# How does an optical mouse work?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 27, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429 "2001-11-27T02:41:20Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chekmate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/46a35a/32.png) [@Chekmate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chekmate)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429/1 "2001-11-27T02:41:20Z")

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I was just wondering how an optical mouse worked. Why is it so much more precise then my wheel mouse, and why does it seem to go so much smoother?

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**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429/2 "2001-11-27T02:46:30Z")

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It images the mousing surface multiple times a second, tracking the changes. Thus the mouse movement is inferred and translated into cursor movement on screen.

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**Author:** ![Genseric](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Genseric](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Genseric)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 2:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429/3 "2001-11-27T02:48:25Z")

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See [How do optical mice work?](http://www.howstuffworks.com/question631.htm)

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**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [November 27, 2001, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-does-an-optical-mouse-work/95429/4 "2001-11-27T04:51:58Z")

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The reason they are more accurate than ball mice is because the balls can jiggle and get stuck a bit on the rollers (especially if the ball is dirty) and so forth. The lack of moving parts makes measuring the distance moused more precise.