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4. Characterization of thermal imaging cameras
4.1 Sensitivity and resolution
Thermal cameras, being optical instruments, can be classically characterized in terms of field of view and resolution. The notion of sensitivity is expressed a little differently from that of instruments working in the visible range, for the following main reason.
In the visible spectrum, illuminance varies in large proportions between day and night (typically a ratio greater than 10 9 ). On the other hand, contrast between objects is independent of illumination conditions. Sensitivity is therefore generally expressed in terms of minimum illuminance. In thermal infrared, at least for terrestrial applications, since scene temperature is within fairly narrow limits, scene luminance varies...
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Characterization of thermal imaging cameras
Thermal camera performance
Bibliography
Standardization
NATO standards (STANAG)
- Analogue video standard for aircraft system applications - 3350 -
- Calculation of MRTD for thermal imaging systems - 4350 -
- Measurement of the MRTD of thermal cameras - 4349 -
- Definition of nominal static range performance for thermal imaging system - 4347 -
Thermal camera manufacturers
(non-exhaustive list)
France
e2v technologies http://www.e2v.com
FLIR Systems France http://www.flir.fr
Germany
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