Mice to use with 4K-5K monitors

[hajime]

Hello, I plan to buy a 34-43" LCD monitor this year. 4K or 5K depending on what will come out (probably the new LG 34" ultrawide 2018, the LG 43UD79-B or its to-be-updated model). Somewhere I read that high dpi mice are recommended for use with 4k/5k monitors due to the large screen resolutions. Is that right? Are the Logitech Anywhere MX 2/2s and Ergo good enough? One thing I like the Anywhere series is that they can be used on any surfaces including glass.

Anywhere MX 2: 400 to 1600 dpi with normal value of 1000 dpi
Anywhere MX 2s: 200-4000 dpi with nominal value of 1000 dpi
Ergo: 320-400 dpi with nominal value of 380dpi

Anybody knows why the Ergo has a much lower dpi? Is it because of a different mechanism (trackball)? Is the dpi of trackball mice equivalent to the dpi of typical wireless mice?

 

[MacGizmo]

...Somewhere I read that high dpi mice are recommended for use with 4k/5k monitors due to the large screen resolutions. Is that right?...

Anywhere MX 2: 400 to 1600 dpi with normal value of 1000 dpi
Anywhere MX 2s: 200-4000 dpi with nominal value of 1000 dpi
Ergo: 320-400 dpi with nominal value of 380dpi

Anybody knows why the Ergo has a much lower dpi? Is it because of a different mechanism (trackball)? Is the dpi of trackball mice equivalent to the dpi of typical wireless mice?

The DPI of the mouse has nothing to do with the screen size or resolution. You can safely get any mouse you wish. That being said, the higher DPI mouse will give you a smoother and more accurate experience no matter what size monitor you have.

The DPI of even the Ergo is higher than the current iMac 27" with 5K Retina display at a resolution of 5120x2880—which is the highest resolution and DPI of any consumer display on the market. That DPI (or more specifically, the PPI) is 218.

But again, this means nothing in relation to the mouse. This simply means that if you were to set software like Photoshop to show the image at 218 dpi exactly, then one inch on screen would be one inch on paper as well. In theory, if you found a mouse that was exactly 218dpi, then moving it one inch on your desk would move it one inch on screen.

The simple explanation is that the higher dpi mouse simply means that it moves the cursor on your screen more precisely with little to know lag. The 1,000+ dpi mice move a LOT more precisely, particularly when moving it very fast or very slow!

What can make a difference in tracking is going with a LASER mouse rather than a typical (cheaper) OPTICAL mouse, which is probably what the Ergo uses.

 

[NorCalLights]

The DPI of the mouse has nothing to do with the screen size or resolution. You can safely get any mouse you wish. That being said, the higher DPI mouse will give you a smoother and more accurate experience no matter what size monitor you have

I always pick a mouse that has a DPI that is at least the same as the pixel-width of my monitor. That means that I can move the mouse one inch and move the cursor from one end of the monitor to the other, and still have pixel-accurate control of the cursor within that inch. This saves strain on my wrist, but it does mean I have the mouse sensitivity settings dialed way up.

With one of those ultra-wide monitors, I wouldn't worry about it as much. You're probably going to be working in 1/3 or less of the width of that monitor at any time.

 

[MacGizmo]

I always pick a mouse that has a DPI that is at least the same as the pixel-width of my monitor. That means that I can move the mouse one inch and move the cursor from one end of the monitor to the other, and still have pixel-accurate control of the cursor within that inch. This saves strain on my wrist, but it does mean I have the mouse sensitivity settings dialed way up.

With one of those ultra-wide monitors, I wouldn't worry about it as much. You're probably going to be working in 1/3 or less of the width of that monitor at any time.

That's actually not how it works.

First, DPI and screen resolution are two completely different things. By your logic, you would be limited to a half dozen mice on the market (for macOS anyway) and none (since there are no 5120dpi mice for Mac on the market - though you could use a windows mouse with no driver install) if you owned the 27" iMac.

Second, you can have a 10dpi mouse that moves all the way across a 27" screen having moved it only a slight bit on the desk just as easily as a 2,000dpi mouse. You simply need to boost the tracking speed way up. The only difference is that with the 10dpi mouse, the cursor would be "jumpy" as it moved across the screen.

[Update: Apparently there are a few Razer gaming mice with obnoxiously high DPI that do offer Mac drivers. But good gawd they're expensive!]

 

[NorCalLights]

First, DPI and screen resolution are two completely different things. By your logic, you would be limited to a half dozen mice on the market (for macOS anyway) and none (since there are no 5120dpi mice on the market) if you owned the 27" iMac.

No one uses the 27" iMac at its full resolution. The effective resolution of a 27" iMac out of the box is 2560x1440. The Logitech G302 that I use has a max DPI of 4000. Sure, that wouldn't be enough for a 5k iMac running at it's native resolution, but even if I was crazy enough to try, it would get me 78% of the way there... pretty good, IMO.

Second, you can have a 10dpi mouse that moves all the way across a 27" screen having moved it only a slight bit on the desk just as easily as a 2,000dpi mouse. You simply need to boost the tracking speed way up. The only difference is that with the 10dpi mouse, the cursor would be "jumpy" as it moved across the screen.

That's exactly the problem I am able to avoid with a high-DPI mouse. I want a mouse that can move the cursor across the entire width when I move my wrist 1". I also want to be able to move the cursor with maximum control within that 1".

The point is, unless you want a jumpy cursor, or if you want to be lifting the mouse every time you want to move your cursor large pixel-distances across a monitor, get a high-DPI mouse. Wether a 1000 DPI mouse is enough for you, is up to you. It wasn't enough for me.

 

[MacGizmo]

No one uses the 27" iMac at its full resolution.

LOL! Yeah, and Blockbuster was too big to go out of business.

The point is, unless you want a jumpy cursor, or if you want to be lifting the mouse every time you want to move your cursor large pixel-distances across a monitor, get a high-DPI mouse.

What I'm telling you is that the resolution of the mouse has nothing to do with how far across the screen it moves before having to pick it up... that's the tracking. The DPI simply controls the accuracy of it as it moves.

You could have taken one of the 1000DPI (or less) mice and installed an app like Smooze, CursorSense, SteerMouse or SmoothCursor for $2 to $20 to accelerate the mouse and in some cases even improve the accuracy when moving it slowly (for those like you and I who want blazing speed when moving the mouse fast, but much more accurately when moving slow for things like drawing).

 

[sartrekid]

No one uses the 27" iMac at its full resolution. .

That's a wrong assumption. I use mine at its full resolution. It's why I bought it in the first place.

 

[MacGizmo]

That's a wrong assumption. I use mine at its full resolution. It's why I bought it in the first place.

I know, right? I can't imagine why anyone would spend money on a 5K display for any reason OTHER than to use it at the full resolution. The picture quality is no better than a 4K to the naked eye... but costs twice as much.

 

[NorCalLights]

What I'm telling you is that the resolution of the mouse has nothing to do with how far across the screen it moves before having to pick it up... that's the tracking. The DPI simply controls the accuracy of it as it moves.

We're arguing the same point. Tracking does control the distance the pointer moves, but only up to the limits of the mouse's DPI. If you increase the tracking too much, the computer must make assumptions about the mouse movement, which leads to the jumpiness you've described with your theoretical 10 DPI mouse. High DPI mice avoid this problem.

You could have taken one of the 1000DPI (or less) mice and installed an app like Smooze, CursorSense, SteerMouse or SmoothCursor for $2 to $20 to accelerate the mouse and in some cases even improve the accuracy when moving it slowly (for those like you and I who want blazing speed when moving the mouse fast, but much more accurately when moving slow for things like drawing).

Mouse acceleration is a disaster. I need to know how far my cursor is going to move. With acceleration turned on, I'm guessing as to what the computer is going to do. Much better to learn how to move a high DPI mouse properly.

That's a wrong assumption. I use mine at its full resolution. It's why I bought it in the first place.

To each, their own... the UI elements are way to small at the full 5K resolution. The HighDPI modes of that display give you all the text sharpness, full resolution images, and full resolution video without the tiny UI... that's the whole point... but like I said, to each, their own.
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I know, right? I can't imagine why anyone would spend money on a 5K display for any reason OTHER than to use it at the full resolution. The picture quality is no better than a 4K to the naked eye... but costs twice as much.

A 5K display in HighDPI 1440p mode is way better than a 4K display in HighDPI 1080p (to little real estate) or 1440p (non-integer scaling)... so yes... there is a reason... and no, this has nothing to do with mice.

 

[apolkowski]

Consider Razer. Their mice let you change DPI on the fly when you need it just by pressing two buttons below the wheel.

 

[IHelpId10t5]

This entire discussion is nuts. I use a 27" 5K iMac at home and a 27" 5K iMac with a second 27" 4K Dell Ultrasharp at work. In both places I use a $30 Logitech M310 mouse that gives me as fine a control as I could ever want, even at fast tracking speeds. My son uses the same model of mouse for gaming on a PC at 1440 and has no complaints whatsoever.

Just my opinion but I think that these expensive "gaming" and "hign-resolution" mice are just a bunch of marketing BS.

 

[MacGizmo]

Just my opinion but I think that these expensive "gaming" and "hign-resolution" mice are just a bunch of marketing BS.

We're arguing "technical" type junk here, not common sense!

We all agree that a laser-based optical mouse with anything over 600-800dpi is best. But yeah, for the most part, anything more than that is marketing hype for most users. It's a whole lot like RAM or processor speed in computers. At some point, for most users, there is simply no benefit for paying for more of either.

 

[apolkowski]

This entire discussion is nuts. I use a 27" 5K iMac at home and a 27" 5K iMac with a second 27" 4K Dell Ultrasharp at work. In both places I use a $30 Logitech M310 mouse that gives me as fine a control as I could ever want, even at fast tracking speeds. My son uses the same model of mouse for gaming on a PC at 1440 and has no complaints whatsoever.

Just my opinion but I think that these expensive "gaming" and "hign-resolution" mice are just a bunch of marketing BS.

Did you ever try?

 

[IHelpId10t5]

Did you ever try?

Why would I want to? That would be like deciding that my $10 HDMI cable is working fine but then buying a $100 HDMI cable to prove to myself that it makes no difference.

 

[apolkowski]

Why would I want to? That would be like deciding that my $10 HDMI cable is working fine but then buying a $100 HDMI cable to prove to myself that it makes no difference.

I do not think this is correct comparison. Both HDMI cables will let you see what you want and I agree that it makes no sense to overpay for the same function. In my case I work with two 4K 40 inch monitors in extended mode with different content displayed. I love the possibility to quickly move cursor between them and then adjust the movement to be more precise in editing photo or something like that.

 

[hajime]

My thumb is getting painful due to constant hitting of the trackpad on my MBP 2010. I don't know my two Anywhere MX are not working(one automatically scrolls the webpage to the top and one with left button not working). I better buy a new mouse soon before my thumb's condition gets worse.

Among the Logitech Anywhere MX 2, Anywhere MX 2s, Masters MX 2s and the Ergo, which one do you recommend?

 

[hajime]

I went to a local store to check out the Master MX 2s. By chance, it happens to be on sale today. So the price is similar to the Anywhere MX 2s. It feels more comfortable than the first version of Anywhere MX. Slow scrolling is better on the Master MX 2s but for fast scrolling, the original Anywhere MX is better. Whenever I try to stop the fast spinning of the Master MX 2s, the noise and switching are not very good.