how do thermal cameras even work
In: Technology
Everything hot emits radiation, infrared radiation which is a form of light that is invisible to us, but it is still light.
Thermal cameras can see this light though, they have lenses that focus that light onto an array of sensors, these lenses are often made from something like germanium. They focus the IR light onto an array of sensors called “microbolometers”, these sensors are made from materials that are very sensitive to heat, often made from elements like vanadium oxide, when they react to heat they convert it to an electrical signal that can be converted to an image by a computer, each reaction from one of those sensors is treated as a pixel and converted to an image by a computer.
In summary, thermal cameras focus IR light onto sensors that send electrical signals to a computer that converts that to an image.
Latest Answers