What is mouse acceleration?

So, what is mouse acceleration? Well, this topic has drawn a lot of attention in most online forums. While most argue that mouse acceleration is generally bad for gaming, some still feel that it’s an important setting that should not be underestimated.

Basically, mouse acceleration refers to a mouse setting that change the distance moved by the pointer in reference to speed. A simple analogy should explain this. Move your mouse from point X to point Y slowly and mark the distance travelled by the pointer in the screen. Now, move the mouse again from X to Y, but this time faster, and note the distance travelled by the pointer. With acceleration on, the pointer moves a greater distance when the mouse is moved faster and a smaller distance when the mouse is moved slowly between the same points, X and Y.

There are two types of mouse acceleration.

Positive acceleration – this means that the faster you move your mouse, the farther the cursor will travel on the screen. Thus, increased mouse movement results to an increased pointer/cursor movement. Most operating systems come with this setting, and can be accessed under mouse settings.

Negative acceleration – it’s basically the opposite of positive acceleration. The faster your mouse moves, the less the distance travelled by the pointer and vice versa. It’s not common and can only be used in specific applications and games.

In the world of gaming, accuracy and consistency are key attributes that define a professional gamer, attributes that are hard to achieve with mouse acceleration turned on. Though debatable, most gamers recommended no mouse acceleration to achieve precision and accuracy, especially when playing more competitive games. In windows, this can be achieved by un-checking the enhance pointer precision under pointer options.

On the other hand, I would say that it’s a setting that depends on a person’s choice and preference. For instance, a gamer who normally uses no mouse acceleration will definitely find it difficult to aim in a mouse acceleration environment.