Difference Between Mouse Sensitivity and Acceleration Controls

ID: Q70180

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

The following is more information on the sensitivity and acceleration of the Microsoft Mouse.

Sensitivity

Sensitivity controls the mouse-to-cursor motion. There are 20 possible settings, from 5 to 100, in steps of 5. The numbers of the settings do not relate to any actual PPI values; they are reference points only (like the numbers on the volume knob of a radio).

A setting number of 50 means that the ratio of mouse motion to cursor motion is unchanged -- a movement of one inch moves the cursor 400 pixels (points). The following table describes each of the settings: 

Sensitivity
Number in              Effective              Mouse-to-Cursor
Control Panel          PPI                    Movement Ratio
-------------          ---------              --------------

     5                   12                       .031 : 1
    10                   25                       .062 : 1
    15                   50                       .125 : 1
    20                  100                       .25  : 1
    25                  150                       .375 : 1
    30                  200                       .5   : 1
    35                  250                       .625 : 1
    40                  300                       .75  : 1
    45                  350                       .875 : 1
    50                  400                      1.0   : 1
    55                  500                      1.25  : 1
    60                  600                      1.5   : 1
    65                  700                      1.75  : 1
    70                  800                      2.00  : 1
    75                  900                      2.25  : 1
    80                 1000                      2.5   : 1
    85                 1100                      2.75  : 1
    90                 1200                      3.0   : 1
    95                 1300                      3.25  : 1
   100                 1400                      3.5   : 1
The sensitivity control allows selecting an effective PPI range from 12 PPI to 1400 PPI. Both DOS and Windows mouse drivers have a default sensitivity number of 50, which is 400 PPI.

Acceleration

Acceleration controls the SPEED of mouse motion to cursor motion. As the mouse moves, the driver sees how fast the mouse is moving and applies a scaling factor, either slowing it down (typically used for slow movements), leaving it unchanged, or speeding it up (for fast motions). The range of acceleration is from 1/16 actual speed (de-acceleration) to 16, in steps of 1/16.

The acceleration is applied on top of the sensitivity, thus the effective PPI range is from 3/4 PPI (1/16 of 12 PPI) to 22,400 PPI (16 X 1400 PPI).

Additional query words: 7.x 8.x 8.10 8.20 


Keywords          : 
Version           : 7.x 8.x | 1.00
Platform          : MS-DOS 
Issue type        :

Last Reviewed: August 9, 1999