Wireless PC Gaming at Lightspeed

Wireless mice that are now faster than wired

By IGN STUDIOS

Partner Content by Logitech

How can you expect to game with a mouse still tethered to dated technology? Going wireless can grant your mouse more freedom of movement by eliminating the constant dragging and snagging of a mouse cable. And with Logitech G’s Lightspeed technology, your mouse will continue to transmit data even when they don’t have a line of sight to your computer. Furthermore, the speed of your gaming performance won’t suffer either with Logitech G’s new Lightspeed wireless mouse.

G903 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Mouse

So between your mouse and your screen is a subatomic world of complication, which takes careful design and strong transceivers to navigate. Logitech first introduced its high-performance wireless tech with its G900 mouse. Since then, Logitech G has refined their wireless technology through their Lightspeed brand, designed to offer superior signal strength and faster wireless performance. In practical terms, this means the mouse is designed to accurately track more clicks and faster movement. Logitech G’s Lightspeed technology is designed to achieve unrivaled speeds, even ahead of other wired products.

The sternest test of wireless performance is the professional world of esports, where Lightspeed mice are the gear of choice for world-class players in top-tier leagues including Cloud9 CSGO’s Timothy "Autimatic" Ta; Søren "Bjergsen" Bjerg from TSM League of Legends; and Tyler “Tucks” Reilly from The Chiefs CSGO. There are few players more demanding than those in the high-action-per-minute, big-money world of global competition.

So how does it work? The PMW3366 optical sensor is state of the art, using CMOS sensors to take pictures of the surface below. The PMW3366 operates from 200dpi (dots per inch) all the way up to 12,000dpi without any smoothing, filtering, or acceleration thanks to its use-specific design. For an explanation of these terms, read on.

Smoothing is a software option which compares frames, predicts where the mouse is going, and ignores readings that deviate on the basis they’re mistaken ‘blips.’ Sudden movements in gaming may be interpreted as ‘blips' by smoothing algorithms, which in turn ‘smooths’ or ‘filters’ them out. The result is increased latency. Obviously, the mouse needs time to make its comparisons before it can transmit what it interprets as your command. This extra delay can be very noticeable, and only makes the whole problem of smudgy control worse. The quality of the sensor allows it to reach high DPI and speed without the need for smoothing.

G703 LIGHTSPEED Wireless Gaming Mouse

Acceleration, on the other hand, is the term for a problem inherent to optical mice. Optical mice have lasers and LEDs that each have a unique “sweet spot” or “threshold” where moving the mouse at that specific speed ensures it will register accurately. But move the mouse too fast or too slow and you can encounter an acceleration issue; when a laser is used to illuminate the surface, it creates something of a "boiling" or "sparkling" effect. This effect makes tracking more difficult for the sensor to report motion at different speeds, which is especially problematic for gaming. This is why many gamers prefer optical, or LED-illuminated sensors like Logitech’s Hero or PMW3366 models.

Lightspeed is designed to mitigate the problems of other mice while delivering the performance that esport athletes have come to expect. To learn more about Lightspeed technology and its attempts to redefine the esports world, go here.

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