Autofocus Gigabit Ethernet Camera Modules: Focus, Data and Power on One Cable
A fixed focus network camera is specified once and then lives with that decision. The working distance shifts, the enclosure is remounted, the lens is never quite right again, and somebody drives out to the site with a screwdriver. An autofocus GigE camera removes that trip, because the lens refocuses over the network and the same cable that carries the video carries the power. This page covers what the format gives a design that a fixed focus module does not, how the focus loop and the exposure logic work on a networked board, and how the two Vadzo Innova modules divide the work between them. Both are supplied as an embedded GigE camera board for integration inside a product rather than as a boxed camera.
What a GigE Camera Module Is
A GigE camera module streams video over standard Gigabit Ethernet instead of USB or MIPI, so the host can sit anywhere on the network rather than at the end of a short cable. That single property is what makes the format useful in a fixed installation. A USB module is tied to a few meters. A gigabit Ethernet camera module runs to a hundred meters on ordinary Cat5e or Cat6, through a switch, to a host in a rack.
Answering what a GigE camera is in practical terms: it is a network camera module presenting an RJ45 camera interface rather than a board edge connector, and the data path is the same network path the rest of the equipment already uses. Nothing about the installation is camera-specific. The switch, the cabling, and the addressing are all ordinary network infrastructure.
The cost of that reach is bandwidth. A Gigabit link carries roughly 1000 Mbps in theory and less in practice, which is generous for compressed video and nowhere near enough for uncompressed high-resolution frames. So a GigE module encodes on the camera, which also means the host never sees raw sensor output. Applications that need unprocessed frames or their own demosaicing need MIPI or USB instead.
What Autofocus Changes About the Specification
With a fixed lens, working distance is committed at design time. Any later change to mounting or geometry means new optics, which means a parts order and a site visit. An autofocus camera module moves that commitment into software, where an installer or a remote service action corrects it.
That is the whole argument for an autofocus gigabit Ethernet camera. The two hardest things to change after deployment are focus and cable runs. This format addresses both, and the value shows up in service cost rather than in image quality. A fixed focus module in a fixed geometry produces an equally good image for less money, so the case for autofocus rests entirely on whether the geometry will stay fixed.
VCM Autofocus and Region-Based Control
VCM autofocus uses a voice coil motor to move the lens barrel against a spring. Current through the coil sets the position, the spring returns it, and the module holds focus wherever the control loop settles. There are no gears and nothing to wear beyond the spring itself.
On the Innova-1335CRA, the travel covers 100 mm to infinity, which spans close inspection work and open scenes on one unit. On the Innova-234CGA, the M12 autofocus lens is an S-mount assembly using the same voice coil actuation, so the standard M12 thread is retained while focus becomes controllable. That distinction matters for anyone who has already selected optics: the 234CGA accepts the M12 ecosystem; the 1335CRA does not.
Two features sit alongside the focus loop and matter more than their names suggest. ROI autoexposure specifies which part of the frame the camera should expose for, so a bright window behind the subject stops dictating the exposure for the whole image. On the 1335CRA, the same region logic also drives focus, so the autofocus targets the region of interest rather than whatever happens to be nearest the centre of the frame. Without that, a camera pointed through a doorway will reliably focus on the door.
One Cable: PoE and the RJ45 Interface
ONVIF Integration and On-Camera Encoding
An ONVIF GigE camera is discoverable and controllable by any video management platform that speaks the standard, which turns integration into a configuration task rather than a driver project. Both Innova modules are ONVIF compliant.
The Innova-234CGA carries ONVIF Profile S and Profile T support with additional Profile G capability, covering streaming, H.264 and H.265 transport, and recording and retrieval on the device side. That distinction matters to an integrator more than to a design engineer. A camera the video management system already knows how to find, configure, and record from needs no custom client written around it.
The 234CGA encodes H.264 and H.265 on the camera and captures JPEG stills. An H.265 GigE camera roughly halves recording storage against H.264 at similar quality, which is the difference between a week of retention and a fortnight on the same disk. Both modules support Windows, Linux, and Android hosts, and both carry RoHS 3 and REACH conformity.
Innova Autofocus GigE Camera Module Comparison
The two modules divide cleanly. One is built for detail and reach, the other for motion and environment. Every specification below comes from the product data rather than from a category assumption.
Specification | Innova-1335CRA | Innova-234CGA |
|---|---|---|
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Product family | Innova Series | Innova Series |
Sensor | onsemi AR1335 CMOS | onsemi AR0234 CMOS |
Sensor format | 1/3.2 inch | 1/2.6 inch |
Pixel size | 1.1 um x 1.1 um | 3.0 um x 3.0 um |
Max resolution | 13MP, 4208 x 3120 | 2.3MP, 1920 x 1200 |
Shutter | Rolling | Global |
Chroma | Color | Color |
Lens FOV | 75 deg and 127 deg DFOV variants | 45 deg and 76 deg DFOV variants |
Interface | 100Base-T and 1000Base-T | GigE with ONVIF compliance |
Connector | Standard RJ45 Ethernet | Standard RJ45 Ethernet |
GPIO connector | Not available | Available |
Operating temperature | -30 C to +70 C | -40 C to +85 C |
OS supported | Windows, Linux, Android | Windows, Linux, Android |
Conformity | ONVIF compliant, RoHS 3, REACH | ONVIF compliant, RoHS 3, REACH |
Innova-1335CRA: Detail, Low Light and Digital PTZ
The 4K Autofocus GigE Camera in the range is built on the onsemi AR1335, a 13MP sensor on a 1/3.2 inch format with 1.1 um backside-illuminated pixels, paired with a high-performance ISP. Full resolution is 4208 by 3120, and streaming runs 4K at 30 fps, 1080p at 60 fps, and 720p at 120 fps, so detail or frame rate can be chosen per deployment without changing hardware.
Backside illumination is why this works as an ultra-low-light camera despite the small pixel. Moving the wiring behind the photodiode clears the light path and lifts quantum efficiency, and the onboard ISP handles noise reduction rather than the host. The pairing matters as much as the sensor, because a 1.1 um pixel with a weak pipeline behind it will not deliver usable low-light images at all.
The iHDR camera function covers the other hard lighting case. A doorway with daylight behind it, a lit kiosk screen against a dark lobby, a retina imaging target with specular highlights: an iHDR camera holds detail at both ends of the range instead of clipping one.
Digital PTZ is the third capability worth planning around. Because the module captures 13MP and streams at lower resolutions, a digital PTZ camera function can pan, tilt, and zoom inside the sensor's own frame with no motor anywhere in the product. Nothing mechanical wears out, and the enclosure design is unaffected. The honest limit is that digital PTZ trades resolution for reach. Zoom in far enough and the result is cropped pixels, not new ones. That is a fair trade at 13MP and a poor one at 2MP, which is part of how these two modules differ.
This 13MP GigE camera suits pathology devices, kiosks and signage, smart city installations, retail analytics, AGVs and robotics, UAVs, medical devices and retina imaging. As an AR1335 GigE camera, it is the unit to specify when detail, low-light performance, or digital PTZ reach decides the application.
Innova-234CGA: Motion, Triggering and Temperature
The global shutter GigE camera in the range is built on the onsemi AR0234, a 2.3MP colour sensor on a 1/2.6 inch format with 3.0 um pixels, again paired with a high-performance ISP and an integrated autofocus lens module.
Global shutter is the reason to choose it. Every pixel is exposed at the same instant, so a moving subject is captured without the skew and wobble a rolling shutter introduces. The sensor reaches 1920 by 1200 at frame rates up to 120 fps. That makes this 2MP GigE camera the right GigE camera for robotics work, for AGVs, for drone imaging, and for any inspection task where the part or the camera is in motion. An AR0234 global shutter camera measures a moving edge accurately, while a rolling shutter one measures a bent version of it.
The 3.0 um pixel is nearly three times the linear size of the 1335CRA's, collecting proportionally more light per pixel, which makes this the stronger low-light performer of the two at its own resolution. Resolution and light gathering pull in opposite directions on a sensor of fixed area, and these two modules sit at opposite ends of that trade.
It adds a GPIO connector for external trigger and I/O integration, which is what an application needs when the camera has to fire in step with a strobe, an encoder, or a PLC rather than free-running. The wider operating range of -40 C to +85 C also makes it the outdoor choice of the two.
Applications run to smart surveillance, patient monitoring, kiosks and signage, smart city infrastructure, retail analytics and people counting, AGVs and robotics, drones, gesture recognition, 3D scanning and metrology, and industrial inspection.
Which GigE Camera Should I Choose
The question of which GigE camera I should choose has a short answer: start with motion, not resolution.
If anything moves during exposure, the 234CGA is the only correct answer of the two, because no amount of resolution repairs rolling shutter skew. A global shutter GigE camera is a requirement in that case rather than a preference.
If nothing moves, resolution and reach decide. The 1335CRA offers 13MP, 4K streaming, digital PTZ, and iHDR, and it is the autofocus gigabit Ethernet camera to pick when the application has to resolve fine detail or crop into a wide scene.
Temperature can override both. Outdoors or in an unconditioned space, the 234CGA range of -40 C to +85 C is the safer specification against the -30 C to +70 C of the 1335CRA. Triggering is the fourth filter, and a short one: only the 234CGA has a GPIO connector, so if the camera must fire in step with external equipment, the decision is already made.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is a GigE camera?
A GigE camera module streams video over standard Gigabit Ethernet rather than USB or MIPI, so the host can sit anywhere on the network instead of at the end of a short cable. Asking what a GigE camera is is really asking about cable reach and network integration, because a Gigabit Ethernet camera module runs to a hundred meters on ordinary Cat5e or Cat6 through a switch. It presents an RJ45 camera interface and behaves as a network camera module on infrastructure that already exists. The Innova Series delivers this as an embedded GigE camera board rather than a boxed unit, in a 38 mm by 38 mm three-board stack that fits inside a product enclosure.
2.How does a PoE camera work?
Power over Ethernet camera supply puts both data and power on one cable, so the switch or injector energizes the cable and the camera draws from it. Asking how a PoE camera works at installation is a labor question: the installer pulls one cable instead of two, with no local supply at the mounting point. A PoE camera module also inherits the network's management, so a power cycle becomes a command to the switch rather than a site visit. Both Innova modules follow the PoE 802.3af standard across 36 to 57 V through a standard RJ45 connector, which makes either one straightforward to deploy as an industrial GigE camera on a pole, a ceiling, or a moving platform.
3.Do I need a global shutter or is rolling shutter enough?
If anything moves during exposure, a global shutter is required, because no amount of resolution repairs rolling shutter skew. A global shutter GigE camera exposes every pixel at the same instant, which is why the AR0234 global shutter camera is the correct choice for a GigE camera for robotics, for AGVs, for drones, and for inspection of moving parts. If the scene is static, rolling shutter costs nothing, and the specification can favor detail instead. The Innova-234CGA is the 2MP GigE camera in the range at 1920 by 1200 and up to 120 fps at the sensor, with a GPIO connector for external trigger work.
4.What does autofocus add on a network camera?
VCM autofocus uses a voice coil motor to move the lens against a spring, so focus becomes a software setting rather than a mechanical commitment made at design time. On an autofocus camera module, that means a change of working distance or mounting geometry is corrected remotely instead of with new optics and a site visit. The Innova-1335CRA focuses from 100 mm to infinity, and the Innova-234CGA uses an M12 autofocus lens so the standard S-mount thread is retained. ROI autoexposure works alongside it, telling the camera which region to expose for and, on the 1335CRA, which region to focus on.
5.Which GigE camera should I choose for low light and high contrast?
It depends on whether the scene moves. The Innova-1335CRA is the 4K Autofocus GigE Camera and works as an ultra-low-light camera through 1.1-um backside-illuminated pixels and onboard ISP noise reduction, while its iHDR camera function holds detail across high-contrast scenes and its digital PTZ camera function crops into the 13MP frame without moving parts. As a 13MP GigE camera and an AR1335 GigE camera, it is the detail-and-reach option. For moving subjects, the 234CGA has 3.0 um pixels that collect more light per pixel, and it is the better answer even in difficult lighting whenever motion is present.
6. Do both modules work with existing video management software?
Yes, both are ONVIF compliant, so a video management platform that speaks the standard can discover, configure, and record from either without a custom driver. The Innova-234CGA goes further with ONVIF Profile S and Profile T support plus Profile G capability, which covers streaming, H.264 and H.265 transport, and recording and retrieval on the device side. As an H.265 GigE camera, it also roughly halves storage compared to H.264 at similar quality, which doubles retention on the same disk. Both modules support Windows, Linux, and Android hosts.