Articles

Since their inception for use by the U.S. military in the forests of Korea, infrared cameras have been put to use in any number of industries - from medicine to geological surveys. They've also grown into a pivotal tool in home security surveillance, rendering security systems complete in a way never before thought possible.

People these days often don't fully understand the difference between 'night vision' security cameras and infrared technology. Night vision cameras predate infrared - in fact, night vision goggles, which use an array of lenses to intensify light up to half a dozen times what the human eye could perceive, were already in use during World War II. More modern variants use CCD lenses sensitized to light at Wavelengths invisible to the human eye. Such cameras incorporate a torch that shines light at that wavelength, effectively illuminating the scene for the camera while it appears unchanged, even pitch black, to human eyes.

Elegant as they may be, these designs are both flawed. Both produce footage that looks monochromatic, two-dimensional, and, frequently, is insufficient to actually identify intruders - hardly an enviable addition to a home security surveillance system. You might just as well install dummy cameras.

Enter the infrared security camera. This vastly more sophisticated machine makes us of a microbolometer, a device capable of detecting the black body radiation of objects. Black body radiation exists in direct proportion to the heat a creature or object produces, and thus can be viewed entirely regardless of any source of illumination. The imagery that results, while it ordinarily won't allow you to create a particularly detailed picture of the intruder, will help you to find things such as their body structure, gender, and where in your home they might have left fingerprint evidence. If you go the extra mile and get wireless infrared surveillance cameras, not only will you not have to bother with running wiring all over your house - you'll also be able to ensure that the footage captured by your home security surveillance system is beyond the reach of intruders, sent instantly off to a storage cluster or private website for later viewing.

White the footage they record might be difficult for the average person to puzzle through, properly trained thermographic analysts can often formulate accurate pictures of those caught on camera. As such, infrared security cameras can be a great boon for home security surveillance where ordinary wireless surveillance cameras are rendered insufficient due to inadequate outdoor lighting conditions.

Thermal cameras from FLIR, the leading manufacturer of infrared security cameras in the world, start at about $2000. Since even the most basic model is, obviously, a substantially pricey piece of technology, you should do a thorough evaluation of your home to determine if an infrared security camera is even really necessary. If you live in a very well lit area with good visibility even during the night, an ordinary wireless surveillance camera should do the trick. You can further eliminate the need for infrared security cameras by having motion activated lighting on all sides of your home (instead of just in the standard location by the driveway or front door).

Lest I paint too dark a picture, however, you should know that infrared security cameras can help you save money on some fronts. For instance, if you properly programmed, they can render the need for smoke detectors null and void. If set to raise the alarm when ambient temperatures exceed certain safe limits, infrared cameras can act as very serviceable fire detectors.