CorDEX ToughPix III Digitherm - Promises so much, delivers so little ! by Fraser - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 07:49:16 pm
content: The CorDEX TP3rEX ToughPix III DigithermA UK product that promised so much, yet delivers so little !I had previously seen the CorDEX Toughpix III Digitherm and read its specifications.It was clear to me that it was a product that offered visible light imaging plus thermal imaging,courtesy of the FLIR Lepton core that I suspected it contained. It was yet another product that I thought would have benefited greatly from having the Lepton 3 (160x120 pixels) in place of the Lepton 2 (80x60 pixels).The ToughPix III Digitherm is a specialist product in that it is designed to be used in environments that potentially contain explosive gases and so it is a "Intrinsically Safe" design. These cameras were designed for use in such dangerous locations as Oil Platforms, Flammable gas/liquid ships and Mines. A spark at the wrong time and the wrong place could prove disastrous. Against this Intrinsically Safe background I expected to find a product that is well designed and built, with excellent capabilities for Industry. As the owner of many Industrial thermal cameras I am used to seeing metal cases and excellent specifications. Such heavy duty cameras often would not win any beauty contests as they were "Utility" and just got the job done. I think it fair to say that the ToughPix III Digitherm would not win any beauty contests either !Something else that comes with "Industrial " cameras, and especially "Intrinsically Safe" models is a high price tag. The ToughPix III Digitherm was sold from 2017 until 2024 and its cost ~$4K.Last week I was fortunate enough to find a used ToughPix III Digitherm camera for sale, in great condition, complete with box and all accessories for £150. The camera is interesting enough to make me want it in my collection so I bought it. I did not really know what to expect from it with its low resolution thermal imaging core but I presumed some decent interpolation was included to improve matters.Before we go any further, I will detail the main specifications of the camera.Visible Light Resolution : 5MPVisible light Auto focus ? : YesVisible light Flash ? : YesThermal imaging Resolution : 80x60Thermal Auto focus: No. Fixed FocusThermal NETD: <50mKThermal Frame rate: 9fpsStorage: Proprietary SD cardImage download: Via WiFi or proprietary SD Card readerThe camera also meets all the requirements for an Intrinsically Safe piece of equipment and is certified as such. It is a metal cased and sealed product that must not be opened within the hazardous atmosphere area so has a very solid battery/SD card cover and lock. The ToughPix III Digicam totally looks and feels the part. It is also compact enough to be placed into a shirt pocket as opposed to other similar Intrinsically Safe cameras that were relatively large, heavy and bulky.My ToughPix III Digitherm arrived and I was interested to see how well it performed.It is not often that I am very disappointed with the design of the thermal camera that is designed for Industrial professional use...... this, however, was one of those timesThe ToughPix III Digitherm may look "OK" but beyond that it is a pig in all respectsI feel so sorry for anyone who had to use one of these cameras in their daily job and equally sorry for the poor person who paid for it !Now I know that Intrinsically Safe equipment is often different to normal Industrial and consumer equivalent of a equivalent function. What Intrinsically Safe does not mean is the use of an atrocious human interface and appalling imaging performance for the era in which the item was built. It is almost as though someone took a very cheap "toy" thermal/visible hybrid camera and grafted it into a Intrinsically safe housing.So what do I like about the ToughPix III Digitherm and what do I dislike ?Like:1. The case design. It is solid and fits easily into the hand, with the thumb able to access the joystick. Everything about the case says "Industrial quality"2. The large LCD panel. There is nothing worse than having to squint at a small LCD panel when doing your job or reviewing captured images.3. The Battery charger dock. The battery charger dock is a well designed solid unit that looks like it can take a beating in an Industrial environment.What I do not Like:1. There is no lens cap of any sort to keep dirt away from the lenses2. The camera uses a Proprietary SD format card that was sold at a crazy price3. The camera uses a proprietary SD card reader that was sold at a crazy price.4. The control of the camera is via a small joystick and is a nightmare to use. Its action is poor and navigating the menus with it is not an enjoyable experience5. The Menu system design is awful6. The Visible light camera appears to be a cheap 5MP mobile phone auto focus type and its pictures are anything but great.7. The thermal images coming from this camera were so bad that I thought it had a fault. Yes it is only 80x60 pixels from a Lepton 2 core, but it produces the most awful pixelated thermal images that I have seem coming from a Lepton 2 that is in a commercial product. There is no interpolation and upscaling of any sort, no edge smoothing and the image fusion mode is a total joke as the parallax error correction does not work and the pixelated thermal overlay makes a mess of the fusion image. The thermal images produced by this camera are truly dire ! Now some might say that the lack of image processing is intended to preserve thermal data integrity and that is true when dealing with RAW data that is output to another computer for processing and analysis. It is not normal or true for the images presented to the user on the cameras display and saved RGB images. The fusion mode (ATB) is a disaster as well. The User has to set either the "Below" or "Above” temperature and that dictates the palette application to the displayed image.... its a pig to use and does not produce acceptable results. Thermal Fusion images from this camera come out as a hot mess !8. Lack of Support. I will say more on this later but basically CorDEX became iCorDEX who are owned by the Cenegex Group in the UK and in 2024 they decided to discontinue the ToughPix III Digicam. At that point they ceased all support for owners of the camera and that includes documentation, firmware updates and PC software. They basically abandoned the camera and cast its owners adrift without any means of obtaining any support. Some might say, me included, that this awful camera should have been deleted earlier but that does not help the poor saps who bought it and need to keep it running.The use of a proprietary SD Card is an interesting idea by CorDEX. Not only that but it requires a special SD card to USB adapter that looks like a $3 Chinese unit, yet costs $125 ! The SD cards were around $100 each as well and the camera cannot use standard cards apparently. Whilst CorDEX could claim that only approved SD Cards should be used for safety reasons, the card resides inside the safety envelope of the cameras case so this sounds more like a money making idea.Ok, so from the above it will be obvious that I am unimpressed by the ToughPix III Digitherm, but it should also be said that I am very unimpressed with CorDEX/iCorDEX and Cenegex. The glossy brochures contain very misleading thermal images that are interpolated to make them look better. There are images of the Thermal and ATM Fusion modes that bare no resemblance to what I have seen whilst testing the camera. For a start, the parallax error correction does not work so image registration is way off in the vertical direction and cannot be corrected. The interpolation of the thermal images is disingenuous as such is not available on the camera. Then there is the way that the owners of this camera that was sold up until 2024 have been abandoned and told that there will be zero support. This opens up an interesting timeline of events revealed by looking at the company directors and their various companies. The same person is director of CorDEX, iCorDEX and now the Cenegex Group U.K. who appeared to "buy" iCorDEX. So basically the same company but they used the iCorDEX "purchase" to cease all support for CorDEX/iCorDEX products. Nice ! This is not a company that I would wish to do any business with. Remember, this camera is not a "$300" cheapy from China, It is a very expensive Industrial camera from a U.K. company

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 07:52:34 pm
content: The US brochure.Note that I have been unable to locate any FCC approvals for the ToughPix III Digicam.No mention of such FCC approval for its WiFi transceiver is mentioned in the US brochure either.... interesting !CorDEX had a U.S. Office so no excuse for not complying with US regulations.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 07:56:50 pm
content: Pictures of my camera kit. Looks nice, a pity its performance is so poor.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 07:58:23 pm
content: Pictures continued.....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:01:26 pm
content: Pictures continued....Beejay, our 1 year old cat decided to inspect the camera and was suitably unimpressed with it, but the rubber lanyard appealed !

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:14:30 pm
content: The ToughPix III user manual....Note the fake (interpolated) Thermal fusion images used in the manual.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:19:21 pm
content: Pictures of the user menu that is accessed only via the joystick and its central push button function. There is plenty of room on the rear panel below the joystick for dedicated buttons. The silly, pointless, label below the joystick even suggests that the area might have been potentially for more buttons but there was a change of mind. Sorry for the poor images, the screen is very reflective, another minus point for a camera intended to be used outside. The feel of the joystick is like a spoon in molasses...horrible.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:31:19 pm
content: The pictures captured by the ToughPix III Digitherm begin here.First the false (interpolated images from the brochures and manual. As we will see, I cannot recreate these images on the camera. Thermal Fusion mode (ATB) saves a visible light image and the thermal image and the user has to join them together on a PC using software. The fusion image does appear on the camera when taking the picture but it suffers from terrible vertical misalignment that cannot be adequately corrected making it a confusing image.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:40:20 pm
content: Picture of a car

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 08:42:06 pm
content: Picture of a house

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 09:31:20 pm
content: Some pictures of my classic test target, my coffee mug. I have captured images of the mug using the ToughPix III Digitherm and then took pictures of the images appearing on the cameras display so you see what I see. You will note the terrible vertical misalignment in the ATB fusion mode and this is just as bad for distant targets. I also showed some different palettes that the camera provides. It should be noted that the Coffee mug test is about as simple as it gets for a thermal camera test. If a decent image is not possible, give up doing more complicated or challenging tests !

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 09:40:34 pm
content: The pictures taken of the ToughPix III Digitherm display as I was testing it against the Coffee cup. There is some unavoidable Mosaic effect present due to the nature of photographing LCD displays.You will see the hilarious poor fusion alignment and the screen for setting up that alignment. It is set to its maximum correction and it is still way off in all images, for both close and distant targets.I almost forgot, There are Hot spot and cold spot trackers available, but the temperatures are not shown. The manual says to use the image colour at the spot markers against the vertical colour bar to estimate the temperatureThe temperature tracker markers are not saved on the SD card eitherNo temperature related information appears to be stored on the saved images but there may be metadata in the saved files that can be accessed by the PC software. Sadly I do not have the PC software.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 12, 2025, 09:43:56 pm
content: Well there you go. It just goes to prove that just because a piece of equipment is sold as Professional Industrial kit with all manner of safety approvals, it does not mean that it does its job well or will be supported by the manufacturer when they lose interest in it ! The ToughPix III Digitherm will sit in my collection as a testament to this fact.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 12:21:00 am
content: There is the possibility that the terrible visible plus thermal ATB mode image overlay alignment is actually a fault with this particular camera. I am looking into that possibility.

author: Gyro
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 12:29:17 pm
content: After that review, it's good that it displays its Frostproof credentials so prominently on the rear panel!

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 01:20:57 pm
content: It is so sad that such a well made hybrid camera is virtually unusable due to its poor thermal imaging performance. If the image fusion had worked properly and there was some decent image processing employed, it would have been useable. It is almost as though the designer took a visible light camera Dev kit and merged it with a Lepton based camera Dev kit and did not put the effort into writing the required software to create a decent hybrid camera. The poor fusion alignment is just hilarious. The fact that true image fusion is not employed but rather the weird and difficult to configure “ATB” mode shows that this camera did not pass through UAT as it is a pig to use. It does not even have a decent visible light camera in it so fails as an Intrinsically Safe digital camera as well. Such a pityFraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 01:42:23 pm
content: Well some testing makes me think this camera has a problem. It is not retaining its correct time and the crazy fusion image misalignment makes me think this could not be how the camera left the factory, it is just too bad. Maybe some factory “baseline” parallax error correction data has been lost ? With Cenegex refusing to answer even the simplest of questions about this camera under their “no support” declaration, I cannot even ask them for comment on this issue.Even if the camera worked as intended, it would still be a pig !I cannot afford to waste £150 on a faulty piece of junk so will be returning it to the seller.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 03:47:23 pm
content: Further testing has shown that the fusion mode (ATB) does not align the images, no matter what the target distance. It definitely looks to have a problem in this particular camera.I am not going to dismantle the camera to investigate further as that voids my buyer protection from eBay. I attach the test images though. These have the best alignment possible. It is as though the base level alignment has been lost so the "fine tuning" alignment runs out of range before alignment is achieved. That make a mess of Fusion images. I did check that the "Distance" setting in the measurement menu did not affect the parallax error adjustment and it did not. I have contacted the seller with my findings so now wait for their response before starting a return.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 03:57:35 pm
content: For completeness of this review I am including the response from Cenegex Group UK when I asked them for helpHi Fraser,Thank you for your email and apologies for the delay in responding, it was my first day back after a week away yesterday.Unfortunately, the TPIII series was discontinued at the beginning of 2024 and therefore, we no longer service the units nor provide software.Kind regards,(Name Redacted)Sales DirectorCENEGEX Group

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 13, 2025, 04:04:52 pm
content: UPDATEThe seller is a very honourable person and is refunding me for the camera. Thankfully there are honourable sellers left on eBayI have been told to keep the camera and do with it as I wish so a teardown may follow. If a software offset is missing I cannot fix the offset fault, but maybe I could modify the hardware in the form of adjusting the convergence angle of the two cameras.Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 06:10:00 pm
content: I have opened the ToughPix Digicam to see what resides inside the casing.As I opened the casing I head parts fall inside and it soon became obvious that the FFC Flag assembly was detached from the Lepton core.Further investigation revealed that CorDEX have modified the Lepton 2 standard installation a little. They have inserted a small PCB between the Lepton Bore and its FFC flag assembly. The small PCB is populated with a single 16 Ohm resistor, the purpose of which appears to be current limiting of the FFC flag solenoid. Quite why such would be needed is a mystery to me as no other Lepton requires this. Could it be an ATEX related modification ?The PCB has no spring contacts where it connects to the Lepton core which is very odd as it could easily lead to a poor connection. The FFC Flag assembly is equipped with a pair of sprung contacts and these are used to press the PCB against the cores conductive paint FFC contacts. This is a very "Heath Robinson" approach to the securing of the additional PCB and its connection with the core.The tiny clips on the Lepton FFC flag assembly were found to be splayed and cracked, leading to the whole assembly parting company with the Lepton. The Lepton core was slightly tilted in its holder and this explains the non-correctable misalignment of the visible and thermal images. Whether the FFC Flag was still working is unclear but with the poor PCB to core connection design I am doubtful that it was working reliably once the plastic clips let-go. I believe the FFC flag assembly detached from the core during a fall event and there is evidence of impact on one corner of the casing, nearest to the Lepton core.I will need to source a replacement FFC FLAG assembly in order to repair the camera and may modify the CorDEX modification if I feel it worth the effort !Pictures attached....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 06:11:29 pm
content: Pictures continued....

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 06:25:31 pm
content: Just thinking about this for a minute, I am wondering whether the additional PCB prevents the FFC Flag assembly latching onto the core. That would explain the splayed and cracked plastic clips. If that is the case, all that holds the Core-PCB-FFC Flag sandwich together is the front casing of the camera pressing against it. That is all that is preventing the Lepton moving in its socket as well.Not a great mechanical design for a so-called ruggedised camera as a drop event has the potential to cause all manner of issues as the PCB flexes and Lepton assembly potentially shifts in its socket. I am minded to delete the small Resistor PCB from the camera and fit a new FFC Flag assembly as FLIR originally intended...direct onto the Lepton core.Does anyone have a spare Lepton FFC Flag assembly please ?Fraser

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 25, 2025, 10:38:17 pm
content: I have been researching ATEX equipment design techniques, and sure enough, solenoids have resistors placed in series with them as one of the recommended practices. The resistor is not required for normal operation of the Lepton core FFC flag in this camera and will be deleted. Before anyone gets concerned, this camera will not be used in explosive atmospheres at any time in the future.The Google AI statement on solenoid resistors in ATEX safe equipment.“In ATEX (Atmosphères Explosibles) design, current-limiting resistors are often placed in series with solenoids to ensure safety in potentially explosive atmospheres. These resistors help limit the electrical current flowing through the solenoid, preventing it from generating excessive heat or sparks that could ignite flammable gases or dust. This is particularly important for "intrinsically safe" systems, where the goal is to limit the energy available to create an ignition source”Fraser

author: 5au12
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2025, 02:16:06 pm
content: Flir actually have their own model:https://www.flir.com/products/cx5/With 160x120 sensor, it should be better than the CorDEX.

author: Fraser
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 12, 2025, 03:25:18 pm
content: It isI do have to say that the 160x120 pixel <9fps Lepton core is looking a little underpowered these days though. With so many affordable 256x192 pixel 25fps cameras and imaging cores coming out of China, FLIR need to up their game.