Whether it is a simple $10,000 turnkey system, or a $500,000 customized job, the industrial imaging designer faces hundreds of device options, each with a host of suppliers waving fists full of conflicting claims. Dumb versus smart frame grabbers? Where should the digital signal processor go, in the front with the camera or in the middle at the computer? Should one go with large array cameras, progressive scan or line-scan? Color or black and white? By understanding how these devices work together, managers and designers can develop the right kind of solution for almost any vision application.