Glossary · Machine vision
Field of view
Also known as: FOV, Viewing area
German: Sichtfeld
In machine vision, the field of view is the area of the object plane that the camera captures in one image, determined by the sensor size, the lens focal length and the working distance.
- Machine vision
In one sentence
The field of view is the area a camera captures in one image, set by sensor size, focal length and working distance.
Example
To inspect a 120 mm wide tray with some margin, the field of view was set to 150 mm by choosing a 16 mm lens at 400 mm working distance.
How it applies
- Engineering: Field of view and sensor pixel count together give the Pixel resolution, which decides the smallest detectable feature. The field of view should include margin for part position tolerance.
- Commissioning: Changing lens or Working distance changes the field of view and invalidates calibration.
- Documentation: The documentation team should record the field of view with the lens and working distance in the vision specification, since these three values belong together.
Field of view vs. angle of view
Field of view is an area in millimeters at a given distance. Angle of view is the angle the lens covers, independent of distance. Lens data sheets often give the angle; application specifications need the field.