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Fingerprint scanners are a type of
There are four types of fingerprint scanners:
# Optical scanners take a visual image of the fingerprint using a digital camera.
# Capacitive or CMOS scanners use capacitors and thus electric current to form an image of the fingerprint. This type of scanner tends to excel in terms of precision.
# Ultrasonic fingerprint scanners use high frequency sound waves to penetrate the epidermal (outer) layer of the skin.
# Thermal scanners sense the temperature differences on the contact surface, in between fingerprint ridges and valleys.
All fingerprint scanners are susceptible to spoofing through fingerprints replicated using photographs and 3D printing.
Each type of fingerprint sensor can take two basic forms: the stagnant and the moving fingerprint scanner.
* Stagnant: The scanning module is mounted statically, and the user is required to swipe their fingers across it. This is cheaper but also less reliable than the moving form. Imaging can be less than ideal if the finger is not dragged over the scanning area at constant speed.
* Moving: The scanning module is mounted on a movable surface, while the user's finger can remain static. Because this layout allows the scanning module to pass the fingerprint at a constant speed, this method is generally more reliable.
Fingerprint scanners are a type of biometric
Biometrics are body measurements and calculations related to human characteristics and features. Biometric authentication (or realistic authentication) is used in computer science as a form of identification and access control. It is also used t ...
security device that identify an individual by identifying the structure of their fingerprints. They are used in police stations, security industries, smartphone
A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
s, and other mobile device
A mobile device or handheld device is a computer small enough to hold and operate in hand. Mobile devices are typically battery-powered and possess a flat-panel display and one or more built-in input devices, such as a touchscreen or keypad. ...
s.
Fingerprints
People have patterns of friction ridges on their fingers, these patterns are called thefingerprint
A fingerprint is an impression left by the friction ridges of a human finger. The recovery of partial fingerprints from a crime scene is an important method of forensic science. Moisture and grease on a finger result in fingerprints on surfa ...
s. Fingerprints are uniquely detailed, durable over an individual's lifetime, and difficult to alter. Due to the unique combinations, fingerprints have become an ideal means of identification.
Types of fingerprint scanners
There are four types of fingerprint scanners:
# Optical scanners take a visual image of the fingerprint using a digital camera.
# Capacitive or CMOS scanners use capacitors and thus electric current to form an image of the fingerprint. This type of scanner tends to excel in terms of precision.
# Ultrasonic fingerprint scanners use high frequency sound waves to penetrate the epidermal (outer) layer of the skin.
# Thermal scanners sense the temperature differences on the contact surface, in between fingerprint ridges and valleys.
All fingerprint scanners are susceptible to spoofing through fingerprints replicated using photographs and 3D printing.
Construction forms
Each type of fingerprint sensor can take two basic forms: the stagnant and the moving fingerprint scanner.
* Stagnant: The scanning module is mounted statically, and the user is required to swipe their fingers across it. This is cheaper but also less reliable than the moving form. Imaging can be less than ideal if the finger is not dragged over the scanning area at constant speed.
* Moving: The scanning module is mounted on a movable surface, while the user's finger can remain static. Because this layout allows the scanning module to pass the fingerprint at a constant speed, this method is generally more reliable.
Form factors
Peripherals
Add-on fingerprint readers for PCs initially appeared in the late 1990's in the form of PCMCIA modules.Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company, technology conglomerate headquartered in Redmond, Washington. Founded in 1975, the company became influential in the History of personal computers#The ear ...
released a model in its IntelliMouse line with an integrated fingerprint reader in 2005.
Integrated readers
Laptops with built-in readers emerged around the same time as peripheral readers with devices such asNEC
is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...
s MC/R730F. IBM produced laptops with integrated readers starting in 2004. Apple
An apple is a round, edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus'' spp.). Fruit trees of the orchard or domestic apple (''Malus domestica''), the most widely grown in the genus, are agriculture, cultivated worldwide. The tree originated ...
introduced fingerprint scanners to their devices under the name Touch ID in 2013. These were initially released on the iPhone 5
The iPhone 5 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, 6th generation iPhone, succeeding the iPhone 4s, and preceding both the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c. It was formally unveiled as part of ...
, with the technology remaining exclusive to iPhones until the release of the 2016 MacBook Pro
The MacBook Pro is a line of Mac laptop computers developed and manufactured by Apple. Introduced in 2006, it is the high-end sibling of the MacBook family, sitting above the ultra-portable MacBook Air and previously the low-end MacBook li ...
. On both laptops and smartphones, the fingerprint sensor usually uses a USB
Universal Serial Bus (USB) is an industry standard, developed by USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF), for digital data transmission and power delivery between many types of electronics. It specifies the architecture, in particular the physical ...
or I2C interface internally.
See also
* *Optical trackpad
An optical trackpad is an input device based on an optical sensor, which detects the displacement of a finger that is moving on top of it. The sensor is used typically in smartphones, where it replaces the D-pad, and in ultra-portable or ultra-m ...
References
{{Reflist Computer hardware Fingerprints Biometrics Biosensors