Thermal camera cores: Best in price-per-pixel

[David1234]

I've been doing a lot of work lately with FPGAs and different low-end thermal camera cores like the Lepton2, Lepton 3, and the Seek thermal camera. I think myself and others would greatly benefit from a table that lists everything currently on the market sorted by price-per-pixel. I'll start with what I have and update the table when additional models are specified.

Model	Resolution	price	price-per-pixel	Notes	Link
Seek compact	206x156	$170	$0.005	-	https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NYWAHHM
Therm-app	384x288	$1,010	$0.009	-	https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O7HUJSK
Lepton 3	160x120	$240	$0.013	-	https://www.digikey.com/products/en?keywords=500-0726-01
Lepton 2	80x60	$183	$0.038	-	https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/flir/500-0659-01/500-0659-01-ND/5215153

What else exists in the $300-$1,000 range? It doesn't matter if they are made to be interfaced with by the public (like the Lepton). The use of an oscilloscope and the flexibility of FPGAs takes care of that problem.

-David

[marshallh]

Higher resolution doesn't equate to better image quality. For example, you'd think the Seek would be better than the Flir One G3 but it is vastly inferior. The die is even smaller so each pixel resolves less discernible information. It also has severe noise issues.
And of course, the NEC Avio 160x120 sensors blow away the 160x120 Leptons. (at many times the price)

Purchase price seems to be the best indicator. You get what you pay for.

[CatalinaWOW]

Metrics depend on the application, and it is rare that a single parameter is adequate for comparison.  I can imagine some applications in which pixel count would be dominant, with no concern for noise, frame rate, physical dimensions and possibly even cost.  Most common applications care about noise and dynamic range, but often have different demands on each.

The idea of a comparison table is good, but it will require many columns, and much work to interpret and keep up to date.

[David1234]

Metrics depend on the application, and it is rare that a single parameter is adequate for comparison.  I can imagine some applications in which pixel count would be dominant, with no concern for noise, frame rate, physical dimensions and possibly even cost.  Most common applications care about noise and dynamic range, but often have different demands on each.

The idea of a comparison table is good, but it will require many columns, and much work to interpret and keep up to date.

What else exists in the $300-$1,000 range?

[frenky]

i3system ThermalExpert modules. http://www.i3-thermalexpert.com/

ThermalExpert  Q1 (384x284) with 6.8mm lens: $500
ThermalExpert  Q1 Plus (384x284) with 13mm lens: $600
ThermalExpert  Q1 Pro (384x284) with 6.8mm lens and wider temp range: $700
ThermalExpert  V1 (640x480) with 19mm lens: $3000

This are prices directly from manufacturer. US prices are approximatly multiplied by 2.