TCS3200 Color Sensor Module, RGB Detection, with LED Illumination

The TCS3200 detects color by measuring the intensity of red, green, and blue light reflecting off a surface, converting that measurement into a digital square-wave output whose frequency scales with light intensity - a genuinely clever approach that avoids needing an analog-to-digital converter entirely, since a microcontroller can measure color simply by timing the output frequency on a digital pin.

Four onboard white LEDs provide consistent illumination of whatever surface is being measured, with lamp control support letting a project turn that illumination on only during an actual measurement rather than leaving it lit continuously - useful both for power saving and for avoiding ambient light interference between measurements. Four selectable photodiode filter types (clear, red, green, blue) are chosen via control pins, letting the same sensor measure each color channel in sequence by switching filter selection between readings.

Output frequency scaling is also programmable through separate control pins, letting a project tune the frequency range the sensor outputs to match whatever timing resolution its microcontroller can comfortably measure. A dedicated output-enable pin, active low, lets the sensor's output be disabled entirely when not actively being read, useful in multi-sensor setups sharing a bus. Supply voltage spans a flexible 2.7V to 5.5V single-supply range, with the sensor communicating directly to 5V-logic microcontrollers without needing level-shifting.

Builders working on a color-sorting robot, a color-matching verification tool, an object-identification project using color as a distinguishing feature, or any application needing to detect and quantify color rather than just presence or absence of light will find the TCS3200 a well-proven sensor for that specific task.