By Josh Perry, Editor
[email protected]

A recent article from Advanced Thermal Solutions, Inc. (ATS), a thermal engineering company based in Norwood, Mass., looks at recent developments in the thermal imaging camera market, including the trend from popular manufacturers to build smartphone apps and devices.

Seek Thermal’s app features four thermography modes with nine color overlays to apply to the temperature measurements. (Seek Thermal)

The article explains, “Though invisible to the eye, thermal radiation can be detected by thermal imaging cameras, also called thermographic or infrared cameras. Heat is emitted by any object with a temperature above absolute zero.

“This radiation increases as an object’s temperature rises. Thermal cameras typically provide screen images, called thermograms that display variations in the heat their sensors detected. Thus, different levels of reflection can affect what the visualization looks like.”

Cameras can measure surface temperatures ranging from -80°C to 3,000°C and have been used in various applications ranging from research and testing to industrial troubleshooting and product validation.

According to the article, cameras can either be cooled or uncooled. Uncooled cameras are the more common (cooled are typically used in aerospace and satellite applications) and are retailed for every day use by companies such as Keysight Technologies, FLIR, and Seek Thermal.

The latest development is using apps and attachable devices to turn smartphones into thermal imaging cameras. FLIR and Seek have both marketed smartphone capabilities that enable anyone to use a camera and widened the range of potential applications.

“Thermal imaging cameras are valuable tools for detecting problems in electronics, and have myriad uses in everyday life,” the article concluded.

Read the full article at https://qats.com/cms/2018/07/06/industry-developments-thermal-imaging-cameras.