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Using a technology they call Darkfield Laser Tracking (DLT), Logitech has seemingly solved the problem of using an optical mouse on a glass surface. The advantage of DLT is improved performance when using the mouse on glass, granite, and lacquered wood.
Logitech looks to solve the problem using a mouse on glass. (IMG: Logitech)
“Laptops have gained popularity in the last several years because of the freedom they afford – people today want to be able to connect to their digital world anytime, anywhere. However, until now, no mouse has been able to match that flexibility,” said Rory Dooley, Logitech’s senior vice president and general manager of the Control Devices business unit.
“Thanks to Logitech Darkfield, whether you’re checking the morning news from the granite counter top in your kitchen or at work manipulating a spreadsheet from your glass desk, you can be confident that your Logitech mouse will be up to the task.”
Regular laser tracking relies on the ability of the mouse’s sensor to detect the textural details of the surface. Thus, the more irregularities a surface exhibits, the easier it is for the sensor to identify reference points. These reference points are used to measure motion. However, because high-gloss surfaces such as glass are almost completely flat, there are not enough details for a typical laser mouse’s sensor to detect.
To track on glass (that’s at least 4 mm thick), DLT uses dark field microscopy to detect microscopic particles and micro-scratches on these surfaces, rather than tracking the surface itself. The process is similar to the way in which our eye sees the clear night sky. The mouse’s sensor sees the clean areas of glass as a dark background with bright dots – the dust. Then, the sensor interprets the movement of these dots to track exactly where you’ve moved the mouse.
DLT is available in Logitech’s Performance Mouse MX and the Anywhere Mouse MX. Both are available now in the U.S. and Europe for $99.99 and $79.99 USD respectively.
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