recommendation for high res images.

oakleydoakley

I need a recommendation for a Oak-D camera to produce high resolution, high contrast images of a 3in by 5in object, with the camera around 6-12 inches away. We have an Oak-D lite variable focus camera, but it doesn't produce images with sufficient focus.

OskarSonc

Hey oakleydoakley - For a 6-12 inch working distance and a 3 x 5 inch target, I’d recommend an OAK-D S2 Auto-Focus rather than the OAK-D Lite. The S2 uses a better 12 MP color sensor and is the stronger option when image sharpness is the priority at close range. For best results, we’d also suggest locking focus at your exact stand-off distance and using controlled lighting.

Thanks,
Oskar

oakleydoakley

Thanks you for the recommendation. What makes the Oak-D S2 auto-focus camera sensor better than the Oak-D lite sensor?

Is there any benefit a higher resolution sensor, like the 48MP sensor in the Oak-4-s?

Also, is there a way to adjust focus in Oak Viewer?

OskarSonc

oakleydoakley - the main difference is that the OAK-D S2 uses the IMX378, while the OAK-D Lite uses the IMX214. Even though the Lite is 13MP and the S2 is 12MP, the S2 has a larger sensor, larger pixels, and faster optics, so in practice it generally delivers cleaner, sharper, and higher-contrast images, especially at close working distances.

A higher-resolution camera like the OAK 4 S can help if you need to crop heavily or inspect very fine detail, but higher megapixel count alone does not automatically mean a better image.

You cannot adjust focus in Oak Viewer, here is how you can adjust it:
https://docs.luxonis.com/hardware/platform/sensors/focus-type#Auto%2FFixed%20Focus-Manual%20Focus

Thanks,
Oskar

oakleydoakley

thanks @OskarSonc!

Is there are POE camera with a similar sensor to the OAK-D S2 with the IMX378 that you recommended?

oakleydoakley

I see that the Oak-D S2 comes in POE variant and uses the same sensor.

https://shop.luxonis.com/products/oak-d-s2-poe

What is the voltage requirement for the POE variant of the device (12 V, 24 V, 48 V)?

OskarSonc

Hey oakleydoakley - for power, the PoE version is designed for 802.3af Class 3 PoE. In practice, that means the camera should be powered from a standard PoE switch or PoE injector, which supplies about 48 V over Ethernet. It is not meant to be powered directly from 12 V or 24 V at the camera itself. If your system starts from 12 V or 24 V, you would use a PoE injector that converts that input to standards-compliant PoE for the device.
More info(adapters etc.) can be found at our docs: https://docs.luxonis.com/hardware/platform/deploy/powering-poe)

Thanks,
Oskar

oakleydoakley

Thank you for the details!

Is there are Oak-D series 4 camera with similar or better image processor to the Oak-D camera sensor you recommended?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Series 4 camera will allow local, on camera deployment and processing of any models. The series 2 you recommended, will still require transfer of raw images to a server via the M12/ethernet cable, and processing centrally.

OskarSonc

Hey oakleydoakley - yes, the OAK-4 (there is normal and pro version which has IR illumination) is a much more powerful device than the OAK-D S2, and it also comes with a higher-resolution sensor. If your priority is running models and processing directly on the camera, then OAK-4 is the better choice. It runs Luxonis OS on device so it can be completely standalone... Also you can connect it to hub.

Thanks,
Oskar