8 min read
Can a thermal camera see through walls, glass or smoke?
Walls, glass, smoke, fog, plastic, clothing: what infrared really passes through, and what the camera shows instead.
Understand before you buy
Thermal cameras: the criteria that actually matter
Frame rate capped at 9 Hz, advertised versus measured resolution, sensitivity versus fineness, emissivity, macro lenses. Eighteen in-depth articles, written from manufacturer datasheets and the discrepancies we found in them.
18published articles
192listed devices
348source references
0commercial links
8 min read
Rent or buy a thermal camera? The real math
Free loans, daily rental or an entry-level purchase: observed prices, pitfalls and the break-even point.
8 min read
Underfloor heating: locate pipes and leaks with a thermal camera
Warm-up, settings, floor coverings and pitfalls: the step-by-step method to trace pipes and spot a leak.
9 min read
Buying a used thermal camera: 10 checks before you pay
A practical checklist for avoiding expensive surprises and comparing the true cost of a used thermal camera.
6 min read
When should you scan a house with a thermal camera?
Indoor–outdoor contrast, sunlight and wind: the conditions that make thermal images useful.
6 min read
Phone thermal camera attachment or handheld camera: which should you buy?
Phone compatibility, native resolution, battery life and reports: a practical buying framework.
9 min read
Thermal imaging for water leak detection: what it can and cannot find
Thermography does not see water: it reveals a temperature anomaly. Method, limits, false positives, and the specifications that matter.
9 min read
What thermal camera resolution do you need?
160 × 120, 256 × 192, 320 × 240, or 640 × 480: choose by target size, working distance, and field of view.
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.
7 min read
NETD or IFOV: which one actually matters for your job
Thermal sensitivity or spatial resolution: the two criteria are often at odds, and the right choice depends entirely on what you're inspecting.
6 min read
What datasheets don't tell you
While building a database that currently contains 192 thermal cameras, we found contradictions between manufacturer datasheets, marketing copy, and retailer pages.
6 min read
Choosing a thermal camera for electronics repair
On a circuit board, IFOV is useless and resolution barely matters. What decides it is the macro lens and the smallest area you can actually measure.
7 min read
Thermal cameras and hunting: why it's not the same device
A hunting thermal scope and a building-diagnostics camera have almost nothing in common, despite sharing the same vocabulary. What actually matters for spotting an animal at a distance.
7 min read
Thermal sensors on drones: what changes versus a handheld camera
Flying with a thermal sensor imposes constraints ground-based cameras never face: weight, stabilization, travel speed. Here's what actually matters before equipping a drone.
7 min read
Scientific thermal cameras: a different world, a hundred times the price
Liquid-nitrogen-cooled detectors, millikelvin sensitivity, thousands of frames per second: lab cameras have almost nothing in common with the ones in this comparator, starting with the price.
8 min read
The best-selling discounted thermal cameras: what their datasheets really say
GOYOJO, HABOTEST, TOOLTOP, BSIDE: we checked the datasheets of the best-selling models during a major promotion. The same sensor turns up under three names, with one manufacturer hiding it and two disclosing it openly.