FLIR announces personal thermal imager for iPhone

[mikeselectricstuff]

Pretty sure this is an all-new sensing package, looks like maybe a silicon lens
"Lepton uses a breakthrough lens fabricated in wafer form," , though I suppose it could be a multi-impression moulding of chalcogenide glass

[echen1024]

Under $350...

I would just save up some more for an E4. And seriously? Hide and Seek to a whole new level?

And what would you use it for that would justify an extra $600? Surely that $600 could be better spent?

It could be hacked to 320x240... also, it wouldn't be dependent on using a cell phone. I believe that if you are going to spend a relatively large amount of money, if possible, you might as well just drop the cash for the version you know you won't outgrow. I had a chance to play with the Fluke VT04 once, and can guarantee that you will pretty quickly outgrow that resolution.

[Psi]

Glaring omission in the "Tech Specs" section - my money is on somewhere between 16x16 and 80x80

16x16 is low enough that it would be obvious in their promo pics (unless they faked them and that's not a real product image).

64x64 or 80x80 with visible camera overlay seems quite plasiable

[amyk]

Play hide and seek like never before

For some reason I feel this was inspired by or in some way related to Mike's teardown thread... especially since someone made that same comment about playing thermal hide-and-seek with a hacked E4.

[frenky]

This guy "IR-V" seems to have demo model in hand. http://goo.gl/xg0RFj

"It has about 1/2 the thermal resolution of the PS-24 but 3x the capture rate."

FLIR Scout PS24 has resolution 240x180, so the Flir ONE will probably have the resolution about 120x90 ?

[mikeselectricstuff]

Glaring omission in the "Tech Specs" section - my money is on somewhere between 16x16 and 80x80

16x16 is low enough that it would be obvious in their promo pics (unless they faked them and that's not a real product image).

64x64 or 80x80 with visible camera overlay seems quite plasiable

If you look at the pics taken from their CES demo unit, the thermal image looks very blurry, and 16x16 with some heavy processing could just be possible, though if you were designing a new sensor from scratch, as appears to be the case, then 16x16 would probably be too low to aim for. From the pics I don't think it's anything like as high as 80x80.
ULIS (I believe now owned by Flir) have recently released an 80x80 sensor.
I would guess the limiting factor is the lens, and the resolution may well be decided to match what a cheap lens is capable of. 
The act that they have not said what the resolution is speaks volumes - it is clearly low enough that the figure would  discourage people from taking it seriously.

This is the only real video I can find - looks like 9fps


Also a surprising amount of lag - watch when he waves his hand in front of it

[frenky]

I've put 80x80 grid on the actual image from CES. If it's 80x80 it's still great value for the money.

[dexters_lab]

if you look through the visible camera overlay, there is not much detail there!

no wonder they dont mention in the spec

[equinoxe]

80x80 would be a reasonable resolution for household use.

Too bad it's only for the iphone5(s)..
We will be able to find out some more details as soon as real pictures made by this device are released.

[mikeselectricstuff]

A few more vids from CES - resolution looks better than 16x16 but clearly some filtering as there are distinct halos round some subjects.
What really caught my attention was this - at 1:20 he slides the front switch down, and it springs back - I wonder if this is a manual calibration ( which may explain teh small size of the core) Presumably the 'up' position is lens cover - can any German speakers here let  us know if there is any explanation...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kXkeuJajHxY#t=74

[mikeselectricstuff]

Flir just replied to my tweet about resolution - sensor is 80x60, processed up to 160x120

https://twitter.com/FLIR_ONE

[nowlan]

The original E4 review was kind when it was low res. The hacks make it worth the money.
This sounds the same resolution, but they will release an sdk so you can fix the quirks in the E4 series.
If it is $350, then would make a cheap thrill.

[papo]

can any German speakers here let  us know if there is any explanation...

He's not really giving a lot of technical information in that video. The lever at the back of the unit activates a cross-hair that enables an OSD cross-hair and temperature display. (You can see the cross-hair when he turns around the phone after pulling the lever). Interestingly however, he says that to activate the cross-hair, the lever has to be pulled down. I'm not sure but it looks as if he first pushes the lever up, then pulls it down and releases it. Not sure why they made this a mechanical button (as opposed to the other features that are accessible by the touch screen).

Regards
Matt

[Kryoclasm]

I think it would make a great all purpose tool for work, as a mechanic, to home, my electronics work bench.

Also outdoors when walking the dog at night and I will know if that really is a bear on the other side of the bushes from me.

Just one of those things you should keep near by when the need makes itself known.

One more step closer to the Tricorder too! 

Finally, it wont be as creepy as keeping a traditional FLIR in your pocket. 

[mikeselectricstuff]

can any German speakers here let  us know if there is any explanation...

He's not really giving a lot of technical information in that video. The lever at the back of the unit activates a cross-hair that enables an OSD cross-hair and temperature display. (You can see the cross-hair when he turns around the phone after pulling the lever). Interestingly however, he says that to activate the cross-hair, the lever has to be pulled down. I'm not sure but it looks as if he first pushes the lever up, then pulls it down and releases it. Not sure why they made this a mechanical button (as opposed to the other features that are accessible by the touch screen).

Regards
Matt

If you look closely, a cover comes over the lenses when it is pulled down - I'm increasingly convinced that this is for flat-field calibration, and there is no internal shutter.

[MrSquirrel]

If you look closely, a cover comes over the lenses when it is pulled down - I'm increasingly convinced that this is for flat-field calibration, and there is no internal shutter.

That makes sense with the lens being integrated, i want to see a data sheet on the Lepton! Hope they don't restrict selling it to OEM's.

They are going to sell loads of ONE's if the price is what they say. I never expected something like to this so soon, thought it would be years away. Very impressive.

I can't imagine what cool things mobile app developers will dream up.

[all_repair]

The other day E4 assisted in narrowing the faulty part of a PCB so I was gearing up to buy another E4, until this appears.  It shall be very useful for field troubleshooting like a phone camera which can be around when you need it the most, where the more capable one is unreachabldle and miles away.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Confirmed via Twitter - flat-field cal is manual

[SeanB]

When are you getting one to tear down Mike?

[mikeselectricstuff]

When are you getting one to tear down Mike?

Soon as I can - with all the extra E4 sales, the least they can do is send me one...

[iDevice]

Confirmed via Twitter - flat-field cal is manual

By looking at the video, it seems that you have to calibrate manually when you want to measure a temperature.
You then get the cross-hair appearing if it is the first time as well as temperature reading.
Then the temp reading disappears after the calibrated period is expired and is replaced by the "calibration" icon which looks like the calibration slider.
The cross-hair seems to stay visible though.

I guess it's quite OK as this gadget is probably intended more for visual purposes than a professional thermographic camera.

[mikeselectricstuff]

I assume they must be doing some other stuff to counteract drift, even for a purely visual image  - probably doing long-term avaraging to estimate a baseline - I suspect if you held it in a tripod at a stationary scene for a long time you might see some interesting things.

[wilheldp]

When are you getting one to tear down Mike?

Soon as I can - with all the extra E4 sales, the least they can do is send me one...

Have they actually directly mentioned anything to you about the E4 hacking thread?  I know the corporate wanks probably bitch about losing out on the $5000 difference between the E4 and E8, but last time I looked, there were nearly 130 people (me included) that never would have thought about buying an E4 without the hacking thread.

[amyk]

Confirmed via Twitter - flat-field cal is manual

By looking at the video, it seems that you have to calibrate manually when you want to measure a temperature.
You then get the cross-hair appearing if it is the first time as well as temperature reading.
Then the temp reading disappears after the calibrated period is expired and is replaced by the "calibration" icon which looks like the calibration slider.
The cross-hair seems to stay visible though.

I guess it's quite OK as this gadget is probably intended more for visual purposes than a professional thermographic camera.

Something about manual calibration seems funny to me, but at this price point and size I suppose it's a great solution. And if you don't care about exact temperatures but just to see the trends, then automatic calibration lag might get in the way.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Nope - had a few emails back & forth with Andy Tiech after the review but nothing since the teardown (last email didn't really expect a reply though). However the soft case looked like it got ordered internally by AT well after the TD vid.
Half thinking about sending a request for a F1 to review..... maybe after the CES fuss has died down.