Resolution of sensors

Common sensor resolution of industrial cameras has increasingly enhanced over the years. Due to enhanced production processes, smaller pixel structures can be realised today which are equally light-sensitive as the former large sensor pixels. The quantum efficiency of the pixels has been enhanced significantly. Today, sensors with a resolution of 2, 5, 8, 12 or 24 megapixels are used, where cameras with 1 megapixel were used 5 or 10 years ago.

Image using a 5 mpix camera

Partial image (640x480 pixels) from 5 megapixel image, 1to1 representation. Very fine image structures visible. Small fonts readable.

Image using a 2 mpix camera

Partial image (640x480 pixels) from 2 megapixel image, 1to1 representation. Very fine image structures such as component inscriptions unreadable.

Image using a VGA camera

Even coarser structures are already roughly pixelated and no longer identifiable.

Sensors for C-mount cameras

Common sensor resolutions for C-mount cameras are mostly between VGA resolutions (640 x 480 pixels) with 0.3 megapixels and sensors with 25 megapixels.

Sensors for F-mount and M42, etc.

Higher resolutions of approximately 50 or even 200 megapixels (or much more), as they are used today in consumer cameras, are not available for C-mount cameras in machine vision because the individual pixels are far too small and the image noise is far too strong in order to measure and inspect in high quality.

Resolutions of 30 to 150 megapixels are mainly realised with very large sensors which, due to the large image circle diameter, require F-mount optics (Nikon bayonet), M42, M58, M72 or Canon-Mount (EF-Mount) for example. They are often used for PCB layout applications and board inspections in order to detect even small features of rather large component groups and to evaluate them.

Line scan camera resolutions today range from 512 pixels with 16384 pixels ("16 K line") and a line frequency of up to 300 KHz (!) for standard products. Bandwidths of around 4 GB/s are no longer an issue today.