Poll

Has the hackabiliy of the E4 made you buy one :  

Yes, I was already looking at the competition at a similar price, but the hack swung it to E4
274 (27.9%)
Yes, I'd not considered buying a TIC before, but 320x240 resolution at this price justifies it (as either tool or toy!)
444 (45.3%)
Yes, I was going to buy an E5/6/8 class of unit but will now get the E4
49 (5%)
No, but am looking out for a cheap i3 to hack
50 (5.1%)
Not yet, but probably will if now that a closed-box hack becomes is possible
164 (16.7%)

Total Members Voted: 803

Author Topic: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown  (Read 3770338 times)

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Offline Pinkus

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #825 on: November 07, 2013, 05:33:55 pm »
Yes, you can manipulate it as you like in Flir Tools
Addendum: Just download Flir Tools and try it out - its free.
Attached is a sample file from my E4 for you to try out - try to guess what it shows (without looking to the picture of the digital camera) :)
« Last Edit: November 07, 2013, 05:36:53 pm by PeterK13 »
 

Offline ixfd64

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #826 on: November 07, 2013, 05:39:21 pm »
A sink?

Offline AndyC_772

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #827 on: November 07, 2013, 05:40:53 pm »
...and you've had the hot tap running for a little while.

Offline Pinkus

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #828 on: November 07, 2013, 05:44:17 pm »
...and you've had the hot tap running for a little while.
That was too easy. Yes, a sink (thanks to MSX you was able to guess it quickly).
Nice to see the reflections of the vertical sides of the sink.

Oh, and by the way: you can export the file as a CSV file from Flir Tools (I attached the pic above as a CSV export in case you are interested)
« Last Edit: November 07, 2013, 05:49:59 pm by PeterK13 »
 

Offline dr.diesel

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #829 on: November 07, 2013, 06:04:02 pm »
Until this thread I had no desire to own a TIC, damn you Mike!     :)

Online mikeselectricstuffTopic starter

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #830 on: November 07, 2013, 06:09:21 pm »
By the way Mike, what do you think of the FLIR soft case that they sent to you ? Did you have to buy it or did FLIR respond to a complaint regarding the large carry case ?
They sent it to me after I sent a link to the review & bounced a few emails back & forth re. things I raised in the review.
It's a much better option than the hard case - very well made, and noy excessively padded - doesn't need it due to the internal shock protection. Apparently both cases cost them about the same, so they said they would look again at case options.
I'm a little surprised the lowest end model even includes a case at all - I doubt many people would have complained if a case was only included in E5 & up. Just a pity they included the wrong one!
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Online mikeselectricstuffTopic starter

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #831 on: November 07, 2013, 06:17:48 pm »
Interesting Mike.

One web site listed the 'Hard case' at GBP127 +VAT and the soft case at GBP17 +VAT  :-//

I will invest in a soft case  :)
Just check the version - I think the Ex0 and Ex may have a different case. ISTR it being more than that for the Ex one.
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Offline Taucher

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #832 on: November 07, 2013, 06:29:42 pm »
-snip @Case -
 Just a pity they included the wrong one!

I prefer the peli(like)case by all odds!
It would be a shame to deliver such a nice product and leave the customer alone how to store it (incl. all extra bits) once unpacked.
I'd guess everbody has a different preference on this - so if at all, then Flir could decide to offer an alternative default case option :)

Offline Taucher

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #833 on: November 07, 2013, 06:32:52 pm »
status update regarding menu-tweaking: rainbow-high-contrast working now
advance measurement options are a bit of a headache
... I have all .caps enabled - but maybe some are still missing.
to reload the config one can use the "restartapp" batch command - just give it the same time as a cold restart - plus: doesn't kill telnet :)

Offline _Sin

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #834 on: November 07, 2013, 06:34:34 pm »
Not looked in detail but I think you have to save a raw file - have seen references to this but not sure if this is supported (YET?) on the E4 and/or (the free version of) FLIR Tools

The jpg file contains a massive metadata section, containing both the webcam image as another jpg, and what I assume is the raw data as 16 bit png. I've not tried parsing it yet.
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Offline ixfd64

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #835 on: November 07, 2013, 06:35:11 pm »
Considering that so many members are ordering E4's, has anyone considered ordering a group buy?

Offline tnt

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #836 on: November 07, 2013, 06:39:43 pm »
The exiftools ( http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ ) have support for the FLIR specific meta data and you can extract them as well. As a result you get a PNG with 16 bits data in it ... except they screwed up the byte ordering and so you can't view that PNG with normal PNG viewers ...
 

Offline mrflibble

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #837 on: November 07, 2013, 06:57:56 pm »
Not looked in detail but I think you have to save a raw file - have seen references to this but not sure if this is supported (YET?) on the E4 and/or (the free version of) FLIR Tools

The jpg file contains a massive metadata section, containing both the webcam image as another jpg, and what I assume is the raw data as 16 bit png. I've not tried parsing it yet.

Yup, lots of metadata + 320x240 16-bit png + 640x480 from small camera + 320x240 thermal image.

Oh and ExifTool + ImageMagick == profit!

Also note this section:
http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/TagNames/FLIR.html

I got my E4. Shiney tooooy!  ;D For those keeping score: serial 63903xxx, and firmware 1.18.7

Oh yeah, in case anyone running linux is interested ... I made a little script that automates things a bit. You can attach your E4, run script, and then it will grab the serial number, generate E8 config file + do the CRC etc. Short version: it generates an E8_hack.fif for your specific camera. Currently you still have to use Flir Tools to run the FIF. :P

I tested it on my E4 and it worked in one go. :)


Before:
<who_cares/>

After (woohoo! 320x240):
 

Offline madpuma13

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #838 on: November 07, 2013, 07:18:54 pm »
status update regarding menu-tweaking: rainbow-high-contrast working now
advance measurement options are a bit of a headache
... I have all .caps enabled - but maybe some are still missing.
to reload the config one can use the "restartapp" batch command - just give it the same time as a cold restart - plus: doesn't kill telnet :)

Im very interested to see if you get this working along with your other menu/options youve worked out.
 

Offline mrflibble

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #839 on: November 07, 2013, 07:24:34 pm »
The exiftools ( http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/ ) have support for the FLIR specific meta data and you can extract them as well. As a result you get a PNG with 16 bits data in it ... except they screwed up the byte ordering and so you can't view that PNG with normal PNG viewers ...

Doh, didn't notice you mentioned exiftools as well. Oh well, now it's double true! exiftool is darn handy. I noticed the byte order swap in the raw png. Just checking the code for it right now, and they do try to handle byte order. Lemme see if it is user error, or a bug.
 

Offline tnt

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #840 on: November 07, 2013, 07:35:27 pm »
I think they handle the byte swap only when the data is raw and not PNG. When it's PNG, it just extracts the PNG data but you can't fix it without decompressing the PNG, fixing the byte order and re-compress ...
 

Offline mrflibble

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #841 on: November 07, 2013, 07:48:33 pm »
Correctemundo.
 

Online mikeselectricstuffTopic starter

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #842 on: November 07, 2013, 08:07:37 pm »
My sincere thanks to all who have answered my questions and who worked to create this wonderfully simple to apply hack. I know it was a time consuming task to create. Mike, I am very grateful for your videos and for sharing your knowledge. My wife may not be so happy when she see's another thermal camera arrive at the front door....I can already hear her words in my head....."haven't you already got several of those ?" and "why do you need another"  :scared:
Maybe you should point out a similar issue with shoes, handbags, etc.... ;D
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Offline mrflibble

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #843 on: November 07, 2013, 08:12:28 pm »
I think they handle the byte swap only when the data is raw and not PNG. When it's PNG, it just extracts the PNG data but you can't fix it without decompressing the PNG, fixing the byte order and re-compress ...

Right, ImageMagick to the rescue:

Code: [Select]
exiftool FLIR012345.jpg -RawThermalImage -b | convert - -interlace none -depth 16 r:- | convert -size 320x240 -interlace none -depth 16 -endian msb gray:-  problem_solved.png

Edit: and to normalize the above result for easy viewing by a human (as opposed to further processing the 16-bit result):
Code: [Select]
convert problem_solved.png -normalize -depth 8 raw_image_relative.png
« Last Edit: November 07, 2013, 08:37:39 pm by mrflibble »
 

Offline tnt

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #844 on: November 07, 2013, 08:53:34 pm »
Edit: and to normalize the above result for easy viewing by a human (as opposed to further processing the 16-bit result):
Code: [Select]
convert problem_solved.png -normalize -depth 8 raw_image_relative.png

Oh very nice. I had found the -endian option to fix the image but didn't think of using normalize to get something usable without further processing
 

Offline zapta

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #845 on: November 07, 2013, 09:50:26 pm »
Maybe you should point out a similar issue with shoes, handbags, etc.... ;D

How many shows and handbags does he have?
 

Online mikeselectricstuffTopic starter

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #846 on: November 07, 2013, 10:58:44 pm »
Re. ui fiddling for extra functions - it could be that some things are implemented but the keys aren't there to operate them
This is the help from the bt console command to simulate keys.  I haven't found anything yet that does anything other than normal keys though.
Quote
usage: bt <key>
usage: bt [flank] <named key>
bt -a <Key> <Alt>+<key>
bt -u       Joystick up    button
bt -d          -"-   down  button
bt -l          -"-   left  button
bt -r          -"-   right button
bt -e  <Enter>     key
bt -t  <Tab>       key
bt -c  <Esc>       key
bt -b  <Backspace> key
bt -    Minus
bt f1 - Left  function button
bt f2 - Right function button
bt -g - Laser    button
bt -s - Snapshot button
bt -o - Open (recall) image button
bt -p - Power on/off button
bt u1 - User button 1
bt u2 - User button 2
bt -m - Mode button
bt -f - Freeze button
bt -v - View mode button (IR/DC/Fusion)
bt -k - Toggle button (Viewfinder/LCD)
bt -A - Manual|Auto button
bt --   Adjust left key
bt -+   Adjust right key
bt -*   Adjust press key
bt -P  <named key> Press flank
bt -R  <named key> Release flank
bt af - Auto focus button
bt ai - focus in button
bt ao - focus out button
bt zn - Zoom near button
bt zf - Zoom far button
Character and number keys used as they are
Just bt will send a <Space>
 ------             ------
 | f1 |    -----    | f2 |
 ------    |-u |    ------
           -----
      -----     -----
      |-l |     |-r |
      -----     -----
           -----
  -----    |-d |    -----
  |-o |    -----    |-p |
  -----    -----    -----
           |-g |  (Laser)
           -----
           -----
           |-s | (Snapshot)
           -----

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Offline Taucher

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #847 on: November 07, 2013, 11:16:20 pm »
Re. ui fiddling for extra functions - it could be that some things are implemented but the keys aren't there to operate them
This is the help from the bt console command to simulate keys.  I haven't found anything yet that does anything other than normal keys though.

@buttons - yes, even documented in T559504$A.pdf - chapter 2.4.2.1 - most features are pretty useless

Currently I'm on deciphering what starts what... as far as I got it seems that appcore spawns approx. 34 threads - at least one of them is facet, which builds up the menu according to a set of binary and xml data files... I'd love to add the missing icons somehow... but didn't even find where the icons reside... $%&/! compiled in ressources...

and while I'm writing: the rset/rdump tools are obviously made to ignore the "caps" tree - except one adresses an element directly :)


Online mikeselectricstuffTopic starter

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #848 on: November 07, 2013, 11:25:01 pm »
Re. ui fiddling for extra functions - it could be that some things are implemented but the keys aren't there to operate them
This is the help from the bt console command to simulate keys.  I haven't found anything yet that does anything other than normal keys though.

@buttons - yes, even documented in T559504$A.pdf - chapter 2.4.2.1 - most features are pretty useless

Currently I'm on deciphering what starts what... as far as I got it seems that appcore spawns approx. 34 threads - at least one of them is facet, which builds up the menu according to a set of binary and xml data files... I'd love to add the missing icons somehow... but didn't even find where the icons reside... $%&/! compiled in ressources...

and while I'm writing: the rset/rdump tools are obviously made to ignore the "caps" tree - except one adresses an element directly :)
I think rdump will display caps.
BTW rls has a -lll option that shows permissions etc. which may be handy
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Offline kotaKat

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Re: Flir E4 Thermal imaging camera teardown
« Reply #849 on: November 07, 2013, 11:35:03 pm »
Well, I was talking to a coworker about the mod and apparently on a whim it prompted him to buy it -- and me to do the hack! ;D

Just to note, the e4hack3a.zip file doesn't have the camera.cmd file -- I had to pull it from my "backup" copy of e4hack3.zip.

I couldn't get the subject matter I had to stay still, so here's two shots to add to the before/after pool.
My lovely dog in 80x60+MSX:

The heating and (sadly empty) beer and soda fridge in 320x240+MSX:
 


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