The most important facet of any machine vision application is proper lighting — essential to obtaining a proper image.

Creating the perfect contrast and resolution in an imaging system often presents a major challenge that can be readily resolved with proper illumination. Rather than investing in higher resolution detectors, imaging lenses and software to obtain a desired image quality, improving a system's illumination may be the most cost effective solution. Proper light intensity in the final image depends directly upon component selection. Proper illumination is vital to any image system; inadequate illumination creates a variety of imaging problems. Blooming, hot spots, or shadowing can obscure critical image data. Shadowing can result in false edge calculations, resulting in inaccurate measurements. Non-uniform lighting can harm signal-to-noise ratios. A multitude of scenarios of improper illumination for your application can limit your desired imaging result.