TDI sensors are e.g. used for scanning documents at very high speed, as it is for example needed for sorting postage letters. In comparison with standard line scan cameras the processing speed can be increased or the needed lighting reduced.

Another important application for TDI sensor is the surveillance from highly flying planes or satellites. Here the movement of the camera in the plane or satellite provides the movement of the image across the sensor. The only thing to do is to adjust the shifting of the individual TDI stages to the movement across the earth surface. By using suitable filters in front of the sensor, the recorded spectral range can be narrowed. Colour pictures can be obtained with three TDI sensors, which are parallel to each other, rectangular to the moving direction and which are equipped with filters for the three basic colours red, green and blue. By using special filters for the absorption lines of e.g. chlorophyll, the current state of the vegetation can be examined.