# What is the state of the art in thermal imaging today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 21, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032 "2005-08-21T23:14:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/1 "2005-08-21T23:14:06Z")
So, I am watching an episode of Veronica Mars. Veronica is watching a bad-guy, and she has a lot of equipment for a high-school girl who is the daughter of a private investegator. Right now she is watching a perp through some infrared thermal imaging equipment that lets her see through the walls of the subjects house. And, she can even record the audio of what her subjects says. So, I already know that what is on a television show is subject to embellishment. But I am perplexed as to what the actual state of the art in thermal imaging equipment is? So, can anyone give me a few links? thanks Ficer67 ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/2 "2005-08-21T23:41:18Z")
In the fire service we use thermal imaging cameras to assist with victim location and spotting fires that may be burning behind a layer of drywall or above a suspended ceiling. While we don’t have CIA grade stuff, we can’t see through walls or floors with them. We get in enough trouble as it is. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/3 "2005-08-21T23:51:24Z")
If you’re looking through walls it’s not really thermal imaging, it’s mm wave imaging. Similarly remote sound recording isn;t termal imaging either. But both those htings are possible with equipment that is frely available albeit expensive. As for what the stae of the art is with thermal imaging, it’s really too complex to answer. Like asking what state of the art is in wheeled vehicles. Thermal imaging covers handheld devices, sattelites, equipment to detect disturbed ground, equipment to detect exhaust from bunkers and a whole heap of other things. ---
**Author:** ![Ficer67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c57346/32.png) [@Ficer67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ficer67)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/4 "2005-08-22T01:40:28Z")
So, during a fire, the instruments are sensitive enough to distinguish a person, even though the ambient temperature is greater than that of a person? That is interesting… What is mm wave imaging? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/5 "2005-08-22T08:16:25Z")
> [@Ficer67](#): > > What is mm wave imaging? milli-meter wave, essentially its a radar image of an area on a different frequency than the big RF radars which can cook someone. Declan ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Goob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c77e96/32.png) [@Mr.Goob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Goob)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/6 "2005-08-22T14:02:25Z")
> [@Ficer67](#): > > So, during a fire, the instruments are sensitive enough to distinguish a person, even though the ambient temperature is greater than that of a person? That is interesting… > > What is mm wave imaging? When I was in the Navy around 1989 I got to play with a NIFTI for the first time. I don’t remember what the acronym stood for. It saw heat by looking at the infrared spectrum, nothing to do with ambiant temperature. It had a little black and white screen, white was hot, cold was black. I was the first one to use it ‘for real,’ found the source of a smoldering fire. Would have taken 10x as long to pinpoint that without it. Neat stuff, I’d love to see one now over 15 years later. ---
**Author:** ![KCB615](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ea666f/32.png) [@KCB615](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KCB615)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2005, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/7 "2005-08-22T16:48:43Z")
The thermal imagers the fire service uses today do not look at air temperature, per se. They look through the air (or smoke) and see the first solid object on the other side. To over simplify, the camera takes all of the objects and their associated temperatures and displays them across a greyscale range (white is hottest, black is coolest). Older fire service thermal imagers could discern a 40 degree or so range, modern ones can go like 450 degrees or some outlandish range. The folks at [MSA](http://www.msafire.com) can explain it much better than I can - I only know how to use them, not the gritty details about how they work. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-state-of-the-art-in-thermal-imaging-today/318032/8 "2005-08-23T16:06:15Z")
I was just using a new thermal imager an hour ago. A leading manufacturer is FLIR. Thermal radiation doesn’t penetrate walls, so this isn’t a way to see through them. Terahertz imaging or, I think, T-rays, are more interesting for this. A web search on “t ray” turns up numerous sites and a few sights.