Dubbed by Microsoft as the “World’s Most Advanced Tracking,” BlueTrack is intended to work on virtually any surface: wood, marble, granite, carpet, fabric. These surfaces are known to be nuisances to even the highest-end laser and optical mice. Having the ability to track across almost any surface, the wireless Explorer with its snap-in receiver can be transported and used anywhere, from marble kitchen-tops to the carpet floor in front of the TV.
Optical and laser mice are the most common form of mice today. BlueTrack takes the best of both worlds for better tracking: the power of optical and the precision of laser. Throw in its use of high-angle imaging optics and you have yourself a very smooth, accurate picture of the mousing surface.
Check out Microsoft’s explanation of what BlueTrack is all about. Pardon the copy/paste from Microsoft’s BlueTrack Technology page.
BlueTrack Technology—How It Works
Microsoft-Designed CMOS Chip
The Explorer Mouse uses a proprietary, Microsoft-designed complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) chip with advanced algorithms and pixel architecture for more precise tracking. It is Microsoft’s fourth-generation application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) using CMOS technology.
Blue Specular Optics
Microsoft’s proprietary high-angle imaging optics generate more exact surface images—even of shiny surfaces such as granite and marble—instead of blurry, out-of-focus images, as can be produced by many of the leading laser mice. And blue light helps create high-resolution, high-contrast images for better navigation.
Four Times Wider and More Diffuse Beam for Better Imaging and Tracking
The wider beam enables illumination of a larger surface area and allows more light to return to the sensor. This helps for tracking on irregular surfaces such as carpet, where a smaller beam could get lost between the individual fibers. The BlueTrack Technology light source is optimized to provide illumination at the tracking surface that is more uniform than current laser or optical mice.
This illumination is accomplished by using a new optical element, never before used in a mouse. The light source is encapsulated in a diffusing optic that smooths out hot spots within the illumination profile. While the concept of diffused lighting is well known, the application of diffused light sources to mice is a Microsoft proprietary technology.
Incoherent Blue Light
Laser mice use coherent light that’s easily disrupted by dust and dirt, leading to poor tracking. The Explorer Mouse’s incoherent blue light doesn’t have the extreme sensitivity to dust, so the signal quality is maintained. This means your mouse will provide excellent performance even in a less than clean environment—you’ll get great precision performance in a dusty workshop or outdoors just as you do on an ideal clean surface.
Okay, now let’s see just how well these mice with their BlueTrack Technology work in the real world. Continued…