Simply put, a high speed camera is a camera with an exposure time of one millisecond or shorter. In other words, it has a frame rate of 1,000 frames per second (FPS) or higher. Some of the most important factors to consider when buying such a camera include:
The Frame Rate
Different high-speed cameras have different frame rates, ranging from 1,000fps to 20,000fps for low-end and high-end cameras, respectively. However, this does not necessarily mean that you should choose the camera with the highest frame rate. Instead, you should choose a camera with a frame rate that meets your application requirements. Still, it is worth noting that most high-end camera models come with a variable frame rate feature that you can use to increase the frame rate and at the same time, lower the resolution. However, because the reduction in resolution is never completely proportional to the increased frame rate, such cameras typically come with restrictions regarding the specific numbers of pixels (vertical and/or horizontal) that you can select with the lower resolution.
Resolution
Similar to the frame rate, different high-speed cameras come with different pixel resolutions, which generally range anywhere from 1-megapixel to 4-megapixel. Typically, a camera with a high pixel resolution will have a lower maximum frame rate and vice versa. However, both high and low pixel resolutions are important in different scenarios. For example, a high-resolution camera is ideal when the camera’s field of view is large or when you want to capture most of the fine details in a high-speed event. On the other hand, low-resolution cameras typically achieve higher frame rates compared to high-resolution cameras. At the same time, because low-resolution cameras have smaller pixels than high-resolution cameras, they are more sensitive.
Bit Depth
Simply put, bit depth the color information contained in each pixel. Most high-speed cameras allow users to save images in 8-bit, 10-bit or 12-bit. In general, a camera with a high bit depth will capture more details than a camera with a low bit depth. For example, in an 8-bit image, each pixel is assigned a value between 0 and 255, allowing the camera can differentiate up to 256 different shades of gray, ranging from pure white to black. Similarly, each pixel in a 12-bit imagine, each pixel is assigned a unique value between 0 and 4095, meaning the camera can different up to 4096 different shades of gray. Images with higher bit depths typically contain greater fine details and offer greater flexibility for image processing functions to enhance image quality. However, such memory also require more storage space compared to images with lower bit depths.
Conclusion
When choosing a high speed camera, consider the three factors discussed in this article.
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