mouse trails

mouse trails

(operating system)A feature (usually of Graphical User Interfaces) which causes the mouse pointer to leave atrail across the screen. This is done by keeping track of thelast eight or so (maybe configurable) pointer positions, andonly erasing the oldest. This means that at any time, theremay be up to eight pointers on the screen, but if the mouse isstill, they will all be in the same position, and so only onewill be visible. When the mouse moves, it appears to leave atrail of pointers behind it, and this can dramaticallyincrease the visibility of the pointer when using LCDscreens. The older ones had such long persistence that asingle mouse pointer, when moving, tended to be completelyinvisible, and on a cluttered screen, was very difficult tofind.

mouse trails

The creation of repeating, trailing images of the pointer when it moves across the screen in order to make it more visible on passive matrix screens. See submarining.

Mouse Trails
On a passive matrix screen, mouse trails are left when an object, such as this pointer, is moved quickly across the screen.