The difference between industrial cameras and smart cameras

2026-07-31

The difference between industrial cameras and smart cameras, generally speaking, is that a smart camera is a highly integrated micro-machine vision system; while an industrial camera is one of the components of the machine vision system.

Smart Camera

A smart camera is not a simple camera, but a highly integrated micro machine vision system. It integrates image acquisition, processing and communication functions into a single camera, thereby providing a multi-functional, modular, highly reliable and easy-to-implement machine vision solution. At the same time, due to the application of the latest DSP, FPGA and a large number of storage technologies, its degree of intelligence is constantly improving, and it can meet the application needs of a variety of machine vision.

The composition and functions of smart cameras:

Image acquisition unit: In a smart camera, the image acquisition unit is equivalent to a CCD/CMOS camera and image acquisition card in the ordinary sense. It converts optical images into analog/digital images and outputs them to the image processing unit.
Image processing unit: The image processing unit is similar to the image acquisition and processing card. It can store the image data of the image acquisition unit in real time and perform image processing with the support of image processing software.
Image processing software: Image processing software mainly completes image processing functions with the support of the image processing unit hardware environment. Such as geometric edge extraction, Blob, grayscale histogram, OCV/OVR, simple positioning and search, etc. In smart cameras, the above algorithms are packaged into fixed modules that users can apply directly without programming.
Network communication device: The network communication device is an important part of the smart camera and mainly completes the communication tasks of control information and image data. Smart cameras generally have built-in Ethernet communication devices and support a variety of standard network and bus protocols, allowing multiple smart cameras to form a larger machine vision system.

Industrial Camera

Industrial cameras are an important component in machine vision systems. Their most basic function is to convert optical signals into ordered electrical signals. Choosing an appropriate industrial camera is also an important link in machine vision system design. It not only directly determines the resolution and image quality of the collected images, but also controls the operating mode of the entire system.

Main parameters of industrial cameras

Parameter	Description
Resolution	The number of pixels each time the camera collects images. For digital cameras, it generally corresponds directly to the number of pixels of the photoelectric sensor. For analog cameras, it depends on the video format. The PAL system is 768576 and the NTSC system is 640480.
Pixel depth	That is, the number of bits per pixel of data. Generally, 8Bit is commonly used. For digital cameras, there are generally 10Bit, 12Bit, etc.
Maximum frame rate/line frequency	The rate at which the camera collects and transmits images. For area scan cameras, it is generally the number of frames collected per second, and for line scan cameras, it is the number of lines collected per second.
Exposure method and shutter speed	For line array cameras, line-by-line exposure is used. You can choose the acquisition method of fixed line frequency and external trigger synchronization. The exposure time can be consistent with the line period, or you can set a fixed time; area array cameras have several common methods such as frame exposure, field exposure, and rolling line exposure. Digital cameras generally provide the function of external trigger acquisition. The shutter speed can generally reach 10 microseconds, and high-speed cameras can be even faster.
Pixel size	The pixel size and the number of pixels (resolution) jointly determine the size of the camera target surface. At present, the pixel size of digital cameras is generally 3μm-10μm. Generally, the smaller the pixel size, the more difficult it is to manufacture and the harder it is to improve the image quality.
Spectral response characteristics	Refers to the sensitivity characteristics of the pixel sensor to different light waves. The general response range is 350nm-1000nm. Some cameras add a filter in front of the target to filter out infrared light. If the system needs to be sensitive to infrared light, the filter can be removed.

USB Camera Module

MIPI Camera Module

Global Shutter Camera Module

Endoscope Camera Module

Binocular Camera Module

DVP Camera Module

AR VR Camera Module

OIS Camera Module

Raspberry Pi Camera Module

The difference between industrial cameras and smart cameras