Magnetic encoders have been typically reserved for heavy duty industrial applications: Large and costly, they have long been the kings of encoders, not the foot soldiers used to fit common applications. These applications have been reserved for optical encoders due to price considerations. Recent technological developments have brought magnetic encoders to unprecedented price points, but not all designs share the high reliability and high performance of their high-quality ancestors. Motor manufacturers install thousands of encoders on their motors every year. Typically, these are low-cost optical encoders. Manufacturers have reported high failure rates of these optical encoders.
