what is a thermal camera

A thermal camera, also known as a thermographic camera or thermal imaging camera, is a device that creates an image using infrared (IR) radiation, unlike a normal camera that forms an image using visible light. It captures and creates an image of an object by using the infrared radiation emitted from the object in a process called thermal imaging. This technology allows the camera to detect and measure the infrared energy (heat) of objects and convert it into a visual image, showing the apparent surface temperature of the object being measured. The camera contains an optical system that focuses the infrared energy onto a special detector chip (sensor array) that contains thousands of detector pixels arranged in a grid. Each pixel in the sensor array reacts to the infrared energy focused on it and produces an electronic signal, which is then processed to create a color map of the apparent temperature of the object. The resulting matrix of colors is sent to memory and to the camera’s display as a temperature picture (thermal image) of that object. Thermal imaging cameras have a wide range of applications, including firefighting, surveillance, automotive night vision, astronomy research, and medical monitoring of physiological activities such as fever in human beings and other warm-blooded animals.