A line-scan camera uses a single row of photo sensors, instead of a matrix of them, to capture images of a constant stream of moving material, often called a web. The data stream is then processed within a machine vision system to create 2D image data for industrial-quality inspection purposes.

Many machine vision applications lend themselves to scanning a scene across a line of photo sensors (with line-scan cameras) instead of attempting to capture the whole scene at once via a 2D array of photo sensors (with area-scan cameras). Examples of applications ideal for line scan include inspections of components moving along a conveyor line, or materials produced on a web, such as fabrics or paper. High-speed manufacturing processes for printed circuit boards, solar panel cells, flat-panel displays, woven and nonwoven fabrics, and high-speed printed materials are all manufactured by such processes.

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