Patent ID: 8384883

Claim:
An optoelectronic sensor ( 10 ) for measurement of distances or distance changes in accordance with the light transit time principle, comprising: a light transmitter ( 12 ) for the transmission of a light signal; and a light receiver ( 16 ) for the reception of a remitted or reflected light signal, wherein an evaluation unit ( 18 ) is provided which is made to: trigger the transmission of the light signal at a transmission time in a respective measurement period ( 100 ), sample the remitted or reflected light signal, accumulate a histogram ( 110 ) of the remitted or reflected light signals over a plurality of the respective measurement periods ( 100 ), and determine a reception time and a light transient time from the histogram ( 110 ); wherein a unit ( 40 ) for fine setting of the transmission time is provided which is made to shift the transmission time within the respective measurement period ( 100 ) by an offset and wherein offsets form a distribution ( 56 , 60 ) whose center of mass forms a desired transmission time.