This paper addresses the issue of evaluating an optical vision system to be integrated with a 1μm laser beam welding tool for process monitoring. The boundary conditions for the system performance and system nature imposed by the needs in industrial production is highlighted. Initial welding experiments have been executed in order to understand the applicability of the vision system. The evaluation includes considerations on the required sensor bandwidth. The need for time synchronized data is emphasized and the use of numerical algorithms for enhancing the estimation and detection performanceof the system is discussed. The results shows a good potential for the system to give robust process information to be used in monitoring and control.