Optical mouse LEDs

[ultraspank]

I searching and i couldnt really find a clear answer, hoping someone would be able to help...


well, does the Optical mouse HAVE to use a red LED? or can i change it to blue or something cool like that....?

 

[NleahciM]

My understanding is that the internal optics are designed for the red led wavelength - and when you switch to a led of a different wavelength the optics can't sense as well and accuracy gets decreased, sometimes a fairly noticeable amount (I've specifically heard this about the MX500).

 

[theshadow27]

exactly right - although optical mice can detect other wavelengths, it detects red the best. people have used blue or white LEDs, but it generally degrades performance. in some cases, 2 ultra bright blue LEDs can replace a regular red LED without a problem -- but if you are looking for a gaming mouse, i wouldn’t touch the LED, unless you were swapping in a super bright red: but you still have to be careful, you don’t want to over saturate the camrea.

here is a guide if you want to do it: http://www.twistedmods.com/article.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=37

Edit: i found this thread on my other fourm... i posted at the bottom:
http://xoxideforums.com/showthread.php?t=45576&highlight=blue+mouse+led

 

[chopsuwe]

The sensor is more sensitive to red than other colours. In this means to use other colours they need to be brighter than the original 1000mcd red one. Bear in mind that a red mouse pad won't return much of the light from a blue led and vice versa. I changed to a 10,000mcd green led and it improved performance on a blue mouse pad.

 

[Troney1169]

With all the above said, I've switched out the red led for an ultra bright blue led in my microsoft mouse with no loss in performance. and it is a very easy to do mod.

 

[ultraspank]

same here, i put in a 8000 mcd blue and im using a purple mouse pad, good cool mod

 

[xonik]

I wonder if adding a brighter red LED would yield any benefits. My intuition is failing me right now.

 

[ultraspank]

i doubt it would do much...

 

[Teancum]

One thing you *could* do is add a couple of blue/white/whatever LEDs to the mouse, and then shield the pieces of the mouse that deal with the red LED so that its light doesn't spread throughout. The light usually goes in at one angle and out to the sensor at another angle. Paint everything else black (or whatever color suits your fancy--it's all underneath, so it's not visible anyway). That way the optical sensor sees the red but you see the blue.

 

[chopsuwe]

I wonder if adding a brighter red LED would yield any benefits. My intuition is failing me right now.

Sure does. One of the guys at work was using the mouse on one of those calendar desk pad things that cover the whole desk. With the stock 100mcd led it would miss track over black areas, once I replaced it with a 8000mcd one it worked perfectly.

 

[Combat Wombat]

The last time this topic was floating around, I took the bait, and modded a 12,000 mcd white LED from LSDiodes into it. However many months later, it's still alive, and kicking.