I have just seen an advert on Aliexpress for the BSIDE SH7 thermal camera multimeter combination. I was suspicious of the claimed spaecification as the asking price was too low and a 1:1 aspect ratio was shown for the thermal image. I immediately suspected that the SH7 contains a 96x96 pixel microbolometer that is upscaled to the claimed 320x320 pixel resolution displayed on the LCD display.
A close look at the various statements and specifications of the SH7 showed multiple claims that the unit had a 320x320 pixel thermal imaging capability and one statement suggested that the sensor is 320x320 pixels. The mistake that this manufacturer made was to provide the FOV and resultant IFOV. The FOV is 50 degrees and the IFOV is 8.89mrads. The maths of that combination provides a pixel count of 96 and not 320 ! These claims of 320x320 thermal resolution are very misleading and designed to deceive the buyer. Even the images shown on the screen of the SH7 look to be fake.
Please be careful when buying budget thermal cameras or equipment containing thermal cameras. If they appear to be a bargain price, look very carefully at the description text and specifications and try to determine whether the claimed thermal resolution is true or not. If a microbolometer thermal camera has a 1:1 aspect ratio, be very suspicious if the resolution is claimed to be higher than 96x96 pixels. There is a 96x96 pixel core available for budget thermal cameras and it is finding its way into a lot of low end equipment. HikMicro offer thermal cameras that use this microbolometer BUT they are very honest about the true resolution and the fact that they upscale the image before display. BSIDE appear to be content with deceiving potential buyers when it comes to their equipments thermal imaging resolution. Not a company I would want to do business with and there are many others doing similarly in the budget thermal camera marketplace. Do be on your guard.
Fraser
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