ToF camera and lidar are the same in principle, there is not much difference, ToF camera is more often called depth camera or 3D camera. lidar is also called focal plane imaging lidar. The actual ToF camera is similar to the traditional mechanical scanning lidar. The traditional mechanical scanning lidar is point-by-point scanning imaging, while the ToF camera is a one-shot imaging.
Difference between ToF cameras and lidars is only the difference in application range. At present, most ToF cameras are used in short-range (within 2 meters) fields such as mobile phones, while automotive lidars are (between 0.2-250 meters). ToF cameras generally have a horizontal FOV of 55 degrees. Compared with traditional cameras, ToF cameras actively emit laser light, and the laser light reaches the surface of the object and returns, and is received by the photoelectric receiving diode of the lidar. Calculate the distance between the light source and the target based on the speed of light or phase, and finally form a depth image. In traditional cameras, natural light reaches the surface of the object and returns to the photodiode in the traditional camera sensor, and finally forms an image according to the intensity of the reflected light.
Compared with LiDAR, the ToF camera has obvious advantages. The biggest advantage is the size and cost. ToF camera can be very small in size and is no different from the ordinary camera. ToF camera is easy to integrate and can be manufactured with a semiconductor process. The image sensor array is integrated on the chip ( Image Sensor Array), readout circuit (Read-Out) and lens. Combined with VCSEL to emit laser, it has a wide range of applications.
