I too work in the thermal infrared imaging field and noticed a lot of comments here based on typical misconseptions of this technology. I have customers bringing up the same issues on a daily basis. The poster above from the manufacturer is correct in his description of the technology. Thermal imaging systems show infrared energy or heat differences. This does not mean the objects are hot. All objects in the universe emit infrared energy. Cold objects are radiating infrared energy just as much as hot objects. The main key with infrared technology is not the temperature of an object but the difference in temperature between objects in the scene. If everything is the same temperature you will see nothing. Of course this is impossible in the real world (except perhaps in a cave). Thermal imaging is by far the best night vision technology out there. You can see some interesting images in thermal on this website
http://www.nationalinfrared.com
go to the image gallery and there are some great images of people, cars and the environment around us. You will see that you can clearly see everything from rocks and trees to people and twinkie wrappers. For more information on how infrared technology works check out this blog
http://infraredcamera.blogspot.com/
Sorry, you must login or register to leave a comment! If you have any questions, please refer to our FAQ.
Let the hive mind of Engadget get that for you.
"I'm a college student looking for a new laptop, but almost all of my media I receive digitally. I'm looking for a laptop, not a netbook, without an optical drive, and budget sensitive. The optical drive will just be a waste of space, when I can have thinner laptop. What's out there?"
The most commented posts on Engadget over the past 24 hours.
Now that we've thrown 'em off the trail, use the form below to get in touch with the people at Engadget. Please fill in all of the required fields because they're required.
I too work in the thermal infrared imaging field and noticed a lot of comments here based on typical misconseptions of this technology. I have customers bringing up the same issues on a daily basis. The poster above from the manufacturer is correct in his description of the technology. Thermal imaging systems show infrared energy or heat differences. This does not mean the objects are hot. All objects in the universe emit infrared energy. Cold objects are radiating infrared energy just as much as hot objects. The main key with infrared technology is not the temperature of an object but the difference in temperature between objects in the scene. If everything is the same temperature you will see nothing. Of course this is impossible in the real world (except perhaps in a cave). Thermal imaging is by far the best night vision technology out there. You can see some interesting images in thermal on this website
http://www.nationalinfrared.com
go to the image gallery and there are some great images of people, cars and the environment around us. You will see that you can clearly see everything from rocks and trees to people and twinkie wrappers. For more information on how infrared technology works check out this blog
http://infraredcamera.blogspot.com/