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A 2D vision sensor captures an image — contrast, color and edges on a flat projection — and answers questions about appearance: is the part present, is the print correct, is the surface marked. A 3D time-of-flight (ToF) camera measures the distance to every point in its field of view and answers questions about geometry: how high, how deep, what shape, how much volume. Choose 2D when the inspection criteria are visual and lighting can be controlled; choose 3D when the criteria are dimensional — height, flatness, completeness that depends on depth — or when part presentation and lighting vary too much for a stable 2D image. KJT Sensors supplies both paths: vision defect-detection systems for appearance inspection, and a ToF camera pairing an iToF sensor with an RK3588 processor and 6 TOPS AI platform, 56 fps, 100 klux ambient-light resistance and a 103° × 81° field of view (manufacturer-stated).
The signal is the difference: 2D measures reflected intensity per pixel; 3D ToF measures light travel time per pixel. Intensity answers "what does it look like"; time-of-flight answers "where is it in space."
Lighting is the 2D system's life support: contrast is the measurement, so lighting, part finish and presentation must be engineered and held. The ToF camera's 100 klux ambient-light resistance (manufacturer-stated) is the architectural answer to that dependence.
Depth unlocks what 2D cannot see: height, volume, flatness, and "complete versus almost-complete" assembly states that project identically in a top-down image.
KJT Sensors' ToF camera anchors (manufacturer-stated): iToF sensing, RK3588 + 6 TOPS AI platform, 56 fps frame rate, 100 klux ambient-light immunity, 103° × 81° field of view, real-time 3D point-cloud output for millimeter-level spatial modeling and positioning.
For structured-light 3D at inspection-station scale: KJT Sensors' area-scan 3D camera delivers micrometer-level inspection over a 60 × 50 mm field of view in its documented steering-wheel case.
The inspection-task definition (which features, tolerances, samples) precedes this comparison — covered in the inspection-task guide ({{URL_C09}}).
A 2D vision sensor acquires a projected image and evaluates it — presence of features, edge positions, color, print quality, surface marks. Its measurement is reflected light intensity per pixel, which makes three variables decisive: lighting (the illumination must create contrast where the criteria are), part presentation (position and angle change the projection), and surface finish (reflection and shadow masquerade as defects).
KJT Sensors' vision defect-detection systems operate in this domain for appearance flaws, dimensions in the image plane, and classification — with documented applications on steel wire, ceramics, welding, lithium-battery shells, reflective mirrors, bottle bodies, metal and wood production lines (manufacturer-stated, Visual Defect Detection).
A ToF camera emits modulated light and measures the time it takes to return from each point in the scene, producing a depth image — and from it, a 3D point cloud. Height, volume, shape and spatial position come directly from geometry rather than inferred from shading. KJT Sensors' ToF camera combines a high-performance iToF sensor with an RK3588 processor and a 6 TOPS AI computing platform, at 56 fps, resistant to ambient illumination up to 100 klux, with a 103° × 81° field of view, outputting real-time 3D point clouds for millimeter-level spatial modeling and positioning (manufacturer-stated). Applications include 3D visual inspection, robot obstacle avoidance and positioning, spatial modeling, volume measurement and safety-area detection.
A third KJT Sensors capability sits between them for close-range metrology: a structured-light area-scan 3D camera that, in the documented automotive steering-wheel case, provides micrometer-level inspection over a 60 × 50 mm field of view and outputs a full-field point cloud in a single acquisition (manufacturer-stated). Structured light trades ToF's range and speed for very high local accuracy.
