Teledyne FLIR Boson Camera Link Accessory

All Boson thermal camera modules feature FLIR infrared video processing architecture, noise reduction filters, and local-area contrast, utilizing a high sensitivity 12-micron pixel pitch detector that provides high-resolution thermal imaging in a small, lightweight, and low-power package. The image processing capabilities accommodate industry-standard communication interfaces, including visible CMOS and USB.

Boson Radiometric cameras bring absolute temperature measurement capabilities for quantitative assessment and analysis across commercial and industrial uses. The Boson Radiometric models feature radiometric temperature measurement, meaning the cameras capture the temperature data of every pixel in every frame of a scene. This makes them ideal for implementation with unmanned aerial systems, firefighting, automotive, security, surveillance, and industrial inspection. 

Configurations of Boson which are radiometric capable feature the ability to output a “temperature stable” output or a “temperature linear” output. In the former case, the 16b output is intended to be linear with input flux (i.e. target irradiance) and independent of the camera’s own temperature. In the latter case, the input flux is translated to absolute temperature (Kelvin). That is, the output is linear with scene temperature. For temp-linear output, parameters such as target emissivity atmospheric transmission can be adjusted to reflect current imaging conditions.

Standard Boson or Radiometric Bosons

Radiometry Disabled (T-linear Enable/Disable has no effect on output): 16b output varies with both scene flux and camera temperature.

Radiometric Bosons

Radiometry Enabled, T-linear Disabled:
Temperature-stable output: 16b output value is intended to be proportional to scene-flux only and independent of the camera temperature. That is, when imaging a given scene, the output image is stable even if the camera’s temperature varies. By comparison, output varies significantly with camera temperature when radiometry is disabled.

Radiometry Enabled, T-linear Enabled:
Temperature-linear output: 16b output value is intended to be directly proportional to scene temperature. In high-gain state, the 16b output value corresponds to scene-temperature in Kelvin multiplied by 100, and in low-gain state, it corresponds to Kelvin multiplied by 50. For example, expected output in high-gain state when imaging a 20C BB is [(20C + 273.15)] * 100 = 29315. In practice, radiometric error prevents an output which corresponds perfectly with scene temperature. 

Radiometric accuracy provides ±5 °C (±8 °F) or ±5% temperature measurement accuracy and include a Spot Meter Accuracy software feature that provides an assessment of how accurate a given temperature measurement appears in the scene.

Some of the benefits of advanced radiometric cameras include:

• Improved accuracy (typical performance on the order of +5 Co or 5% in high-gain state, varying slightly across the full operating temperature range)
  
• Moveable and resizable spot-meter (coordinates can be user-selectable to any location on the array)
• Additional spot-meter data (average, standard deviation, minimum, and maximum value)
• Digital data linear in scene temperature (in real-time operation, the pixel values in the digital data correspond to the temperature of the scene)
• Detailed temperature information (users derive temperature information per pixel from objects in the scene)
• Temperature precision (allows external scene parameters to be compensated for emissivity– a measure of the efficiency of a surface to emit thermal energy relative to a perfect blackbody source– and window transmission, to more accurately determine temperature)
• Image Metric Feature (enables users to query the camera for scene temperature data via serial command, such as maximum, minimum, and standard deviation for user-defined regions).