Smart camera or PC vision?

It’s one of those eternal questions, so I’ve put together a little graphic. I hope this will at least prompt you to think about what matters most in your application and guide you making the correct decision. (There’s no right or wrong, it’s just a case of what works best for you.)

The five axes I chose are:

• ease of support – how easy can a system be maintained?
• implementation speed – can you install it quickly?
• task complexity – do the images need intensive processing?
• data rate – a combination of image size and frame rate
• number of cameras – dumb cameras are inexpensive, smart ones are dear

Based on this admittedly rough-and-ready analysis, I think you can see that:

• PC-based vision wins when the task is complex or you need multiple cameras
• Smart cameras should be your first choice when you need rapid installation and ease of support and the task is not too complex.