All objects, including humans, give off heat in the form of infrared light. Because of this, the cameras allow you to see people even through smoke, water, steam, or darkness. Infrared light will not pass through translucent glass, plastic windows, or walls. The camera will not see people on the far side of glass, plastic, or a wall, but the camera will detect that a floor, wall, or ceiling is hot, thereby suggesting that a fire or hot gas is on the opposite side. In addition, infrared light will not pass through clothing, but the camera will detect clothed individuals due to infrared light coming from clothing and exposed skin.
Color only applies to visible light.
Since infrared is not visible, it has no color in the normal sense. For this reason we do not recommend using a color display. The Camera NHFD Bought Through our own experimentation and the countless hours of research of other larger fire departments the Noroton Heights Fire Department choose the FireOpTIC thermal imaging camera. We liked the extreme durability of this camera and the clear picture. We also liked the in-cab pass through charging system, which eliminated the need for constant battery changes which often gets neglected in our routine maintenance of apparatus.