Does this new Seek Thermal imager work with that old Seek Thermal PC software?

[Ben321]

It seems that recently Seek Thermal has released the Seek CompactPro, which is a true 320x240 thermal imager attachment for cellphones. As with previous variants, the Pro is available in both Android and iOS versions. I remember a while back, on this site there was PC software (based on knowledge gathered from reverse engineering of the original Seek Thermal camera) posted on a thread about the Seek. It's on this page https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/yet-another-cheap-thermal-imager-incoming/2275/ as a post attachment, and is in a zip file called SeekThermal_006.zip (in the folder executable_debug, within this zip file). Also, there's this software in the zip file SeekOFix-v0_4-Executable.zip in a post attachment on this thread https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/seekofix-new-windows-software-for-seekthermal/25/
There may be a couple others too.

I'm wondering if any of the above mentioned software works with the new Seek CompactPro. And if it does, does it take advantage of the full 320x240 resolution, or does it only work with the old Seek's resolution of 208x156 (resulting in small images, or even corrupt images, when used with the CompactPro)? Has anybody tested that yet? Also, has anybody yet made new PC software designed for the Seek CompactPro?

[joe-c]

the CompactPro was to expensive for me yet.
but i am interested to help to get it working with the SeekThermal_006.
maybe its just a simple thing (just change the resolution values)... does it have a "patent pattern" too?

have you a pro Version to try?

[frenky]

For SeekOFix I can tell you that it was never made with 320x240 sensors in mind.
So even if you would get an image out it would most likely be corrupted.

I have put source code of latest version here: https://github.com/frenkinet/SeekOFix
It shouldn't be to hard to change it to support 320x240 resolution.

[Ben321]

the CompactPro was to expensive for me yet.
but i am interested to help to get it working with the SeekThermal_006.
maybe its just a simple thing (just change the resolution values)... does it have a "patent pattern" too?

have you a pro Version to try?

I don't know if it has that pattern, or anything else. I also don't have the CompactPro. What does surprise me a bit, is that nobody else on this website seems to have a Seek CompactPro. I thought that since most of the people on EEVBLOG are electronics hobbyists (a hobby in which a common piece of equipment is an oscilloscope, which can cost about $2000 for a decent one) that surely the people here would have enough money to afford a $500 thermal camera to test with software, for the purpose of helping the overall community know which hardware works with which software, and helping the software developers to improve their software.

[Kilrah]

Electronics hobbyists and engineers alre also pretty clever... and if you look around you'll see the Seek is not an interesting price/value compromise.
Too poor for its price, much better options available for little more money. So those who are ready to shell out that amount won't get one, they'll get something better.

There is at least one person who has one on the forum, but I imagine the devs know better.

[Ben321]

Electronics hobbyists and engineers alre also pretty clever... and if you look around you'll see the Seek is not an interesting price/value compromise.
Too poor for its price, much better options available for little more money. So those who are ready to shell out that amount won't get one, they'll get something better.

There is at least one person who has one on the forum, but I imagine the devs know better.

I know there were complaints about the quality of the original Seek Thermal, but I don't think the Pro has those quality issues (at least from the pics I've seen on their website).
A for getting a better quality device for "little more" money, I don't consider $3000 to be a "little more" than $500. The cheapest thermal imaging camera with a 320x240 actual thermal resolution (not talking upscaling here, but rather an actual VOX 320x240 microbolometer array chip as the thermal sensor), other than the Seek CompactPro, is the FLIR E8, which costs approximately $3000. So at $500, the Seek CompactPro is BY FAR the CHEAPEST 320x240 thermal imager EVER. No other company even comes CLOSE to matching that price. Now maybe you are rich (maybe you work in the computer tech industry making $100 an hour), so you think that $3000 is only a "little more" than $500, but I think that the VAST MAJORITY of people will tell you that $3000 is MUCH more than $500. In fact, 3000 is SIX TIMES 500. That is a LOT. No way in the world would I EVER buy an E8.

[joe-c]

So at $500, the Seek CompactPro is BY FAR the CHEAPEST 320x240 thermal imager EVER
...
No other company even comes CLOSE to matching that price.

really?

i get my Thermal Expert for round about 600 euro (including shipping and TAX). And that deliver 384x288 with low noise.

[Fraser]

Ben321,

You write with great passion and like capitalisation. This can come across poorly. Please do not make assumptions about others finances, it appears rude. You have already suggested that people on this forum buy a Thermal camera just to help others know more about a particular model. That comes across as an 'unusual' attitude.

Whilst I appreciate your passion for the topic, you may wish to tone down the 'attitude' a little in order to get the information you desire.

Regarding the E8 ........ the present path to quality self contained 320 x 240 pixel resolution is to buy and upgrade a non Wi-Fi version of the E4. Still the best route for such self contained 320 x 240 camera ownership.

Keysight are currently selling off 160 x 120 pixel resolution U5855a cameras at around $450. The cameras have a super resolution image stacking mode to emulate 320 x 240 pixel resolution but the jury is out on its effectiveness.

The Thermal Expert Q1 is a very nice camera in that it produces great mages. It has the disadvantage of needing a mobile phone host but I buy such mobile phones cheaply on eBay with SIM or phone faults that do not effect the normal 'computer', display and Wi-Fi operation. I normally buy a Motorola Moto G for less than £20.

The SEEK cameras are improving with each generation but they are still a relatively poor performer compared to others. Image noise content and minimum perceptible themperature difference is still poor. The cheapest is not always a good reason to buy an item as spending a little more can provide a far superior user experience.

Ultimately it is your money and your choice. Please do not expect others to buy poor or marginal quality cameras to enable you to learn about them though. It just is not going to happen as those likely to buy, like me, have already experienced SEEK products and likely do not wish to repeat the experience any time soon.

I bought a SATIR MinIR80 thermal camera to investigate and report on its performance. It turned out to be a poor performer in spite of decent optics and a ULIS 160 x 120 microbolometer. It cost me £120 so not the end of the world but I will not be doing such research for the forum again as it makes no financial sense now that I am retired.

I hope you find what you are looking for and please do not take my comments as a criticism of you personally. I just wanted to let you know that some of your posts appear a little 'forward' and 'demanding' likely due to your writing in another language. Your posts do not annoy me, just some make me cringe a little with the wording used. I think you are around 25 years old so still pretty young...... the world dances to nobody's tune and expecting it to do so will lead to disappointment.

All the best

Fraser

[Kilrah]

A for getting a better quality device for "little more" money, I don't consider $3000 to be a "little more" than $500.

Thermal Expert Q1 has better resolution (384x288), much higher image quality/lower noise, interchangeable lens options, and costs $100 more than a Seek Pro. They also happen to have a 640x480 imager that's priced around what you took as a poor reference for 320x240.

The least you could do before shouting at people is do a bit of research, you seem to be very interested in the subject but completely ignore what you'd have found in a few minutes. Shows some "dedication"...

[Ben321]

A for getting a better quality device for "little more" money, I don't consider $3000 to be a "little more" than $500.

Thermal Expert Q1 has better resolution (384x288), much higher image quality/lower noise, interchangeable lens options, and costs $100 more than a Seek Pro. They also happen to have a 640x480 imager that's priced around what you took as a poor reference for 320x240.

The least you could do before shouting at people is do a bit of research, you seem to be very interested in the subject but completely ignore what you'd have found in a few minutes. Shows some "dedication"...

Anybody have an actual price list for the Thermal Expert cameras (preferably in USDollars, not Euros; I mention this as I noticed a few people around here quoting a few prices but only in Euros, not dollars)?

Also, has anybody reverse engineered any of the Thermal Expert cameras, the way that they originally reverse engineered the Seek Thermal camera? And if so, did they write any Windows software that will work with any of the Thermal Expert cameras, in the way that they have already written Windows software that works with the Seek Thermal camera?

My end goal here is to get a thermal imager that I can connect to the PC, and get a raw image stream from the camera using Windows software. Now most cameras that do this are dedicated scientific thermal imagers (costing well over $10000), but when I hear about reverse engineering efforts on imagers that were never intended to be used to stream live raw video stream to a PC (only a smart phone), then that peaks my interest. However I have heard nothing about any reverse engineering efforts or software writing efforts, regarding any of the Thermal Expert devices. This is why I'm tending to consider buying a Seek CompactPro (assuming anybody who wrote software for the original Seek Thermal camera has gone on to upgrade that software to the Seek CompactPro), or if needed I may just buy an original Seek Thermal camera (now called the Seek Compact). I don't want to spend even a penny on a thermal smartphone attachment, if it has not yet been reverse engineered, and if there is no Windows software for acquiring a live raw video stream from it.

[frenky]

All the info that you seek was already posted on this forum:

Prices:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/first-timer-thermal-camera/msg1083002/#msg1083002

Basic win app demo with source:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/i3-thermalexpert-custom-software/msg1054983/#msg1054983

Fully featured win software:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/freeware-software-for-thermal-analysis-thermovision_joec/

[Kilrah]

Thermal Expert provide drivers a Windows software and an SDK, so either that could suit your use directly or you could probably use one of the apps that others have unsurprisingly already written using the SDK (when a product is good people are much more likely to invest efforts in it...) - or you can write your own.

For the prices... see above, I hope you're able to either add 2 numbers together, use an online currency converter or even better yet write an email.

[Fraser]

i asked for a quote a week ago and can confirm that the prices are still the same.

TE-Q1 is $499
TE-Q1 Pro is $599
Accessory kit is $80

The lens used on the Pro camera is available as an accessory as well. Price is $180.

Fraser

[Ben321]

i asked for a quote a week ago and can confirm that the prices are still the same.

TE-Q1 is $499
TE-Q1 Pro is $599
Accessory kit is $80

The lens used on the Pro camera is available as an accessory as well. Price is $180.

Fraser

I'm not sure your info is accurate. It does not cost $499 (499 dollars), it might cost 499 euros or 499 pounds, but certainly not 499 dollars. I just checked the price myself (emailed them about a week ago, and finally heard back). The price list has the TE-Q1 with 6.8mm lens at $995, and for the TE-Q1 with 13mm lens it costs $1095. And if you want to get the TE-Q1 Pro, it costs $1195 with the 6.8mm lens, and $1295 with the 13mm lens. The V1 (640x480 imager) costs $3999, and only is available with one lens option, a 19mm lens (though other lenses can be purchased separately).