I’m a firefighter and we just bought new TICs (Thermal Imaging Cameras). We did a training to familiarize ourselves with the new equipment and simulated searching for people in the station gym. While using it, I noticed that the display would show a silhouette of my body in the mirror. The way these cameras work (as I understand it) is not to look for an image to repeat on a screen, but to look for heat. I understand that my body gives off heat, and that’s how it distinguishes people for the image. However, the “me” in the mirror isn’t me. It’s only a reflection. So, shouldn’t the camera just show no heat coming off the wall/mirror?
In: Technology
The camera is, really, just a regular camera that collects light. Just like any other camera. The trick is what kind of light. Really hot things glow red, or even white. If something isn’t hot enough to glow red, it instead glows in *infrared* light.
The camera is designed to use this kind of light, invisible to the human eye. Hotter objects glow brighter and “whiter”, so this is what you see in the camera, and just like in any other camera it will see reflections.
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