensor

Modern mice use optical sensors, which leverage LEDs, complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) image sensors (like in a camera), and a digital signal processor (DSP) to convert your arm movements into pointer movements. The DSP, as explained by How Stuff Works, "is able to detect patterns in the images and see how those patterns have moved since the previous image. Based on the change in patterns over a sequence of images, the DSP determines how far the mouse has moved and sends the corresponding coordinates to the computer." A bit less common are laser sensors, like the Logitech Darkfield sensor used in Logitech MX Master 3.

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