TTM120S/TTM260 Thermal Imaging Camera

While traditional visible-light cameras capture images of objects radiating light visible to the naked eye, an infrared camera captures infrared light, which the human eye cannot see. All objects radiate some form of heat energy, but some wavelengths within the electromagnetic spectrum are invisible, including infrared. Sensors in an infrared camera capture a particular range of invisible energy emission (700-1000 nm) and then express each heat value (or wavelength) through a set of corresponding colors. The resulting image is called a thermography and is usually viewable on a thermal imaging viewer, or LCD screen, which displays the thermograph.

Everything with thermal energy emits a certain amount of infrared light. So oftentimes, the terms thermal imaging camera and infrared camera are used interchangeably - these can also be called a handheld thermal scanner. Thermal imaging sensors detect infrared radiation and then express each heat value (or wavelength) through a set of corresponding colors that is viewable on a screen.

It depends on your application, but in general thermal, or infrared, cameras give you more information. For instance a night vision camera with a visible light sensor can’t see water leaks, overheating capacitors, or calculate the temperature of a surface from a distance the way a thermal camera can.

Infrared cameras can be used for many things. They are best for identifying areas of temperature change or difference. An example of this can include finding an animal in the woods or on the water, identifying water leaks in a home or in industrial applications, measuring temperature of people during a pandemic, investigating how well something is insulated, finding components that are overheating on a circuit board, and more.

A thermal imaging camera can’t fight a fire directly, but it can help firefighters do many things. Firefighting thermal imaging cameras can be used to find hotspots, determine if there is fire behind a wall or door, locate someone lost in the wilderness, or recently one was used to determine that a human was asleep inside a room in a burning building, which then initiated a rescue.

Water, or other fluid, leaks almost always emit a different wavelength of infrared light compared to their dry surroundings. If you view a puddle of water or a stream of drips it will be identifiable to someone performing an inspection with an infrared camera. Infrared cameras make excellent infrared water leak detectors.