CPI vs DPI: What Is The Basic Difference!

If you are a gaming nerd or sleep and eat games then you should be associated with good quality of mouse. Gaming mouse surely enhance the quality of gaming experience. But before buying any mouse- have sufficient knowledge about them. In this regard mention may be made of dpi vs cpi- they are important parameters when we are considering to buy a new mouse. You are wondering about the difference between CPI and DPI. Don’t worry, today I will reveal to you and clear all confusion.

What is DPI?

Dot per Inch (DPI), in the printing world signifies the output resolution of a printer or similar devices. It is actually physical dot density of an image when it is stamped on paper. Today this term often misdefined, usually to mean PPI, which stands for Pixels per Inch. So when someone says they want a photo that is of 300 dpi they actually mean to say that they want 300 ppi photo. But the question of the hour is- how dpi affects a gaming mouse? DPI is a measure of sensitivity and responsiveness of the sliding object. It is simply how much more or little you move your mouse to move whatever virtual object you’re controlling on the screen, such as gun or your cursor in games. This is definitely a great factor for playing games. The responsiveness of a mouse is a big factor to consider while buying a new mouse.

What is CPI?

CPI refers to count per inch. It is actually the number of steps or distance the mouse will traverse when it moves one inch. This is also related to the mouse sensitivity. For simplicity, when the mouse starts to traverse the number of “counts” are calculated and received from the mouse and will move the cursor across the screen by that number of pixels. Frankly speaking cpi also measures the same thing that dpi measures- how quickly the mouse responds to any change. A mouse with CPI settings 800 allows you to move the pointer through 800 pixels on the screen. Majority of gamers will prefer CPI of 3000 settings.

What is the difference between CPI and DPI?

Well, from this article we have understood the major concept of DPI and CPI.But what is the confusion then? In this column we are trying address that issue-:

• CPI and DPI more or less determine the same thing about a mouse. But technically when we talk about a mouse, CPI is the more correct thing. But the term DPI is more widely used today. Sometimes DPI also suggest picture or video quality. This is Pixels per Inch (PPI). A graphic designer uses the DPI to determine quality of images but in reality they are talking about PPI. The true thing is that most of the companies use the term DPI so that the common people understands better. Unfortunately, most of the people continue to use it in place of everything that relates closely to DPI. Any Gamer have heard the name of DPI switch, but in reality it is actually CPI switch. But some companies use the term CPI correctly. Eventually, what companies point to as DPI is the same as CPI concept. DI or CPI –it does not change anything, any functionality of the mouse.

How Does This Concern Users?

Now that you know about DPI and CPI, you probably would be thinking- does it change anything? My answer is a big no. You can continue to use your mouse in the same way that you were using before. Nothing will happen to the mouse if companies continue to use the term DPI. DPI is more prevalent to the consumers, so companies use them. At the end of the day, we are changing only a mouse’s sensitivity, regardless of what the company calls it.

In a computer mouse the term DPI and CPI relate to the same thing- mouse sensitivity. If we want to buy any mouse then sensitivity of a mouse is an important criteria to consider. Whether we call it DPI and CPI it is not going to change the mouse’s sensitivity-the hardware of the mouse remain to behave in the same way. I hope you understand my logic.