What does DPI mean in a mouse and how do you benefit from it in games?

This is a mouse with a DPI of up to 20,000, or 10,000, or 5,000, what is this? I mean, you definitely remember the day when you were young, you go to the computer accessories store and buy a mouse that lights up red and works with a USB cable for ten pounds and you go back with it to play all the games you love without thinking. Today, to play the same games and spend your time on the computer, you start asking yourself what is the value of DPI in this mouse? What value do I need for this game or that game, and you may ask yourself, when did I get into all these stories? In this article, we will explain the meaning of the term DPI and how it affects your gaming experience, so follow us.

What does DPI mean in a mouse?

A term that is very important to gamers, it is an abbreviation for Dots Per Inch, what does it mean? First you should realize that the screen in front of you is divided into dots or pixels, the mouse moves between these dots and DPI refers to the distance the mouse will move on the screen, compared to how many inches you will move the mouse on the desk, let's say your mouse has 2000 DPI, this number means that the mouse will move 2000 dots or 2000 pixels when you move a distance of one inch = 25.4 millimeters, which is of course a very large number.

The benefit of DPI in games

You are supposed to conclude this paragraph on your own, the benefit of the DPI number in games lies in the movement that your character moves, most of your controls in games come out of the mouse itself, once you move it you rotate in the game map and see all its aspects, this matter affects you more in shooting games such as Call of Duty or Valorant or any other competitive game, for example, a high DPI leads to the map moving and rotating quickly, this will lead to a weakness in your focus and your inability to shoot accurately.

But at the same time, the small DPI does not help you move around the map well. If you are in front of point X and you want to look at point Y behind you, rotating 180 degrees requires you to move the mouse more to get from one point to another.

The right DPI for gaming

What is the right number for games? I mean you want to be fast in moving around the screen in front of you but at the same time you don't want your movement to be too slow and too weak, here is the trick there is no perfect number, it is determined based on your playing style, let's say you are playing a game that has a story mode, you don't need an internet connection, at the same time you won't need a very high or very low DPI just what suits your movement in the game, shooter games will need a high number to be able to move quickly and greatly, while if you are using a sniper you will need a very low number.

How to adjust DPI

Mouse software

Let's divide mice into two types, a traditional type, which is any mouse you buy from any store, and a professional type, which are expensive mice. Most likely, if you buy an expensive mouse, it will come with its own software, and through the software you can control everything related to the mouse, from controlling macros and button functions, etc. And of course, the most important point in this article is the DPI, which you can change in the mouse through the software.

Through Windows

In traditional mice, you can control the sensitivity of the mouse through the system settings themselves. Windows has settings related to mouse sensitivity, and when you modify these settings, you can control the speed of your mouse movement. The settings between Windows 11 and 10 are similar and the steps are almost similar, so follow us.