[whatsntomake]

I've always heard that the general consensus when it comes to optimal tracking on mousepads is that:
1) Cloth mousepads are better for optical sensors
2) Hard mousepads are better for laser sensors.

Looking at this logitech video - I get the impression that this is still true:

From what I know and experienced:
Laser sensors used to be more surface dependent but that isn't the case anymore.
I know in the past, laser sensors had difficulty on cloth mouse pads due to the cloth fabric sinking.
I gather this is where laser sensor -> hard mousepad comes from.
I also know that some laser sensors track terribly on some hard pads without increasing the LOD - some avago 9500 mouse come to mind. Although this is a lens and sensor implementation issue also. I know the avago 9800 seems to work well on most surfaces. I don't know if you'll get optimal tracking on a cloth pad but I know that your issues won't be exacerbated by your cloth mousepad anymore.

As for optical sensors I'm not quite sure.
Do optical sensors not perform well on hard-pads? Is there jitter or something like that?
I don't know how optical sensors -> cloth mousepad came to be.
I know that most optical sensors now work on most cloth and hard mousepads and I know they'll work on either surface. However, I'm sure most optical sensor users want optimal tracking and performance - not just a oh it works type of experience.

So what's better for optical sensors? Assuming we're dealing with uniform, dark surfaces and baring personal preference, is cloth still the way to go to achieve optimal tracking with optical sensors?

Sorry for the tangents on lasers.

 

[xmr1]

For optical, the way I always understood it was that hard pads provided better image quality to the sensor but cloth pads held up better tracking at high speeds. Mionix drivers have a tool that tracks data loss from the surface and in general I think hard pads receive higher scores.

 

[metal571]

Cloth definitely is optimal for opticals. Hard mats vary. My Avior 7000 actually has a much higher LOD on the Propus 380 or the MM400, as does the Rival, but that may be 3310 specific. Both my DA 3.5G and G400 have about the same LOD and max PCS on hard mats. It depends, can't blanket statement it but in general optical mice work their best with cloth. Laser mice actually still work better with hard mats. Back when I was still using my Sensei, it had less perceivable acceleration when I was using it with the MM400 than with any of my cloth mats. I missed a lot more shots on cloth with the ADNS-9500 and I would also assume the 9800. Their acceleration just feels much worse on flickshots with cloth than hard surfaces. PTE mice are almost unusable without DPI scaling as well unless they're on a hard mat because a soft surface allows for the click bug where the mouse cursor will move up and to the left when the mouse sinks into the pad. My original Lachesis does this. The hard mats greatly alleviate the problem.

 

[whatsntomake]

Thanks for the responses.
I guess the best way is still to make a few purchases and test for yourself haha.
How reliable is the mionix surface analyzer? I guess that might also be a good way to test surfaces.

 

[metal571]

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatsntomake

Thanks for the responses.
I guess the best way is still to make a few purchases and test for yourself haha.
How reliable is the mionix surface analyzer? I guess that might also be a good way to test surfaces.

Haha, not very good. At least not for their opticals, I think that feature was originally intended for their laser mice anyway.

 

[e4stw00t]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal571

Haha, not very good. At least not for their opticals, I think that feature was originally intended for their laser mice anyway.

I tend to agree - looking at the results I achieve especially on (quality) cloth pads in comparison to the values they claim you get out of their cloth pad it seems a nice marketing stunt to me at best.

 

[zhuanxiueo]

yes, I think that feature was originally intended for their laser mice anyway.thank you

 

[DivineDark]

Quote:

Originally Posted by metal571

Haha, not very good. At least not for their opticals, I think that feature was originally intended for their laser mice anyway.

Actually, it didn't work well with their laser mice either. It could give a surface a perfect rating and not track on it for anything (I'm looking at you Propus 380).