FLIR FC-Series S Installation Manual page 24

2 Basic Operation and Configuration
They are perfect for a wide variety of applications including transportation, maritime, security, fire
fighting, and medical applications. The cameras often provide improved daytime viewing in
environments where traditional video camera performance suffers, such as in shadows or backlit
scenes.
The FC-Series S camera is a state-of-the-art thermal imaging system that will provide excellent night
visibility and situational awareness, without any form of natural or artificial illumination. The system is
easy to use, but it is useful to understand how to interpret what is displayed on the monitor.
While the imagery on the monitor may at first look similar to ordinary black and white daylight video,
experience with the camera in varying conditions and seasons will lead to an appreciation of the
characteristics that make thermal imaging distinct. A few tips on how to interpret some of the imagery
may help you to make the most of your system.
The thermal camera does not sense light like conventional cameras; it senses heat or temperature
differences. The camera senses small "differences" in apparent radiation from the objects in view, and
displays them as either white (or lighter shades of grey) for warmer objects, and black (or darker
shades of grey) for colder objects.
The thermal imaging camera relies on the fact that all objects, even very cold objects like ice, emit
thermal energy in the portion of the infrared spectrum that this camera can "see", the long wave
infrared (LWIR). Therefore, unlike an illuminated infrared camera, a thermal camera does not need an
additional active illumination source, and creates video based on directly radiated rather than
reflected energy.
This is why hot objects such as parts on an engines and exhaust pipes appear white, while the sky,
puddles of water and other cold objects appear dark (or cool)
easy to interpret with some experience. The camera automatically optimizes the image to provide you
with the best contrast in most conditions.
427-0073-11-12, version 100
2. By default, the camera represents hot objects as white and cold objects as black. The
camera can be set to use the Black Hot polarity setting, which displays hot objects as
black and cold objects as white and is effectively the negative of White Hot polarity. See
"Toggle Polarity" on page 2-4..
2
. Scenes with familiar objects will be
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