The video and imaging equipment category covers devices and that use video technology to record, display, or read data, or are powered by imaging technologies such as lasers and infrared scanners. In industrial applications, video and imaging equipment are used for automated inspection and measurement, quality control, image sensing; and in specific applications, reading, analyzing and displaying data. Video and imaging equipment are divided into six different families: machine vision and inspection equipment, video cameras and lenses, video equipment, image sensors, bar code equipment, and meters, readouts and indicators.

Machine vision and inspection equipment are devices that are used to inspect, measure or survey either industrial processing systems, or specific units or items therein. Whereas items such as borescopes, fiberscopes and videoscopes are used to inspect hoses, bores and cavities, large items, such as vision systems are used to provide an operational overview of an entire system. This family also includes image grabbers and video workstations that are used to review and process the received data.

Video cameras and lenses include all video devices that are used in industrial applications. These items are different from the consumer market camcorders and lenses in that they are structured to survive in rigorous factory or industrial environments. Video cameras and lenses include not only video cameras and vision sensors for visual inspection and surveillance, but thermal and infrared imagers to track heat changes within systems, or in security operations. Video and imaging equipment includes those devices used to process or display captured video data. This family includes digital video recorders (used to transform the video data into digital output), monitors, multiplexers (to handle a number of signals at one time) and switchers (to control video camera sequence).