Pixart sensor: everything you need to know about the best sensor?

One of the computer peripherals that has undergone the most changes throughout its existence has been the desktop mouse, since its use began to become popular in the eighties, these companions have changed their morphology, operation and marketing. up to the present time, finding one of the main engines of the enormous offer that we find today: the competitive video game.

The proliferation and standardization of the "gaming" mouse arises with the need to optimize the style of play of the competitors. As with the keyboard, users began to demand desk mice that removed obstacles during game sessions, but to perform fast and precise movements, the ball mechanism mice that were so popular until then were insufficient.

Microsoft's Intelli-mouse Optical was one of the first standards among users (Image: Nez Andrew)

The answer to the needs of these players came from Microsoft with its Intelli-mouse and its optical sensor. When other brands, like Logitech, began to compete for a niche in our desks, more accurate and faster sensors began to be demanded. Thus began the race to offer the best sensors on the market, a race won in 2012 by a Taiwanese company called Pixart Imaging.

Index of contents

Why is the quality of the sensors so important in a desktop mouse?

Exposed sensor of a Logitech LS1 (Image: Andrew Plumb)

Outside of mouse morphology, there is a consensus that the fundamental piece in these peripherals is the sensor. The sensor is in charge of reading every movement made on the mouse, so the precision and speed at which the peripheral movement is shown on the screen is not only conditioned by the skill of the player himself, but also by the limitations of the sensor. in charge of reading said movement.

Currently, almost all sensors on the market are optical and rely on imperfections registered on surfaces to detect our movements. The ability to record this displacement is limited by the CPI (Counts Per Inch) and the resolution at which we run our games, while the speed at which this information is transmitted to our PC is determined by the polling rate.

Both factors, as well as acceleration or reading speed, among others, contribute to improving the precision with which our movements are shown and all of them depend on the sensor, therein lies their importance.

A look at the world leader in CMOS sensors

Given the importance of sensors, we can understand the need for manufacturers of peripherals with the rodent name to differentiate themselves from other competitors. Thus began a fight to offer the best possible sensor, a dispute that was also lived between the manufacturers of such sensors. In the late 2000s this fight was concentrated between Avago (Actual Broadcom), which in 2006 concentrated the majority of the market share thanks to the western market, and Pixart Imaging, which had been operating in the Asian market since 1998.

Both companies were embroiled in a series of lawsuits over patents for optical sensors used in desktop mice, a legal brawl that spanned several years and ended the Taiwanese company's legal victory. A triumph that enshrined the Asian company with the vast majority of CMOS patents and displaced the rest of the manufacturers from the market. Since then, the main sensors on the market were from Pixart.

The need to differentiate yourself from peripheral companies

PMW 3360 sensor, one of the current industry standards (Image: PixArt Imaging Inc.)

With a single manufacturer, the market for gaming mice began to flood with the same sensors. Models such as the PMW 3310, which gave good performance, became the minimum admissible in competition mice and saturation began to become reliable after the launch of the PMW 3360, even today the reference model.

In this situation, the co-development of new sensors began to become popular, as well as the modification of existing ones, to differentiate itself from the competition. Some of the most popular sensors today are of this type, among which stand out:

Sensor	Original	Class	CPI	IPS	Acceleration	Reference
PMW 3361	PMW 3360	Optical	12000	250	50g	Roccat Kone EMP
5G Laser	PMW 3389	Optical	16000	450	50g	Razer Viper
PMW 3391	PMW 3360	Optical	12000	250	50g	Corsair M65 RGB
True move 3	PMW 3360	Optical	12000	250	50g	SteelSeries Rival 310
PMW 3366	PMW 3360	Optical	12000	250	50g	Logitech G Pro
SDNS 3989	SDNS 3988	Optical	6400	200	50g	DeathAdder Chroma
AM010	PMW 3320	Optical	4000	120	20g	Logitech G402
ASNS 3095	ADNS 3090	Optical	3, 500	60	20g	Logitech g400

Most of these high-end sensors come from modifications of the already named PMW 3360, which completely displaced the rest of the company's sensors. For this reason it is common today to find inferior sensors in affordable models, many of them being great optical sensors. We highlight the PMW 3310 and the PMW 3330, both used in high-end mice until the subsequent release of the PMW 3360.

So are they all current Pixart sensors?

The quickest answer is a resounding yes. Except for some low-end sensors from small companies, all large peripheral manufacturers operate with Pixart sensors or manufacture their own models with them, including co-developed sensors such as the TrueMove 3 (SteelSeries) or the Hero 16K (Logitech), although the latter is only manufactured by the Asian company. This is also the case with the old Avago, of which we can still find some models.

Despite the implications that such a monopoly entails, the positive point is that the sensors of the Taiwanese company are of very good quality, which is why practically all gaming mice currently have a good sensor to back them up. Among all the models available from the company, unmodified, we highlight the following:

Sensor	Class	CPI	IPS	Acceleration	Reference
PMW 3360	Optical	12000	250	50g	GMR Model-O
PMW 3389	Optical	16000	450	50g	CoolerMaster 3389
PMW 3330	Optical	7200	150	30g	Ozone Neon X40
PMW 3325	Optical	5000	100	20g	Krom Kahn
PMW 3310	Optical	5000	130	30g	Zowie ZA13
SDNS 3988	Optical	6400	200	50g	DeathAdder 2013
ADNS 3090	Optical	3, 500	60	20g	Aurora Ninox
ADNS 3050	Optical	2000	60	20g	Aukey Gaming Mo.
Hero 16K	Optical	16000	400	40g	Logitech G-Pro Hero
Hero	Optical	12000	400	40g	Logitech G305
Mercury	Optical	8000	200	25g	Logitech G203

We recommend reading the best mice on the market

All of these sensors can be found in desktop mice on the market, making up some of the best optical sensors on the scene today along with the modified ones already shown. Whether you are a casual or competitive gamer, we recommend taking them into account the next time you are going to purchase a new rodent for your desktop.

Mouse GuidePixart ImagingImage Sensor World font