What are Line Scan Cameras?

What are Line Scan Cameras?

Camera casing GigE M45x0.75
Camera casing GigE M45x0.75

Introduction

Line scan cameras are semiconductor cameras used in many industrial environments.
The single photosensitive line sensor contains – depending on type – up to 22800 picture
elements (pixels). Light energy incident on the sensor is transformed into an electric signal for digitization within the camera.

At 8-bit resolution, the A/D converter transmits the output voltage of each pixel into one of
256 brightness levels, at 12-bit resolution into 4096 brightness levels.

 
Color line scan cameras provide three separate line signals for Red, Green and Blue with
either 3 x 8-bit or 3 x 12-bit per pixel. The digitized output signal is transfered to a computer
via various interfaces according to requirements, e.g. Gigabit Ethernet or USB 3.0.

Advantages of Line Scan Cameras

The advantages of a line scan camera include
  • High optical resolution of up to 8160 pixels (monochrome) or 3 x 7600 pixels (color RGB)
  • High speed of up to 54 kHz line frequency
  • Flexible parameter setting for the line scans
  • Synchronizing of each individual line, as well as the triggering of frames
  • When focused on the zenith of cylindrical objects, the line scan camera delivers sharp, distortion-free images of the external surface during rotation
  • Flexible image height from 1 up to 64000 lines per image
  • Continuous scanning of endless materials such as foils or paper without a time limit.