LVDS Cameras | What Are they? | Can they be interfaced?

Low-voltage differential signaling, or LVDS, also known as TIA/EIA-644, is a technical standard that specifies electrical characteristics of a differential, serial communications protocol. LVDS operates at low power and can run at very high speeds using inexpensive twisted-pair copper cables. LVDS is a physical layer specification only; many data communication standards and applications use it and add a data link layer as defined in the OSI model on top of it.

LVDS was introduced in 1994, and has become popular in products such as LCD-TVs, automotive infotainment systems, industrial cameras and machine vision, notebook and tablet computers, and communications systems. The typical applications are high-speed video, graphics, video camera data transfers, and general purpose computer buses.

Early on, the notebook computer and LCD display vendors commonly used the term LVDS instead of FPD-Link when referring to their protocol, and the term LVDS has mistakenly become synonymous with Flat Panel Display Link in the video-display engineering vocabulary.

Another successful LVDS application is Camera Link, which is a serial communication protocol designed for computer vision applications and based on the NSC chipset called Channel Link that uses LVDS. Camera Link standardizes video interfaces for scientific and industrial products including cameras, cables, and frame grabbers. The Automated Imaging Association (AIA) maintains and administers the standard because it is the industry's global machine visiontrade group.