TCS3200 Color Recognition Sensor Module

Letting a microcontroller identify color directly

The TCS3200 module lets a microcontroller detect and identify colors using a high-quality sensor that combines red, green and blue filters into a single component, rather than requiring three separate color-filtered photodiodes wired up individually. Onboard white LEDs provide consistent lighting on whatever surface is being measured, which matters a great deal for color detection accuracy, since ambient lighting conditions can otherwise shift the apparent color of a surface considerably.

Output comes as a digital frequency signal, a high-resolution conversion of light intensity into a frequency the microcontroller can measure directly (typically by counting pulses over a fixed time window), which avoids some of the noise and calibration headaches that come with reading a raw analog light level.

Configuration and specifications

Two control pins, S0 and S1, set the output frequency scaling, letting the signal be tuned to a range that suits the connected microcontroller's timing capabilities, while S2 and S3 select which of the internal photodiode filters (red, green, blue or clear) is active at a given moment. An output enable (OE) pin, along with VCC, GND and the OUT signal pin, round out the connections.

Operating voltage is 3 to 5V, detection range is rated at 100mm, and the module measures 32mm by 25mm by 11mm, communicating directly with common microcontroller platforms including Arduino, PIC, AVR and ARM.

Who it suits

Anyone building a color-sorting robot, an automated color-matching tool, or a project that needs to identify or distinguish colors reliably regardless of ambient lighting will find the TCS3200's built-in LEDs and RGB filter combination a practical, well-supported sensor.

Questions buyers ask

How does it detect color?

Through an integrated red, green and blue filter array, with onboard LEDs for consistent lighting.

What kind of output does it give?

A digital frequency signal proportional to light intensity.

What is the detection range?

100mm.