LiDAR Channels

The number of laser channels arranged vertically in a multi-line lidar, which sets how dense the point cloud is top to bottom.

Channel count refers to the number of laser transmit-receive channels a multi-line lidar arranges vertically. A traditional mechanically spinning lidar stacks multiple laser channels at different pitch angles into a column and spins the whole assembly horizontally, with each channel tracing out one “scan line” per rotation — so a 16-channel lidar produces 16 rings of points per frame. More channels means higher vertical resolution and more points landing on distant objects, but also higher cost, data volume, and compute requirements. Velodyne’s HDL-64E, released around 2007, spins 64 laser channels, producing about a million points per second; the Ouster OS1 offers up to 128 channels with a 45° vertical field of view. Solid-state or non-repetitive-scan lidars have no fixed rings, so vendors often describe point-cloud density using an “equivalent channel count” — for example, Livox’s Mid-360 is rated at an equivalent of 40 lines.

ExampleThe Hesai JT128 is a 128-channel lidar built for robots: 360° horizontal by 189° vertical field of view, 0.74° vertical angular resolution, about 1.15 million points per second in single-return mode, and a weight of 265 grams.

Also called

Beams, Lines, Channel Count

Related

LiDAR · Solid-State LiDAR · Field of View · Point Cloud · Hesai JT128 · Livox Mid-360

Sources

Ouster OS1 Lidar Sensor
Hesai JT128 产品页 (Chinese)
Wikipedia: Velodyne Lidar

As of

2026-09