Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown

[nightsquint]

Completely agree with you Fraser...those resuscitation & slapping were meant as a joke  (reminds me of analog pressure gauges)
I wonder whether dead pixels are inevitable defects during production, not to mention new dead pixels spring up during the course of the detector's lifetime...
Anyway, I'm extremely happy with my E4 and now trying to figure out how to video stream via RNDIS without lugging a notebook & running Flirtool.
Earlier in this thread someone mentioned using rasberry pi of some sorts...I guess I better start digging...

Cheers   

[Fraser]

@nightsquint.

You were only joking.... You would be amazed at how many times someone has brought a piece of equipment to me for repair and said that they had given it a good shake and thump yet it was still faulty 

Dead pixels are a production defect, but an acceptable one. Digital cameras also have defects in their CCD or CMOS arrays. They are also dealt with using a dead pixel map and correction algorithms. New dead pixels can appear over time but the dead pixel map can be updated to capture them. The microbolometer is pretty reliable which is why FLIR give you a 10 year warranty on that component. I have only one camera out my collection of 42 that has new dead pixels. It is my TESTO 880 and that has 3 visible dead pixels on its Amorphous Silicon array. I would not worry too much about issues with the FLIR VOX microbolometer. It is decent quality.

The E4 is an amazing little camera I hope you get much use and enjoyment from it.

Fraser

[Solare]

Hi all!

Sorry for being absent for so long, had reasons.

About your new camera's dead pixels.

If the calibration procedure is performed well, there should not be any dead pixel 'visible' normally, even after applying the hack.
I mean, they are there, but not visible because they are interpolated according the dead pixel map!

So if the pixels you can see are dead and visible normally after applying the hack, something is definitely wrong with your dead pixel map file!

I would apply for a replacement in such the case.

However, if you manually removed the dead pixel map file or switched this dead pixels interpolation function off, then you can see actual dead pixels for your camera.

So a question to you: how exactly you made the pixels visible, or they are visible after the hack?

thank you!

[nightsquint]

@Fraser,

Thanks for the insights. But really, in this day & age, I would've thought microbolometer productions have reached that stage with no dead pixels although microbolometers are technically more difficult (hence more costly than CCD / CMOS) to produce due to the technology involved. Guess we're not there yet.


@Solare,

Yes you were right. I did turn off the dead pixel masking through telnet, just to take a peek inside the naked detector for flaws
With the mask on, it's picture perfect (no visible dead pixels).

Cheers 

[Solare]

aha,

I thought you did this

Which command do you use for this check?

[nightsquint]

@Solare,

Something like...rset .???CombGainDeadMap??? Either set to false or true to show or hide dead pixels.
Sorry I do not remember as I am away from my computer now.
But I found it on this thread, way back then.

[marcins]

Thx for all to make this Hack Possible

all works great

[murcielago]

I found a flir E30 but the firmware version is much older than the one campos posted.

would it still work?

[tomas123]

update your firmware and follow this threads

Resolution upgrade Flir E30/E40/E50 to E60 and i3/i5 to i7
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg407320/#msg407320
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg371680/#msg371680
  https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg379141/#msg379141
  you must edit your crc01 inside E60 goodies.zip:
    https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg338671/#msg338671
  a nice history from E30 (without WLAN)  to E60 (with WLAN)
    https://www.eevblog.com/forum/profile/?area=showposts;u=89829
   and https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg561266/#msg561266
watch for alphabetically order
   https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg380267/#msg380267
i3/i5: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg326229/#msg326229

and
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e40-upgrade-configuration/

[lou]

Hello,
 I have an E5 and would like to to improve the resolution. Fubar suggested I search this thread for the correct files and method.  To Quote" For your E5 you’ll have to follow the relevant guide in the EEVblog forum."  I have searched and not been successful to this point. Can anyone point me in the correct direction?  He said that his method for the E4 will not work because some files are different. 

Thanks, Lou

[Bud]

This post claimed support for E5

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/flir-e4-thermal-imaging-camera-teardown/msg534297/#msg534297

You may need to investigate further what exactly that was about

[encryptededdy]

For those who want to realign MSX - there's an easier way to do it without needing to reverse engineer the FLIR file format 
You can also use it to add MSX to pictures from cameras without MSX (ie. Therm-App converted images)

What you need:

• Microsoft Word
• FLIR Tools Plus

1. In FLIR Tools, activate the FLIR Tools Plus trial (if you need more time for your trial, there's a painfully obvious way to defeat the 30day limit). Make sure that Word Reporting is activated (press "i" under license options).



2. In Word, open the FLIR Tools+ tab and press "IR Viewer"



3. Right click -> Open and open your Radiometric JPEG. Then, select "Image Fusion"



4. Press "Open Photo" to use a alternative photo or to load your own one for a non-MSX camera. Otherwise, it's obvious from here.

Make sure your alignpoints are spread evenly across the image for the most optimal alignment. (I know mine are not spread out. Do as I say, not as I do.)



5. You can press "Reference Point X" buttons to zoom in.



6. Right-click -> Save As to save a Radiometric JPG with your new alignment data built in. This can be opened in FLIR Tools.



7. Volia! You just aligned your MSX / added MSX to a non-MSX image!

[tomas123]

A good hint.
I forgot to mention this feature of the word plugin.

[tomas123]

We know, how to remove the flir logo in the E4 images.

But by using Flir Tools we get the flir logo back.

After using mediaextract (http://panzi.github.io/mediaextract/ ) I'm sure, that the logo is a PNG Byte sequence in the dll
C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\Flir.Modules.Common.dll

Code: [Select]

>build-win32\mediaextract.exe --formats=image "C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\Flir.Modules.Common.dll"
Extracting 0x00000000 ... 0x001a6120 (1.64871 MB) from C:\Program Files\FLIR Systems\FLIR Tools\bin\Flir.Modules.Common.dll
Writing 16.7119 kB to .\Flir.Modules.Common.dll_0017bf29.png
Extracted 1 file of 16.7119 kB size.

$ identify  Flir.Modules.Common.dll_0017bf29.png
Flir.Modules.Common.dll_0017bf29.png PNG 1029x353 1029x353+0+0 8-bit sRGB 17.1KB 0.000u 0:00.000

as attachment the extracted file
 
Anybody knows, how to replace the embedded logo png in the dll with a transparent image of same pixel size (but smaller file size).

Code: [Select]

$ convert -size 1029x353 xc:none 1029x353.png
A simple binary search and replace doesn't work (after then I have the same dll size but wrong dll checksum??)

[nowlan]

Hello, wanted to ask a quick question. My mate is interested in buying  a thermal camera.
Salesman was talking up the C2 pocket one. I keep suggesting e4 for hackability. Anyone tried hacking C2? i assume same/similar hardware/firmware?

Also for streaming to pc, is flirtool adequate, etc.

Keysight have a thermal camera, but not sure who makes that one.

Cheers.

[Fraser]

C2 is only 80x60 resolution and so limited for detail work. The E4 is a completely different beast. Far superior in all respects, even at its native 80x60 resolution. The fact that is may be changed to 320x240 resolution makes it the best value complete thermal imaging camera available today. The Thermal App also appears to be a decent camera but you have to use it with a host phone so is not IMHO as ergonomic. I own 42 thermal cameras, most are professional Industrial models, but I would not be without my little E4. It  is a very nice camera, and very convenient to have around.

Fraser

[encryptededdy]

Hello, wanted to ask a quick question. My mate is interested in buying  a thermal camera.
Salesman was talking up the C2 pocket one. I keep suggesting e4 for hackability. Anyone tried hacking C2? i assume same/similar hardware/firmware?

Also for streaming to pc, is flirtool adequate, etc.

Keysight have a thermal camera, but not sure who makes that one.

Cheers.

C2 uses the lepton sensor, so the sensor is natively 80x60, and therefore cannot be hacked.

What is your mate going to use it for?

Depending on your budget, it may be worth considering a E40 or a used/refurb E30 or E40 - they can be hacked to E60 spec for the same if not better image quality than the Therm-App, manual focus and also the ergonomics and durability of the E4.

[Uho]

I made a universal holder for the lens. You can put a macro lens and a zoom lens. Holders of Series Flir E are slightly different from the holders of the series I .

[Fraser]

Nice work, as ever, Uho

Fraser

[Uho]

More photos holders. Made of ABS.

[encryptededdy]

Finally found info on the Lens in the FLIR E4/5/6/8. I've searched before and all of the datasheets neglect to mention the f/stop of the lens. Luckily this document does.

The lens is f/1.5 - this explains the relatively bad performance at low temperature differentials, but also a very nice hyperfocal distance (amount of distance that's in focus at one time, allowing for the "focus-free" operation) and also the ability to view high temperatures without switching to a low-gain mode or adding a mechanical high temp filter.

Compared with the f/1.3 lenses on the Exx series, this means that the Ex series lens has 75% of the IR transmission of the Exx series based on f-stop alone. However the chalcogenide glass used in the Ex lens may also have different transmission properties compared to the germanium lens in the Exx series.

[Detsorgsekalf]

Greetings
Can you tell me how to remove FLIR logo and other staff from thermal images in jpeg?
I use Flir i3 (with i7 hack).
Thank you
Yauheni (from Belarus)

[nowlan]

Hello quick question, can the flir tools do video or time lapse? to see which parts heatup, how long etc.

[pelule]

Just a short update.
Have upgradet my Flir-I3 to Flir-I7 on Win-7/64-Bit without any problem. 

[encryptededdy]

Hello quick question, can the flir tools do video or time lapse? to see which parts heatup, how long etc.

FLIR Tools supports radiometric video, however I don't know how you can capture it from the E4. There's another thread around here about streaming raw data from the E4, however I don't think anyone has gotten that into the FLIR .seq (sequence / video) file format yet.

Here's a example that I made of what you can do;
https://youtu.be/AtyIH_8M808

If you want live radiometric video streaming and recording, then perhaps consider paying a bit more for a E30 or E40 (then hacking to E60), as those natively support radiometric video streaming over USB to FLIR Tools.