The detection system based on Avalanche Photodiode (APD) arrays is highly suited for ultra-high sensitivity and ultra-high speed applications, and is widely used in active and passive imaging, LiDAR, medical detection, wavefront detection, optical fiber communication and other fields. The time to Digital Converter (TDC) is one of the core circuits, which completes the Time of Flight (ToF) quantification of the photons with high accuracy. In this paper, the principle of TDC circuit and the simplest direct counting structure are introduced at first, and then the development history and latest achievements of domestic and international TDC circuits applicable to APD arrays are viewed according to the three typical structures, of which the phase-interpolated TDCs are mainly introduced. Finally, the characteristics of three typical structures are compared, and the future research trends are summarized.