Light sensors

Accurately detect and measure light and color intensity with our fully integrated sensors
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Our optical light sensors with integrated photo sensor and passive filters offer excellent spectral matching, low power and configurable conversion times. These products support a wide dynamic range with semi-logarithmic output and an auto-ranging feature to ensure exceptional performance in all lighting conditions. Applications of these products range across industrial, automotive and personal electronic markets.

    Featured light sensors

    Why choose our light sensors?

    Spectral matching
    Versatile packaging
    High dynamic range

    Advantages of incorporating a light sensor

    Transform the way users interact with your product 

    With an emphasis on automatic display brightness, LED brightness, and color adjustment applications, our latest light sensors are designed to precisely measure visible, IR, XYZ and RGB light. TI light sensors provide a quick conversion time down to 600µs, enabling quick adjustments to accommodate sudden changes in lighting conditions, providing a seamless user experience. Our devices have ultra-sensitive resolution which is essential for finer control of display brightness with the ability to hide the light sensor discreetly behind dark cover glass. 


    Application brief

    Localized Light Sensors for Automotive Applications (Rev. A)

    Ambient light sensors are becoming commonly found in automotive display applications, first introduced as a single optical sensor located on the front of the dashboard.
    Application brief

    How to Select a Light Sensor for Your Application (Rev. C)

    Light sensors, also known as photodetectors, detect the presence or absence of light, and the intensity of the light. These convert light energy into an electrical signal, which can then be analyzed or used to trigger an action.
    Technical article

    How intelligent sensors expand our detection of light

    Light sensing technology continues to improve the way we see things – as well as what we can’t see. Ambient light and color sensors enable intelligent light control in many automotive and industrial applications.

    Featured products for enahnced user experience

    OPT3004ACTIVE

    Digital ambient light sensor (ALS) with increased angular IR rejection

    OPT4001-Q1ACTIVE

    Automotive high-speed high-precision digital ambient light sensor (ALS)

    OPT4048ACTIVE

    High-speed high-precision tristimulus XYZ color sensor

    High-resolution video  

    Our solutions for ambient light and color sensing provide enhanced recording quality and precise camera exposure with high sensitivity and high-resolution color measurement. TI light sensors are equipped with excellent spectral matching, including visible, absolute color matching and relative color matching. Our sensors are capable of rejecting 99.99% of near-infrared light, preventing unwanted toggle between day and night detection, along with distorted imaging.


    Application brief

    The Value of a High-Speed, High-Resolution Light Sensor

    Light sensors sensitive to the visible region are often used for tamper detection, day vs night detection, LED or display brightness adjustments.
    Application brief

    How to Select a Light Sensor for Your Application (Rev. C)

    Light sensors, also known as photodetectors, detect the presence or absence of light, and the intensity of the light. These convert light energy into an electrical signal, which can then be analyzed or used to trigger an action.

    Featured products for enhanced video features

    OPT3005ACTIVE

    Ambient light sensor (ALS) for video surveillance cameras

    OPT4001ACTIVE

    High-speed high-precision digital ambient light sensor (ALS)

    OPT4060ACTIVE

    High-speed high-sensitivity RGBW color sensor

    Optimize energy consumption

    Our latest light sensors are designed from the ground up, with a low-power architecture to help bring you accurate light sensing into battery-operated applications that require lower power consumption in automotive, industrial and consumer electronics applications.


    Application brief

    OPT3006: Ambient Light Sensor in Wearable Applications

    Wearable equipment such as smart watches, wearable glass, and health and fitness devices are getting increasingly popular.
    Application brief

    How to Select a Light Sensor for Your Application (Rev. C)

    Light sensors, also known as photodetectors, detect the presence or absence of light, and the intensity of the light. These convert light energy into an electrical signal, which can then be analyzed or used to trigger an action.

    Featured products for enhanced battery life

    OPT3004ACTIVE

    Digital ambient light sensor (ALS) with increased angular IR rejection

    OPT3002ACTIVE

    Light-to-digital sensor

    OPT3001ACTIVE

    Digital ambient light sensor (ALS) with high-precision human-eye response

    Technical resources

    VIDEO SERIES

    TI Precision labs - Light sensors

    This light sensor curriculum contains short training videos covering the basics of light sensors, key specifications for selecting light sensors for different applications and much more.
    Technical article

    How intelligent sensors expand our detection of light

    Innovations in ambient light and color sensors are helping determine how to handle light beyond what the human eye can see, increasing safety and efficiency in automotive and industrial applications.
    Application brief

    The Value of a High-Speed, High-Resolution Light Sensor

    This application notes delves into the system advantages of utilizing a light sensor with a fast conversion time, highlighting the improvement in user experience.

    Design & development resources

    EVALUATION BOARD

    Light source calibration module

    The LIGHTSOURCE01EVM is a stable uniform light source used for the calibration of ambient light sensors (ALS) and color sensors. This light source is designed to be used in production environments to calibrate and test final products containing TI light sensors. 
    CALCULATION TOOL

    OPT3006 Field of View (FoV) Simulator

    The field of view simulator allows users to understand the potential effects of changing the angle of exposure such as the the amount of light taken in and the performance thereafter.
    Driver or library

    Linux driver for OPT3001 and OPT3006

    The Linux driver supports the OPT30001 Digital Ambient Light Sensor (ALS) with High Precision Human Eye Response. The Linux driver supports communication through the I2C bus and registers to the IIO (Industrial Input/Output) class of the Linux kernel.

    Linux Mainline Status

    Available in Linux Main (...)