How do Scroll Wheels Work? 🖱🛠🔬

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Take a look at their PCB Assembly, for an inexpensive population of the components on your PCBs.
Have you ever scrolled a scroll wheel and wondered how it scrolls? Scroll is a rather strange word, isn't it? Anywho, in this video, we're going to explore the inside of a computer mouse and look at two different scroll wheels: an optical rotary encoder, and a magnetic rotational position sensor, and see how they are used to measure up and down rotational movement in a computer mouse scroll wheel. We're also going to explore the push button under the scroll wheel as well as the free-spinning vs. ratchet mode of the scroll wheel.
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Modeling, Animation & Editing: Mike Radjabov
Script: Teddy Tablante
Twitter: @teddytablante
Voice Over- Phil Lee
Additional Modeling: Prakash Kakadiya
Table of Contents:
00:00 - Intro
00:40 - Inside an Optical Scroll Wheel
02:46 - Direction of Rotation
03:37 - Inside a Magnetic Scroll Wheel
06:50 - Pushbuttons and Free Spinning Vs Ratchet Mode
09:08 - PCBWay
09:54 - Outro
Key Branches from this video are: Printed Circuit Boards, Lithium-Ion Batteries, Scroll Wheel, Bluetooth, Computer Mouse Image Sensor
Erratum:
Animation built using Blender 3.0 www.blender.org/
Internet References:
Logitech MX Master 3 Teardown offers an Intriguing look at its new scroll wheel
www.theverge.com/circuitbreak...
blog.bolt.io/logitech-mx-mast...
Fixing the Logitech MX Master Scroll Wheel
toemat.com/logitech-mx-master...
Details of the Image Sensor
www.pixart.com/
Inside the Omron D2FC-F-7N Microswitch
www.gonnalearn.com/inside-omr...
What is Mouse DPI? Does DPI Matter?
xahlee.info/kbd/mouse_dpi.html
Logitech Mouse Review. Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse. Packaging and Equipment
playfmrussia.ru/en/programmy/...
Razer Viper Gaming Mouse Review: Lefties Bestie, Righties' Meh-stie
www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...
Wikipedia contributors. "Computer Mouse" , Interpolation Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, Visited October, 2021
Music Credits
#ComputerMouse #ScrollWheel #Mouse

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omg look at the screw at 6:53, it even has imperfections on its surface

[@ghostali8351]

@Lon that's sick, I wonder how they do this

[@Lon3wolf3]

@@ghostali8351 they said that they took apart these particular mice. Maybe they kind of 3D-scanned every part

[@med_mn]

@@Lon3wolf3 where did they say this please?

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Which engineering are you doing?

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@@kned7288 I’m in mechanical engineering

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I dunno, there's a 40s or 50s showcase of how differential units work on cars that's still relevant.

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2 3d kings

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did you get your idea to use computer animations to describe how things work from this person?

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magic mouse is better

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I'm not an engineering student or studying anything related to science, but I'm always excited to discover how things I use everyday work in detail and in a simple manner 🤩 love the videos

[@MatchaCutie14]

You guys make learning about things fun with these animations so thank you a lot!

[@LaplacianFourier]

These are world class animations. Brilliant!

[@surajvkothari]

Loved the sequence where the frame surrounding the wheel went transparent. Absoulutely amazing animations!

[@namelesscare7982]

I've been using these types of peripherals (mouse, keyboard) since the early 2000s. This is the most informative and illuminating video I've ever seen. Especially visual animations during the presentation are really top-notch quality.

[@constantinosschinas4503]

Amazing production quality and full, yet easy to understand, coverage of the subject. Thanks for preparing amd sharing.

[@WERT2025]

Top tier animations, as always. But need to mention that 95% mice have simpler mechanical encoders.

[@smithcasey9785]

I actually was searching for a mouse that I can trust. At the moment I have a Genius NetMouse Wheel/PS2 but I would like something with a USB connector and an optical scrollwheel (just like the NetMouse) to carry around in my backpack. Couldn't find one just yet :(

[@Wanted54321]

This, most gaming mouse atm just uses simple mechanical encoders.

[@BattousaiHBr]

honestly i think this was true even 5 years ago, but competition is extremely fierce and you now see tons of very affordable and cheap mice, typically targeted at gamers, with features that you only normally see in expensive ones. just look at amazon's best sellers and see their features and price point. maybe it's true that a lot of them still use simpler designs, but likely not 95% of mice.

[@WERT2025]

@@BattousaiHBr Can you give several examples of better mice? AFAIK even top-tier gaming mice, not old by any means, like logitech g pro x superlight, razer viper ultimate, have mechanical encoders. And my current "pwnage ultra custom wireless symm 2" too.

[@BattousaiHBr]

@@WERT2025 the superlight is an exception because it's going so far in the high end side that it's "sacrificing" some performance for less weight (though i reckon they have gone through effort to still make the scroll as good as it can). other than that, there's plenty of mice with optical scroll sensors. maybe most of the expensive ones? if you've seen mice with that wheel switch that changes between stepped mode and free mode, those are all optical sensors afaik. another good indicator (though not necessarily a rule) are metal wheels.

[@Night_Hawk_475]

The timing on this is so funny to me - I was just a few weeks ago researching how feasible it was to try and build my own gaming-level mouse from scratch. I have some very awkward hand sizes that have made it difficult to find a mouse that's comfortable to me AND that includes all of the fancy modern features with buttons in places I like. It'd be really fun to 3d print my own case & buttons, and learn how to wire up the boards and sensors correctly on my own. But learning about scroll wheels was difficult, and figuring out how to obtain PCBs seemed impractical.... you managed to cover both in ways that have reignited my interest. Thank you :)

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[@FindStoicism]

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[@Fexisepic]

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[@errhka]

I've got the Logitech MX Master II so it was awesome to see how my mouse works - thanks for making these!

[@drew1936]

Yes, now I finally know what the button behind the scroll wheel does!

[@PushyPawn]

@@drew1936 I have a Logitech MX Anywhere 2S, and it is by pressing the scroll wheel itself that engages/disengages the smooth/stepping mode of the wheel, there is no motor but a simple mechanical latch. The button behind the wheel is its own separate button, with no relation to the wheel.

[@Dust019]

@@PushyPawn Its different on every mouse. I used to have the standart MX Anywhere 2 and pressing the scroll wheel also enables the fast scrolling mode. I now have the Logitech G903 and it has a seperate button under the scroll wheel that enables fast scrolling and the scroll wheel click works as normal.

[@drew1936]

@PushyPawn @David K I actually have two buttons on mine. One behind the scroll wheel, and one even further that changes the DPI between five settings. And then there are the two custom buttons on the side that I can configure to do whatever I want

[@drew1936]

@@PushyPawn ^

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Glad you enjoyed it!

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I've ignored this video on purpose for some time because c'mon, what can I learn about mouse wheels - they are so simple. Man was I wrong. I suspected the visuals are going to be top notch and of course they are, as usual, but once again, the level of detail around engineering solutions is in class of its own - superb!

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I literally needed to know how a mouse scroll wheel worked, for a project of mine. I thought to myself: "Branch Education probably won't have a video like that. I was mindblown to see that exact video, right here! And, as usual, the entire mechanism was explained with absolutely staggering detail. Well done!!

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I always wondered how does it decide the direction of the movement, the dual sensor explains it. Thanks for these videos

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Great video! The scroll wheel is usually the first thing that goes bad in most of the mice I have used. I was hoping you would have covered that too

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Glad you like them!

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[@TheGooEater]

I was changing the encoder on my old noname mouse to seemingly same type of encoder part - potentiometer. Both old and new parts looked just alike, same xehagonal hole to engage with the wheel, same 3 contact legs. But the new part didn't work. So i squished the metal tabs and disassembled both. While the new had resistive track connected to side legs from its ends, the middle was moving across it. However the original now broken part was just 3 sliding contactors separated in a complex metal shape with many additional legs that could contact with only 2 of its legs thru a rotating metal contact on the spinning part. That was very clever and cheap solution. It lasted for years and became faulty only because of metal fatigue on the contacts, those weren't pressing hard enough to the spinning metal part. It was generic white Logitech mouse and yes i managed to fix it by pressing metal tabs that keep parts together harder.

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Also great explanation on Hall Effect sensors!

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Another briliant video on how things work!

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Love these cool breakdown!

[@marcfuchs6938]

The optical method is also the one with which the analogue stick of the N64 worked. For at least 20 years now, basically every controller uses 2 potentiometers at the stick, one registering the X movement, and the other for the Y movement. The N64 design was similar with registering X and Y, but with the same optical system as explained here. It was very unusual, but not a bad design at all, since those controllers were very accurate - even the stick was wobbly like hell. Still Nintendo recognized to improve this design big time with the GameCube controller, one of the arguably best controllers to this day, also part of it's (indestructable) stick.

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Level of animation has once again improved! Congratulations!

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Great content. If you're open for suggestions, an EEG sensor as next concept would be nice to watch

[@DoomFinger511]

This was cool. I have the MX Master 2 and 3 right night to me right now and was always curious how they worked. Especially the MX 3 which uses the magnet wheel.

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Really interesting and educational.

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It's cool how both optical and magnetic systems work, but when you explained the latter, there's just a magic to that. I bloody love magnets, always have 😊

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