August 20, 2008--A long-wave infrared (LWIR) camera introduced by HGH Infrared Systems (Cambridge, MA and Igny, France) rotates once a second, capturing a new image each rotation with a 20° vertical and 360° horizontal field of view. The camera, which is housed in an environmentally sealed case, can be mounted on a building or vehicle, making it well-suited for security and surveillance uses (humans can be spotted in LWIR just by the heat radiation emitted by their own bodies).
Called the IR Revolution 360, the camera has just under three million (10,000 x 288) pixels. The detector is based on mercury cadmium telluride (HgCdTe) imaging technology and operates in the 8 to 12 micron wavelength range. PC-compatible image control and display software included with the camera allows for automatic detection and tracking and includes a motion alarm and an area-of-interest zoom.
The camera has a high sensitivity of less than 25 mK. Its detection range, without image distortion, is up to 1 km for a human figure, up to 1.5 km for an automobile, and up to 6 km for a boat or ship. Other applications include early detection of forest fires, airport traffic monitoring, and search and rescue.