S1 · 33 devices
Smartphone modules
The sensor alone, powered by the phone. Light, cheap, no screen or battery.
Independent technical comparator
The real numbers behind thermal cameras
139 devices gathered from manufacturer documentation. Actually measured resolution versus advertised resolution, NETD and its conditions, recalculated IFOV. Every figure carries its source.
192 measured values768 displayed values
139documented devices
33brands compared
34capped at 9 Hz or less
41with interpolated resolution
17manufacturer discrepancies found
01Thermal camera selector
I need a thermal camera for…
Four questions, an instant result: the selector rules out devices that don't fit your situation and ranks the rest by suitability score.
Start with your use case. The conditions shown are starting values, adjustable afterwards.
- Building diagnostics and energy audits3 m, 10 cm area
- Electrical panels and switchgear1 m, 2 cm area
- Electronics repair10 cm, 2 mm area
- Leaks and moisture2 m, 10 cm area
- Mechanical and maintenance1 m, 3 cm area
- Solar (photovoltaic)5 m, 15 cm area
- General-purpose or other use1 m, 5 cm area
- Observation, hunting, surveillanceno temperature measurement
- Your use case
- Measure or spot
- Format and budget
- Distance and target size
02Catalog
Five device families
A smartphone module and an industrial camera are not judged on the same scale. Each Segment has its own scoring scale.
S2 · 42 devices
Pocket compacts
Standalone, built-in screen. The most common format for general-purpose use.
S3 · 15 devices
Imaging thermometers
Gun-shaped format. They locate an anomaly rather than detail it.
S4 · 27 devices
Professional building cameras
Radiometry, report generation, stated accuracy. The building diagnostician's tool.
03Rankings
Six use cases, six rankings
There is no overall score, and that's not an oversight. A device built to read a circuit board at three centimeters is not the one that inspects a roof. You can also move the weightings yourself.
04Articles
Read before you buy
8 min read
Emissivity: why your camera reads 23°C on a pipe at 60°C
The setting that skews thermal measurements the most, and that half of manufacturers don't even document. What to understand and check.
6 min read
Why so many professional thermal cameras are capped at 9 Hz
Nine frames per second on a €1,000 camera, twenty-five on a €250 module: the explanation is an export regulation, not a technical limit.
7 min read
"Super resolution": what an advertised 640 × 480 is really worth
Seven devices in our catalog advertise a resolution they don't actually measure. How to spot an inflated sensor, and when super resolution is honest.
05Method
What this database contains,
and what it doesn't
Data is gathered from manufacturer documentation, supplemented by manuals and independent tests when the manufacturer stays silent. Every value carries its source and the date it was checked.
You will find
- The actually measured resolution, next to the advertised one
- NETD with its measurement conditions, without which it isn't comparable
- IFOV recalculated from the optics, to check the manufacturer's figure
- Discrepancies between a brand's marketing and its own datasheet
- An explicit note of what a manufacturer does not publish
You will not find
- User reviews or aggregated star ratings
- An overall score, an editor's pick, or a staff selection
- An estimated value standing in for missing data
- A ranking influenced by payment
- A hands-on test: no device has been physically handled at this stage, and it's stated on every product page
75%threshold for a full score
55%threshold for a partial estimate
224referenced sources
11logged scoring-scale changes