What is Flir?

Flir stands for forward looking infrared. This infrared technology has been around for decades and was primarily used by law and enforcement for surveillance proposes. The FLIR affords night vision enhancement which is superb. Today, this infra red technology is now being applied to other fields such a building, construction, electrical and home security. While home security is still more suited to the digital light cameras, the thermal camera imaging system is now widely used by the government for surveillance of the border, aerial surveillance, port security and fire fighting.

The infra red technology is based on the principle that some heat is emitted from all living objects and this is heat is then captured as images by the infra red sensors. Even the minutest changes in temperature can be easily sensed with the infra red detectors. Unlike normal cameras, the images are a series of hot and cold spots with varying degrees of color changes on a screen. While the thermal camera cannot distinguish a car or a house, it can certainly tell a tree from a person.

The biggest advantage of infra red imaging is its ability to see through total darkness. This has been of a tremendous help to fire fighters, border patrol and for aerial surveillance.

Today, the majority of infrared cameras have excellent imaging capacity and have the most advanced software for numerous applications. Both portable and fixed cameras are available to the public for sale.

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