Motion blur & exposure time calculator

Conveyor, vehicle or robot: how much does a moving object smear during the exposure, and how short must the exposure be to keep it sharp?

Motion & exposure
ms
e.g. 0.05 for 50 µs.
px
≤ 1 px for measurement, 2–3 px for detection.
Camera
mm
px
fps
Optional — checks for gaps between frames.
The object crossing the field during the exposure (and in the next frame), and a strip of pixels showing how a single point smears.

Details

    How it's calculated

    During the exposure the object moves by speed × exposure time. Divided by the pixel footprint in the object (field width / pixels in the direction of motion) that gives the motion blur in pixels:

    blur [px] = v · texposure / (field width / pixels)

    max. exposure = allowed blur [px] · (field width / pixels) / v

    Measurement tasks usually tolerate at most 1 pixel of blur, pure detection often 2–3 pixels. Very short exposures need a lot of light — below about 50 µs, pulsed (strobe) illumination is usually the better answer than an electronic shutter alone. A global-shutter sensor also avoids the skew a rolling shutter adds to moving objects.

    With a frame rate we also check whether every object is captured at least once: per frame the object moves v / frame rate; if that exceeds the field width, objects slip through between frames.

    All results are planning estimates based on simplified models and manufacturer data, without guarantee. Please verify critical values against the manufacturer datasheets before you make a design decision.

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