Why does machine vision prefer monochrome cameras?

Unless you’re actually doing something that requires color – matching shades for example – you’re better off using a monochrome camera. As we discussed previously, this is because monochrome provides higher resolution, and thus sharper edges.

And for most machine vision tools its edge sharpness that matters. Practically every vision tool uses edges in some way, whether to apply a caliper, to locate edges as a reference location or even in blob detection (yes, blobs have edges.)

So while the human eye would rather see in color, software is happier, and often more successful, when dealing with black and white.