A Guide to Biometric Fingerprint Sensors
Major Manufacturers and Technical Specifications

By Michelle Shen
ePolymath.com

September 16, 2002

A biometric sensor, fingerprint sensor to be specific, also known as the fingerprint reader, is a fingerprint image capture device, the very front end of the biometric fingerprint identification/verification module. The fingerprint sensor captures the fingerprint images, matches the uniqueness of each print read by the sensor and compares it to the one stored in its module or local system database. Types of fingerprint sensors are Static Capacitive Type 1, Static Capacitive Type 2, Dynamic Capacitive, Optic Reflexive, Optic Transmissive with Fiber Optic Plate, Acoustic (Ultrasound), Pressure Sensitive, Thermal Line, and Capacitive and Optical Line. All the types of the fingerprint sensors are generally known as optical, semiconductor, and ultrasound sensors. Among all the sensors, semiconductor sensors are considered to be low cost, optical sensors are considered to have a high degree of stability and reliability, while ultrasound sensors are very precise and fraud-free though expensive to implement.

In the “Vendor Fingerprint Sensors Comparison Chart,” you will get to know in detail the technical specifications of the sensor itself, as well as best-practice application fingerprint systems (AFS), the so-called fingerprint application modules, which contain fingerprint sensor, middleware, and API. It is true that a lot of the technical specifications for a fingerprint sensor are very configuration-dependent, as well as application-specific. For example, False Rejection Rate and False Acceptance Rate, two of the most important fingerprint security benchmarks, vary according to different applications and configurations. However, the main purpose of this article is to give you an idea of what are the typical technical specifications of a fingerprint sensor itself, and also to provide you with technical specifications of an OEM example.

The ultrasound fingerprint-scan solution is not discussed in this article simply because the attributes of the comparison used here are incompatible with the salient technical features and advantages of ultrasound technology.

The information in the chart will provide busy biometric industry engineers and developers a handy guide to better understand what other industry players have achieved, what they are doing, and where they are moving to.

Michelle Shen is a manager/IT consultant with ePolymath.com. ePolymath.com provides technical consulting for e-business solutions, IT new product launch evaluations, venture capital formation and acquisition, market research on IT products and services, and more.