BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an optical gaming mouse, and more particularly, to a lift detection method for an optical gaming mouse, which can determine a lift off condition of the mouse to a high degree of accuracy.

2. Description of the Prior Art

The optical mouse has largely replaced the mechanical mouse for most computer applications. As an optical mouse has fewer moving parts, there is less likelihood of wear and tear. The optical mouse also has high cursor accuracy, meaning it can provide precise location feedback, making it very suitable for gaming applications. Further, the optical mouse can be used on many surfaces. Surfaces with high reflectivity can provide inaccurate results, however. A parameter called ‘squal’ (which stands for ‘surface quality’) is used to describe a surface on which the mouse is used. High surface squal typically indicates a dark and non-reflective surface, whereas low surface squal indicates a light and/or highly reflective surface.

Refer toFIG. 1, which is a diagram of a standard optical mouse100. The optical mouse100comprises a wheel110, for scrolling, allowing a cursor shown on a display screen of a computer (not shown) to be moved accordingly. Internally, the optical mouse100comprises an LED120, for generating a light which is directed via a prism130out of an emitter140, and is projected onto a surface200. The light is then reflected back to the optical mouse100into a pixel array150, which uses the reflected light to determine movement of the optical mouse100.

When playing computer games, fast reactions combined with display input heighten the experience. A gaming mouse has increased reaction times with comparison to a standard desktop mouse. Movement must therefore be determined quickly. In particular, distinction must be made between the mouse being on a gaming surface, and the mouse being lifted. Current techniques require the mouse to be lifted by 1 mm or more above the gaming surface in order to determine that a lift has occurred, which reduces reaction times seen on a gaming interface, and can result in incorrect inputs from the mouse.

If a lift condition can be determined more precisely and at a closer distance to a surface, user experience can be heightened.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore an objective of the invention to provide a lift detection method for a gaming mouse which has high accuracy and precision.

An optical mouse comprises a pixel array and a light source. A method for determining when the optical mouse is in a lifted condition above a surface comprises: accumulating pixel values of a first column of the pixel array, the first column being closest to the light source; accumulating pixel values of a second column of the pixel array, the second column being different from the first column; comparing the accumulated pixel values of the first column with the accumulated pixel values of the second column; and when a difference between the accumulated pixel values of the first column and the accumulated pixel values of the second column is greater than a threshold value, determining the optical mouse to be in a lifted condition.

The second column may be a column of the pixel array farthest from the light source or may be any other column of the pixel array apart from the column farthest from the light source. When a difference between the accumulated pixel values of the first column and the accumulated pixel values of the second column is less than or equal to a threshold value, the mouse is determined to be in an unlifted condition.

These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings.

