The Basler ace acA5472-17um/uc is a high-resolution USB 3.0 area scan camera built on the Sony IMX183 progressive-scan CMOS sensor in a 1-inch optical format (15.86 mm diagonal). It provides 20 MP resolution (5472 x 3648 px) with 2.4 x 2.4 um pixels and a rolling shutter, reaching 17 fps at full resolution. The interface is USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (nominal 5 Gbit/s) compliant with USB3 Vision and GenICam, using a C-mount lens attachment and Hirose 6-pin I/O connector. The camera is powered over USB (~2.9 W typical), housed in a compact 29.3 x 29 x 29 mm box with IP30 protection, and operates from 0 to 50 C.
The Basler ace acA5472-17um/uc pairs a 20 MP (5472 x 3648 px) resolution with the 1-inch Sony IMX183 CMOS sensor, giving an installer a very large, dense imaging frame: 13.13 x 8.76 mm of active area built from 2.4 x 2.4 um pixels. That pixel size is the headline number to plan around. At, say, a 200 mm field-of-view width, each pixel resolves roughly 37 um on the part, which is what makes this camera attractive for fine-feature surface inspection, dimensional gauging, and reading small printed or marked codes. The flip side of 20 MP on a 1-inch format is that the sensor is genuinely demanding optically: with C-mount lenses you need a lens rated to resolve 2.4 um pixels across a 15.86 mm image circle, otherwise the corners and fine detail the sensor can capture will be lost to the optics rather than the sensor.
The sensor uses a rolling shutter, and that is the single most important design-in consideration here. Rolling shutter exposes the frame line by line rather than all at once, so it is excellent for stationary parts, indexed/stop-and-go stations, and web or conveyor setups where the part is briefly still under the camera, but it will introduce geometric skew on fast continuous motion. The camera tops out at 17 fps at full 20 MP resolution, so it is built for high-detail capture of relatively settled scenes rather than high-throughput freeze-frame of fast-moving objects. The -17um mono variant maximizes contrast and effective resolution for measurement, defect, and code applications; the -17uc color variant trades some spatial resolution (Bayer interpolation) for color information where part color or print color matters.
On the integration side the camera speaks USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (nominal 5 Gbit/s), compliant with USB3 Vision and GenICam 2.x, which gives plug-and-play discovery in standard machine-vision software and a single cable carrying both data and power. It is powered over USB at about 2.9 W typical, so there is no separate power supply to wire, and the Hirose 6-pin I/O connector carries the hardware trigger and digital I/O you use to synchronize exposure with an encoder, sensor, or strobe controller. Physically it is a compact 29.3 x 29 x 29 mm box weighing 80 g with IP30 protection, rated 0 to 50 C. IP30 means it is protected against solid objects but not against dust ingress or liquids, so for dusty or wash-down lines it will need an enclosure.
Best for
High-resolution surface and defect inspection of stationary or indexed parts in electronics, semiconductor, and automotive lines, where the 20 MP frame and 2.4 um pixels resolve fine flaws
Dimensional measurement and gauging where a large 5472 x 3648 px frame lets you cover a sizeable field of view while keeping enough pixels per millimeter for tight tolerances
Industrial OCR/OCV and reading of small printed or marked codes for traceability, taking advantage of the dense pixel grid in the mono (-17um) variant
Print and packaging quality inspection, including color print verification with the -17uc color variant
Compact, USB-3-connected single-camera vision stations where a single cable for data and power and an 80 g footprint simplify the build
Selection notes
Confirm the lens matches the sensor: you need a C-mount lens that covers the 1-inch (15.86 mm diagonal) image circle and is rated to resolve 2.4 um pixels, or the optics, not the 20 MP sensor, will limit real-world detail
The rolling shutter suits stationary or stop-and-go parts; for continuous fast motion budget for motion skew, or trigger exposure when the part is briefly still and pair with a short strobe to freeze it
Plan throughput around 17 fps at full resolution; if you need higher frame rates, expect to reduce resolution via ROI/binning rather than getting more fps at full 20 MP
Choose -17um (mono) for maximum effective resolution in measurement, defect, and code tasks, or -17uc (color) when print or part color carries information, accepting the resolution trade-off of a color sensor
Verify the host supports a true USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (5 Gbit/s) link and check cable length/quality; for dusty or wet environments add an enclosure, since IP30 does not protect against dust or liquids, and keep the camera within the 0 to 50 C operating range
Specifications: General
Brand
Basler
Camera type
Area scan
Specifications: Sensor
Resolution
20 MP
Horizontal resolution
5472 x 3648 px
Mono / color
Mono (-17um) / Color (-17uc)
Sensor manufacturer
Sony (IMX183 CMOS)
Sensor model
Sony IMX183
Shutter
Rolling shutter
Sensor size
1" (13.13 x 8.76 mm, 15.86 mm diagonal)
Pixel size
2.4 x 2.4 um
Specifications: Performance
FPS
17 fps at full resolution
Specifications: Interface
Interface
USB 3.0 (USB3 Vision, 5 Gbit/s SuperSpeed)
Protocols
USB3 Vision, GenICam 2.x
Specifications: Optics
Mount
C-mount
Specifications: Electrical
Power
Powered over USB (~2.9 W typical)
Power consumption
2.9 W
Specifications: Environment
IP rating
IP30
Operating temperature
0 to 50 C
Specifications: Mechanical
Dimensions
29.3 x 29 x 29 (48.2 mm with lens mount/connectors)
Weight
80 g
Housing material
Box
Applications this camera is commonly selected for. Open one to see the full recommended hardware and approach.
Matched automatically by: lens mount fits the camera mount · lens image circle covers the camera sensor — this camera: C-mount · 1" (13.13 x 8.76 mm, 15.86 mm diagonal) sensor.
By category
All 90C-mount lenses 66Telecentric lenses 24
By brand
All 90Basler 34iRAYPLE 26Omron / Sentech 24Datalogic / Datasensing 6
Get a first image quickly with the pylon Viewer, then move into the pylon SDK for your application. These cameras are GenICam/GenTL-compliant, so any compliant vision software can drive them as well.
Download and install the pylon Camera Software Suite for your OS from Basler. This provides the pylon Viewer, the GenTL transport-layer producers and the pylon SDK (C/C++/.NET/Python). On Windows the installer adds the needed drivers; on Linux follow the included setup notes for USB and network permissions.
2. Connect the camera and check the link
Cable the camera to its matching interface: GigE Vision to a GigE port (use a quality cable and, ideally, a dedicated NIC with jumbo frames enabled), USB3 Vision to a USB 3.x port with the supplied cable, or CoaXPress to the frame grabber. Provide power where required (PoE, USB bus power, or PoCXP). Open the pylon Viewer and confirm the camera appears in the device list; for GigE, make sure the camera and NIC are on the same subnet.
3. Grab a first image and set exposure, gain and pixel format
Select the camera in the pylon Viewer and start a continuous grab. Adjust exposure time and gain until the image is well exposed (avoid clipped highlights), set the pixel format (e.g. Mono8 or a Bayer/RGB format), and focus the lens. Use a test pattern if the lens or scene is not ready yet.
4. Configure triggering and acquisition
Decide between free-run and triggered acquisition. For synchronized capture, set the trigger source (software or a hardware line on the I/O connector), trigger mode and any debounce or exposure mode, then verify timing. Note the parameter names you change in the Viewer feature tree, as you will reuse them in code.
5. Move to the SDK or a GenICam-compliant library
Recreate your settings in code with the pylon SDK (C, C++, .NET or Python) to open the device, apply the same features and pull frames into your pipeline; pylon vTools and pylon AI can add processing blocks. Because the cameras are GenICam/GenTL standard, third-party vision libraries work too. Once the image stream is stable, you can route frames to a deep-learning inspection such as Rosepetal for automated defect detection.
Frequently asked questions
It delivers 20 MP at 5472 x 3648 px on the 1-inch Sony IMX183 progressive-scan CMOS sensor (13.13 x 8.76 mm active area, 15.86 mm diagonal) with 2.4 x 2.4 um pixels.
It uses a rolling shutter, which is well suited to stationary or indexed parts but can introduce geometric skew on fast continuous motion.
It runs at 17 fps at full 20 MP resolution. Higher frame rates would require reducing the imaged area via region-of-interest or binning rather than additional fps at full resolution.
It connects over USB 3.0 SuperSpeed (nominal 5 Gbit/s), compliant with USB3 Vision and GenICam 2.x, uses a C-mount lens attachment and a Hirose 6-pin I/O connector for trigger and digital I/O, and is powered over USB at about 2.9 W typical, so no separate power supply is needed.
Yes: the -17um is monochrome and the -17uc is color. The camera is a compact 29.3 x 29 x 29 mm box weighing 80 g, rated IP30, and operates from 0 to 50 C. IP30 protects against solid objects but not dust or liquids, so harsh environments need an enclosure.
