What Is Time-of-Flight?
Time-of-flight (ToF) technology enables the precise capture of 3D images based on the time that it takes for light to reach and then be reflected off of an object, or the degree of phase shift in the reflected light. Combining 2D image data and 3D depth information opens up efficient solutions for factory automation, robotics, logistics, medicine, and autonomous vehicles. We explain how a ToF camera works, the advantages and potential limitations of ToF, and show typical application examples.
![The camera at the heart of time-of-flight technology](http://images-ctf.baslerweb.com/dg51pdwahxgw/60BUZM8m0hwUdqXE9w3ehu/674978627f017121b932341d850ec9fa/blaze_Application_1380x735px.jpg?fm=webp&f=center&w=800&q=80&fit=pad)
Pulsed or continuous light
Regardless of which principle you use, you can use a light source that can illuminate the entire scene to determine the depth of all points in the scene with one shot. The result is a distance map in which each pixel encodes the distance to the corresponding point in the scene.