How do people use/control a trackball.

[Semaj]

I have tried searching a few times for this information but can't find it anywhere so I will try and write how I use my track ball and hopeful some other people can tell me if they uses their's the same way or some other way. Mostly I won't to know because I don't understand why people would want higher DPI on a trackball so I figure other people must be using their trackballs differently to how I am.

I have a wired Logitech trackball where the track ball is in the centre.

I have tried to define the different ways I move the ball on my trackball below, and name each of them.

PinPoint - When I am trying to get the cursor pointing exactly to where I want it, this is how I move it. I have my finger on the ball and my finger doesn't slide or leave the ball, so the ball can only move about half a rotation.

Step - When PinPointing doesn't get the cursor close enough to where I want it and I have to pick my finger up and move it so I can turn the ball more.

Throw - When I want to move the cursor a large distance on the screen like from the bottom left corner of the screen to the top right corner I will quickly move a finger or fingers over the ball so that it spins and so the mouse cursor will keep moving in the direction I have spun the ball and then either land close enough that I can PinPoint what I want or I will catch the ball as it goes over what I want to be able to PinPoint.

Slide - When I need to move the cursor sideways I will move my hand over the ball with my fingers extended so the middle of my fingers touches the ball and moves it side ways, and have a space between my fingers that when one figure stops touching the ball another starts so the spin of the ball is controlled.

Walk - When I need to move the cursor up or down verticality, I walk two fingers on the ball.



These are all the ways that I move the trackball, mostly I wont use the Step method unless I stuffed up on the Throw method. But because I can already PinPoint a single pixel easily with the low DPI on the trackball I have using it this way, I want to know how other people think increased DPI would help, or how you are using your trackballs differently?

[Internetlad]

I've only used my bosses but i'm bad at it, i'll always overdo it and end up on the other side of the screen. I've used a mouse for like 15 years so it's hard to adjust.

[laffindude]

Mainly higher resolution of the monitor. It takes more rolling on 2560 pixel wide monitors.

[Arc'xer]

I don't understand why people would want higher DPI on a trackball so I figure other people must be using their trackballs differently to how I am.

What's there to understand? trackball sensors are abysmally ancient the only modern ones seem to be the CST and the logitech M507 or franken-trackball made by a few members around here. Mouse sensor technology is so many generations ahead of trackballs that even wireless mice offer superior performance and that's saying a lot if your used to the response of a wired mouse. Remember as well trackballs can be used with acceleration if you feel they aren't fast enough unfortunately it's pretty hard to find software that offers configurable acceleration curves to build an acceleration system suited to you. But still some want higher DPI on their trackball it doesn't matter what people think about how gimmicky or ridiculous DPI has gotten, whether they understand it or not. Remember the trackball is a high-sensitivity device, it was meant to be quick, accurate, responsive, and able to move across large resolutions as well as multi-monitor resolutions.

So it's not so much why do people want higher DPI on a trackball. It's why WOULDN'T they want a higher DPI or like better yet like I said above why WOULDN'T they want a better sensor on a trackball.

As for your utilization of trackball just use the trackball. Because it seems like you have a basic and general understanding of how to utilize it. Hell from the description you provided you seem to have a great mental and physical understanding of how to utilize the trackball, your post reminds me of some of the old school trackball gamers(mid-late 90s and early 2000's forum posts, a few here and there forum posts from the last few years) who mentioned very similar things to what you said except not as descriptive nor name wise. This might sound like a strange thing to say but you seem to utilize the trackball almost like a 3-dimensional mouse so to speak, almost as if you were flying an aircraft.

[RPro]

Interesting post semaj - I never stopped to analyze how I use my CST LTrac. I guess on reflection I pretty much do exactly as you do. I've been using a trackball off and on since my Assassin3D days (best gaming trackball ever made - unfortunately got pretty useless at 800x600 and higher resolution because of its very low DPI that is probably around 100 ppi).

I got the 3200 DPI version of the LTrac and realized after a few days that it is just way too high for me. 800 DPI -- the lowest setting -- is the most comfortable for me with my 1920x1080 monitor. I have a 1680x1050 monitor above it, but since it is vertically above I don't need higher DPI.

I really need to add more buttons to my CST - it is hard to reach for the scroll wheel and the middle button, especially for FPS games.

[Surly73]

I too don't understand why people feel trackballs need higher DPI.  I use a Kensington Expertmouse sometimes to combat some kind of RSI/tendonitis in my index finger from left clicking.  It's not the ball that I need, it's the fact that I don't use my index finger to click and can left click with my thumb.

Despite many hours, I'm not as good/accurate with a ball as with a mouse.  Even with all of the different finger techniques listed in the first post (I have never analyzed how I use the ball, I just realize that I ended up doing a lot of the same things) I still have a "fast accuracy" problem when trying to quickly but precisely click (working with large spreadsheet-type applications, trying to select parts of strings).  I usually end up overshooting.  I have acceleration as off as Windows will let me (have used it on in the past) and way higher DPI would only make the problem much worse.  

I'm "only" using 1920x1200, but I'd find ridiculously high DPIs in a ball wasteful and, well, ridiculous.  I can navigate from one side of the screen to the other in 180 degrees of ball rotation if I need to.  It's simply not necessary to have crazy DPI with an input mechanism that doesn't move across the table.  If you have a "long way to go", flick the ball.  You can't do that with a mouse.

[shrap]

I think I have the same Logitech trackball (Marble), but all the use descriptions sound foreign to me.

I move the trackball from the arm/shoulder and don't use my fingers for movement.

[bootstrap]

@Semaj - I don't own a Logitech trackball, but I have 3 CH Products DT225 trackballs. :smile: The trackball of the DT225 is in the center, and I basically use the same technique as you.

[zareliman]

I would definetively use a higher DPI sensor on my Logitech Marble.
I'm using 8/11 on windows (which is 2:1 ratio) so I'm skipping half the pixels and I would still go more sensitive but I don't want to have a skippy cursor so higher interpolated ratios are not an option. As the current sensor is 400 CPI, I think 1600 CPI (which is not much really) would suit most users (as you can use a 4/11 setting to get 1:2 ratio if you find it too sensitive).

I like those laser CST things but they're hard/impossible to find in some countries.