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The easy question to answer is the last one. Most minidome cameras can be wall or ceiling mounted. Some can be pendant mounted using a wall arm.

Low light cameras come in several types. In gerenal B/W cameras are better in low light than color. However, there are some color cameras that are very sensitive and can deal with low light better than the human eye. Pelco's CC3751H-2/CC3651H-2X is an example. It can slow down the shutter speed in low light conditions to make the most of available light. You seem to be familiar with day/ night cameras. Most manufacturers make them now. A relatively new tehnology that has become popular allows usable images in badly backlit conditions. Imagine seeing someone's face clearly with a bright light directly behind them. These cameras can sample and digitally adjust different parts of the same picture to ensure you get a decent image.

When people say infrared camera, they usually mean using a regular B/W with an infrared illuminator. These are available from many sources. Extreme CCTV is probably the best. I've used a GE Kalatel model in several installations with good results. True infrared cameras, however, use thermal imagers rather to since surface heat differences. These cameras can see in complete darkness and through rain and fog. They are limited in range only by resolution and lens size. Thermal imaging infrared cameras typically are used in outdoor envirornments to view objects up to several miles away.

The easy question to answer is the last one. Most minidome cameras can be wall or ceiling mounted. Some can be pendant mounted using a wall arm.

Low light cameras come in several types. In gerenal B/W cameras are better in low light than color. However, there are some color cameras that are very sensitive and can deal with low light better than the human eye. Pelco's CC3751H-2/CC3651H-2X is an example. It can slow down the shutter speed in low light conditions to make the most of available light. You seem to be familiar with day/ night cameras. Most manufacturers make them now. A relatively new tehnology that has become popular allows usable images in badly backlit conditions. Imagine seeing someone's face clearly with a bright light directly behind them. These cameras can sample and digitally adjust different parts of the same picture to ensure you get a decent image.

When people say infrared camera, they usually mean using a regular B/W with an infrared illuminator. These are available from many sources. Extreme CCTV is probably the best. I've used a GE Kalatel model in several installations with good results. True infrared cameras, however, use thermal imagers rather to since surface heat differences. These cameras can see in complete darkness and through rain and fog. They are limited in range only by resolution and lens size. Thermal imaging infrared cameras typically are used in outdoor envirornments to view objects up to several miles away.

The easy question to answer is the last one. Most minidome cameras can be wall or ceiling mounted. Some can be pendant mounted using a wall arm.

Low light cameras come in several types. In gerenal B/W cameras are better in low light than color. However, there are some color cameras that are very sensitive and can deal with low light better than the human eye. Pelco's CC3751H-2/CC3651H-2X is an example. It can slow down the shutter speed in low light conditions to make the most of available light. You seem to be familiar with day/ night cameras. Most manufacturers make them now. A relatively new tehnology that has become popular allows usable images in badly backlit conditions. Imagine seeing someone's face clearly with a bright light directly behind them. These cameras can sample and digitally adjust different parts of the same picture to ensure you get a decent image.

When people say infrared camera, they usually mean using a regular B/W with an infrared illuminator. These are available from many sources. Extreme CCTV is probably the best. I've used a GE Kalatel model in several installations with good results. True infrared cameras, however, use thermal imagers rather to since surface heat differences. These cameras can see in complete darkness and through rain and fog. They are limited in range only by resolution and lens size. Thermal imaging infrared cameras typically are used in outdoor envirornments to view objects up to several miles away.

The easy question to answer is the last one. Most minidome cameras can be wall or ceiling mounted. Some can be pendant mounted using a wall arm.

Low light cameras come in several types. In gerenal B/W cameras are better in low light than color. However, there are some color cameras that are very sensitive and can deal with low light better than the human eye. Pelco's CC3751H-2/CC3651H-2X is an example. It can slow down the shutter speed in low light conditions to make the most of available light. You seem to be familiar with day/ night cameras. Most manufacturers make them now. A relatively new tehnology that has become popular allows usable images in badly backlit conditions. Imagine seeing someone's face clearly with a bright light directly behind them. These cameras can sample and digitally adjust different parts of the same picture to ensure you get a decent image.

When people say infrared camera, they usually mean using a regular B/W with an infrared illuminator. These are available from many sources. Extreme CCTV is probably the best. I've used a GE Kalatel model in several installations with good results. True infrared cameras, however, use thermal imagers rather to since surface heat differences. These cameras can see in complete darkness and through rain and fog. They are limited in range only by resolution and lens size. Thermal imaging infrared cameras typically are used in outdoor envirornments to view objects up to several miles away.

For $10k you get an infra red (not near IR) camera with just under 20,000 pixels from Fluke/Raytek and this price is considered a breakthrough. The camera can resolve 0.25C (bolometer limitation). With this pixel count, you won't see details sufficient to distinguish or identify people. The cameras from FLIR and others that start at the $25k price point offer 0.1C resolution because of a premium bolometer. The lenses in true IR cameras are made of germanium. As the price increases you get more pixels, but I hear that civilian cameras are restricted to 100k pixels or less. The military have IR cameras that have gone megapixel and can provide the kind of resolution necessary in J.Sloud's comment below.

The cameras I had in mind offer .03C-.08C thermal resolution with a pixel resolution of 640X480. Depending on the field of view selected, humans can be detected at a distance of at least 4500m.

Sat, 2 Jul 2005 10:38:17 -0400, "RF Dude" wrote:

Yes, detected, but I think the original discussion was about identification. What is the make and model? Alas, it would be overkill for my simple thermography applications.

Depends what wavelength you are looking for. I'm working 7 to 14 microns.

Depends on what you mean by "identification." In the type of applications I'm thinking about, such as force protection and homeland security, the ability to distinguish between human and not human is much more important than telling who someone is. This is way past the scope of the original discussion. These particular cameras cost me around $80 large with a smallish lens. Sounds like a lot of money, but it's about 1/3 what similar performance cost a few years back. Un cooled technology has come a long way. Check out hurleyir.com