Thermal Imaging

Low-cost infrared cameras have been flooding the market since FLIR and Seek Thermal opened up the consumer thermal camera market in the late 2010s. The rise of smartphones has enabled these manufacturers to take out a good chunk of the regular thermal camera cost, allowing them to focus on the core sensor and USB bridge alone. The consumer products from vendors like FLIR and Seek Thermal are limited by US laws to a 9 Hz frame rate. However, we have seen a new crop of thermal cameras from Asian vendors that don't seem to be subject to these limitations. Two vendors - InfiRay and TOPDON - reached out with review samples of their consumer-focused smartphone-attachable thermal cameras. Read on for a comparative look at...