Optical mouse misbehaving on calendar pad.

[Brian Smither]

Stumble across this today. We all know that optical mice can basically be
used on any surface except for mirrors and other extremely highly polished
surfaces.

But I had it on one of those 3'x2' desktop calendar pads - used to keep
track of appointments. It had a faint blue background pattern (clouds, I
think) and when I wiped the mouse back and forth sideways across it, it
sporatically threw the mouse cursor to the far corners or made vetical
jumps.

 

[Paul Hopwood]

Stumble across this today. We all know that optical mice can basically be
used on any surface except for mirrors and other extremely highly polished
surfaces.

But I had it on one of those 3'x2' desktop calendar pads - used to keep
track of appointments. It had a faint blue background pattern (clouds, I
think) and when I wiped the mouse back and forth sideways across it, it
sporatically threw the mouse cursor to the far corners or made vetical
jumps.

Common with optical mice on patterned mouse mats.

The amount of light reflected varies according the surface it's placed
on so the mouse has to calibrate accordingly. If the mouse is moved
across a patterned area the variations in reflected light can
"confuse" the sensor, causing erratic pointer movement.

It's most apparent where the variations are sudden and extreme, such
as moving across black and white bands.

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