Portable USB interface Infrared thermal camera with 320x240 resolution - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Dianyang
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 11:42:01 am
content: Hi,Shenzhen Dianyang develop new portable infrared thermal camera, the resolution is 320x240 with usb 2.0 interface, just use a OTG interface to the mobile phone, or use USB 2.0 cable to PC, then you will get the image ASAP.To develop this is to make the thermal camera more flexible and cheap, no need always attached to the mobile phone to see some complicated environment.The image video is below,the detail info please check the attachment,If you are interested with this, please contact me via below info,Email: Adel@dianytech.comMP & Wechat: +86-18617032039

author: bap2703
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 12:53:01 pm
content: It's huge !

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 02:31:12 pm
content: The lens looks like a seek core is in there. But are they 12micron pitch?Also the videos don't indicate a good framerate.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 02:39:19 pm
content: I am interested in such a camera. Quotation requested 🙂Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 02:44:36 pm
content: @bap2703Nah, that’s not “Huge”, my FLIR SC4000 is “Huge” 😄👍It is not always about miniaturisation...performance and capabilities are important too 😄Fraser

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 07:26:17 pm
content: Quote from: bap2703 on April 29, 2019, 12:53:01 pmIt's nice to have something that can be easily mounted rather than something 'smartphone dongle' style.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 08:03:28 pm
content: +1I dislike tiny dongle thingsFraser

author: IwuzBornanerd
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: April 29, 2019, 10:22:14 pm
content: The spec sheet shown is only slightly different from (not better than) the Seek Pro and the app uses the same icons as the Seek app, if that means anything. Back when I read Seek's OEM core page it sounded to me like if a manufacturer wanted to use their core Seek would tailor the app to the manufacturer's needs/desires rather provide information for someone else to write an app of their own.The image quality in the first part of the first video is disappointing even for a Seek, but I suppose that's what you get with their app. I'm accustomed to seeing it with a fresh NUC or at least one made at a similar room temperature. A fresh NUC or even correction for the differences in pixel bias between current temperature & temp. at which NUC was made will make it cleaner.I don't see anything in the photos that looks like a way to mount the thing and as big as it is there is room for a "more robust" USB-A connector.Waterproof & dustproof, though so it might be a good option for surveillance.But I'd prefer it more easily concealable.Cheaper than a Seek Pro??

author: Dianyang
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 02:42:10 am
content: We just want to extend USB dongle and mobile phone, to let it more convenient. The App is developed by our company, if you are interested with is product, please contact me, the App could be customized according to your requirement.

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 03:03:17 am
content: Looks interesting. Does the unit have a 1/4-20 threaded tripod mount in the case or do you have a tripod mount available for it?

author: tonykids
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 05:35:46 am
content: frame rate:<9HzIt's not the style of a Chinese companyunless you get the core from a USA company,like ,Seek Thermal ?Despite that ,is it much cheaper than Seek pro($360),like $199 or $249 ?And share SDK here?

author: bugi
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 07:54:47 am
content: Quote from: IwuzBornanerd on April 29, 2019, 10:22:14 pmCheck the actual rating, 54, it is far from "proof".

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 09:47:22 am
content: I just heard from the company.They are a relatively new ‘start-up’ who are looking to fill gaps in the market for consumers. They have opted to use a proven core in their products and adapt it to create different products. The DP-12 is such a product. Others have said it is a SEEK Pro in a box. I will leave it to the manufacturer to comment on such suggestions. Even if true, the company is just experimenting with different camera formats to establish whether any have a niche market appeal. Not everyone wants the highest performing, lowest noise thermal camera in a tiny phone dongle format. In industry it is not uncommon to set up static cameras like the DP-12 to monitor things like motors or bearings for early warning of overheating etc. Some are used as early warning systems for fires in industrial plant. A relatively bulky rugged casing is fine in these scenarios.I personally applaud what this company is trying to do. It is what I had hoped would happen with the FLIR Lepton 169 x 120 pixel core.The company claims that it has developed its own software. This is an advantage as it can be changed or improved ‘in-house’ rather than needing the core OEM to do the work at great cost. Sadly the manufacturer of the DP-12 may be limited by the OEM cores SDK and driver package which may be producing far from optimal imagery.We have to consider the positive effect of this companies contributions to the marketplace. Competition is good and this company is hopefully going to produce competitive products to those of FLIR and such can only be good for us, as purchasers of the technology. 320 x 240 pixels has the potential to compete well against the Lepton with its lower 160 x 120 pixel array. However the imagery produced needs to be adequately processed to reduce noise and provide quality clean pictures.On the frame rate front..... this company wants to sell into a wide range of markets. As soon as they break the <9fps barrier they are into Wassenaar Arrangement territory that can make Worldwide shipping and sales more challenging. There may be a future option for >9fps but I can understand them being cautious with the initial product releases.I would love to buy and test a DP-12 but sadly, now that I know more about it, I cannot justify its purchase at this time. I have too many thermal cameras already !Fraser

author: beanflying
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 30, 2019, 09:57:14 am
content: QuoteYepThat's why I asked about mounting options, Temperature over time and even a one fps would do what I need. Commercial Ovens, Coffee Roasters/machines and to a lesser degree commercial fridges and freezers in my case. Nothing with bulk moves quickly in regard to Temperature.As to Electronic board usethoughts on the lens used?

author: ArsenioDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 02, 2019, 06:56:36 pm
content: I'm curious as to how much this thing runs, that high res might be exactly what I need if it's not an arm and a leg

author: jumpy9734
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 03, 2019, 12:22:51 am
content: I like the robust design, looks way better then seek's fragile case.I wonder how it looks on the inside, and of course the price.If it would be around 300-350$ that's a nice competition to seek's pro

author: Dianyang
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 12:47:37 pm
content: Hi All,Just back from my vacation and saw a lot of replies, thanks for your support our work!We will have a common threaded tripod mount for the camera, and some M2 or M3 screw holes at the same side for fixing. Since it is a new style product, we don't know whether the market will accept this kind of product, so just made some samples by CNC but not tooling with water & dust proof.If you are interested with this product type, please contact with me for the requirement discussion, features, App etc.The frame rate is limited to 9Hz, we cannot provide higher one in the future, but we have other type product 384x288 & 640x480 with 30Hz, if you are interested with that, please go to below link to watch the video, this camera is Analog or Ethernet port modules, can be integrated into UAV, security camera etc.

author: Hyper_Spectral
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 09, 2019, 02:43:58 pm
content: $3-7k direct from the supplier. for the high rest version. Not including international shipping cost. Seems like there's a few prices listed depending on the posting..?https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/M640-Night-Vision-Infrared-Thermal-Camera_60833379614.htmlhttps://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/U640-Night-Vision-Infrared-Thermal-UAV_60836616721.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikeexp.7.61726058ljHnMRHere's a different company claiming 50hz frame rate and a much lower costhttps://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/Small-dimension-thermal-camera-drone_60478100409.html?spm=a2700.details.maylikeexp.10.61726058ljHnMR

author: Dianyang
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 02:33:59 am
content: $3k-$7k is for the Ethernet port with SDK for secondary development, analog and HDMI version is $1k-3K, depend on different requirement, radiometric or non-radiometric, different lens etc. The frame rate can reach 50Hz.

author: Spirit532
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 08:30:22 am
content: Another ULIS(and Seek) core camera/manufacturer with nothing extra to offer then, and a hilariously large price hike from the competition.Disappointing.Cheaper to buy even a brand new Seek Compact Pro and put it in an IP65/68/whatever box with a ZnSe or Ge window. Still works over USB with windows or android.

author: Hyper_Spectral
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 12:04:21 pm
content: I see. I'd like to see higher resolutions than 640x512 considering the market is saturated with sensors with .3MP cores.

author: OwO
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 12:22:22 pm
content: Or a 320x240 thermal camera for under $100.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 02:27:53 pm
content: Where innovation is concerned, there are other ways to achieve higher resolution than the basic optical resolution of the microbolometer. I was hoping to see piezo electric driven sensor or lens based resolution enhancement coming out of China but it never happenedInnovation is the way forwards. It has been done before when higher resolution sensor arrays were prohibitively expensive.In my humble opinion, the SEEK Thermal 'core' is a less than ideal basis on which to build decent thermal cameras. The SEEK Thermal Microbolometer and associated image processing needs to be heavily investigated to determine what needs to be done to 'tame' its bad behaviour. The FLIR Lepton 3 is also a relatively poor performer for anything more than very basic thermography or observation. A new thermal camera 'start-up' company should seriously consider looking to ULIS, or clones of ULIS sensors, for decent microbolometers and then build their own core around such. Chinese companies have been doing this for years but some have had quality control issues with the support electronics. Wuhan Guide immediately come to mind in my personal experience.A 'start-up' thermal camera manufacturing company that bases its product range on a flawed core, like that of SEEK Thermal, will always suffer that disadvantage in the marketplace unless they find a way to improve the cores 'as supplied' performance or invent novel and effective niche market devices that do not require the best thermal imaging performance. Thermal camera based machinery monitoring where high Delta 'T' is present or intelligent fire detection systems come to mind. Then there is people counting and analysis for retail customers and intelligent intruder detection. IRISYS managed to do a lot with only simple 16 x 16 and 32 x 32 pixel thermal sensor arraysIt is just a case of deciding where an opportunity exists within the market and whether a budget COTS core like the FLIR Lepton of SEEK Thermal offerings are a cost effective and adequate proposition on which to build a solution.As has already been stated, the market is starting to become flooded with low resolution to medium resolution thermal imaging solutions. They vary greatly in price and performance. Anyone wishing to compete in that market segment needs to either offer good performance at very low cost (hard to achieve at the moment) or the product needs to be novel in some respect that offers an advantage over the competition. Anything else is likely to get lost in the 'noise'I have no objection or issue with what this company is trying to do. They are taking proven SEEK Thermal camera designs and looking to integrate the electronics into different formats and systems. The question must be whether what they are producing truly has a decent customer base or it will just be a novelty company, producing products that cause discussion on forums like this one but little else. Hobbyists have been re-casing and modifying COTS products for years in order to meet specific needs. That does not make those unique solutions particularly marketable though !The OEM asked me to comment on their work, and I have decided to do that above. It is just my view on the situation and others will very likely have a different view.Fraser

author: Vipitis
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 05:02:29 pm
content: when I first saw this post I had a different formfactor and product in mind. Not quite borescope - but having a small camera module detached from your display to allow easier inspection. I didn't see it as a permanently mounted solution directly. I can't remember where I saw it, but there are several new form factors for inspection cameras that just don't find ground to be. For innovation Guide is a good example, they attempt a modular thermal camera. I think there is more innovation to make, not just with the technical tricks and pure specs but with new formfactor and application. It is up to the innovators to present the products correctly and convincingly.

author: Hyper_Spectral
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 05:19:22 pm
content: Once the industry standardizes higher res cores the result will be consumers like yourself benefiting from the early adopters and getting your low res core for <$100.

author: Hyper_Spectral
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 10, 2019, 05:25:00 pm
content: Quote from: Fraser on May 10, 2019, 02:27:53 pmI suppose we could put the whole thermal camera manufacturing thing into two buckets. One being the higher res/high quality core production and two being the actual form factor and functionality of the parts wrapped around the core.Targeting a niche based on price and the need for optimized form factors for specified uses doesn't sound like a bad business model in theory. The overhead for production of the actual cores must be extraordinary, even as we approach 2020.

author: ArsenioDev
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 13, 2019, 09:09:31 pm
content: I've been doing inquiries into the Sofradir systems offerings, some interesting findings and possibilities from them.