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Thermal Imaging Performance Verification |
Many companies in the tactical surveillance industry claim to make thermal infrared imaging systems that offer the best image quality and performance available on the market. How can a customer tell if the imaging system itself can perform up to expectations? Demonstrations at a customer’s location certainly help, but it can be difficult to ‘quantify’ how well a system performs at the demonstration. Also, demonstrations are frequently staged under optimal conditions, and often with targets at ranges that are much less than what the customer would actually want to see during operational deployment. Customers can be further confused (and sometimes, mislead) by performance claims that use terms such as "detection”, “recognition”, and “identification" without proper explanation of what those terms really mean. Lack of understanding in this area can lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment in the performance of the imaging system.
Several alternatives are available to help assure the customer that the imaging system they are purchasing will provide the quality and imaging performance they expect. Numerical modeling can offer the chance to quantitatively compare the performance of different imaging system configurations (lens and detector), and to get a feel for how well a system will perform on for the expected combinations of targets and imaging range.
NVThermIP is a highly sophisticated thermal imaging simulation model that was developed by the U.S. Army’s Night Vision and Electronics Sensors Directorate, out of Fort Belvoir, Virginia. Properly used, this model provides highly accurate predictions of target acquisition performance, and is considered the “Gold Standard” for determining the performance of thermal imaging systems. IEC Infrared Systems (IEC) utilizes NVThermIP to evaluate and verify the performance characteristics of their thermal imaging systems. While many vendors cannot or will not provide such engineering data (often, because as re-sellers or integrators, they are not the true designers or engineers of their systems), IEC’s engineers will provide qualified customers, upon request, with the simulation results from NVThermIP, customized for their particular imaging configuration.
Another way to help determine if the imaging system will perform as expected is through independent, third party testing. This provides verified test data showing the results of laboratory and/or field testing of the optical system. IEC performs this testing on all of the thermal imaging configurations in their line. Once again, IEC’s engineering team will provide qualified customers, upon request, with the laboratory optical test results for their particular imaging configuration.
For more information, contact us at (440) 234-8000, and see for yourself the difference that dealing directly with the engineering & design team can make. |
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