If you have been doing some research on our range of ergonomic mice, you would have stumbled across DPI. Most people wouldn't know what DPI means and quite possibly never even heard of it before. This article will explain what DPI is and why it is important in choosing an ergonomic mouse.

Dots per inch (DPI) is a measurement of how sensitive the mouse cursor is, when you move it. A higher DPI means, the farther the mouse cursor will move when you move the mouse. A lower DPI means that the mouse is more sensitive to movements and will move the cursor with smaller movements. 

A higher DPI isn’t always better. 

Imagine wanting to quickly look something up on your computer and you move your mouse and the cursor flies across the screen and far away from where you actually need it to go. However, on the flip side of that if you are a gamer or use your computer for graphic design or working in CAD, then you will benefit from a computer mouse with a higher DPI. A higher DPI will allow you to use small mouse movements for precise work. However, once you finish this task you may want to turn down your DPI so that you can do your normal day to day computer tasks with ease. For this reason, having an ergonomic mouse that has an adjustable DPI is recommended. 

DPI is different from the mouse sensitivity setting you can find in your computer settings. DPI refers to the hardware capabilities of the mouse, while your computer mouse sensitivity settings is just a software setting. For example, let’s say you have a very cheap mouse with a low DPI and you turn up the computer mouse sensitivity. If you tried to aim at small targets, you’ll see the mouse cursor jump around as you move it. The mouse hardware isn’t as sensitive, so it doesn’t detect the smaller movements. Your operating system just compensates by moving your cursor farther when it does detect a movement, so the movement isn’t as smooth.

A high DPI mouse can also be paired with a low sensitivity setting, so the cursor won’t fly across the screen when you move it but the movement will stay smooth.

High DPI mice are more useful if you have a higher-resolution monitor. If you’re playing a game on a low-resolution 1366×768 laptop screen, you don’t necessarily need that high DPI. On the other hand, if you’re playing a game on a 3840×2160 4K monitor, a higher DPI lets you move your mouse cursor across the screen smoothly without having to drag your mouse across your entire desk.