Thermal Master P2 miniature thermal camera dongle upcoming review

[Fraser]

Thermal Master are sending me a sample of their “P2” camera for testing. The dongle is said to weigh only 10g and is available in Android and Apple iOS versions. It will be interesting to test this little dongle and I shall post an unbiased review of it on this forum. I have no connection or obligation to Thermalmaster but they like the detailed and honest reviews that I have posted on this forum. It is nice to hear from a company that still appreciates written technical reviews rather than wanting just YouTube videos from “Influencers” 

The cameras resolution is 256 x 192, the common entry point resolution for thermal imaging cores. Temperature measurement range is stated as -10 Celsius to +600 Celsius. This makes the camera useful for monitoring PCB soldering temperatures if desired. Measurement accuracy is stated as +/-1.5%. As is now standard with most thermal cameras coming out of China these days, it has a decent frame rate of 25fps.

Details of the camera dongle may be found here

https://thermalmaster.com/products/thermal-master-p2

I previously produced a review of the Infiray P2 Pro and this may be found here……

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/thermal-imaging/review-infiray-p2-pro-thermal-camera-dongle-for-android-mobile-phones/

Watch this space for the Thermal Master P2 review

[Fraser]

The Thermal Master P2 arrived this morning.

I shall start testing it but see that there are already video reviews on YouTube to watch if you want an early look at the cameras performance. Its protective case is a very nice included accessory to protect it. The Infiray P2 lacked such protection so you had to buy a little hard case and modify it.

https://youtu.be/aNM12S6xKtM?si=VDuJfdA6RLQqdU_0

https://youtu.be/wfXSvezOAg4?si=BeFOTUFI5L3jBIIP

From the above review video I noted evidence of some pretty heavy image processing but I shall investigate that aspect of the camera and it’s Android App during testing. Much is being made of “AI” image processing these days, but I tend to ignore marketing speak and judge a camera by the actual images that it produces. Image processing has always been needed on microbolometer based thermal cameras in order to improve the produced images and to reduce noise content. Anything that improves image quality whilst not removing desired detail and measurement accuracy is welcomed. Traditional DSP image processing had to achieve a very delicate balance of producing a “pretty picture” whilst not destroying fine detail in the process. I am interested to see how the Thermal Master P2 performs in this respect. I have multiple models of Samsung mobile phone with which to test this camera and its App. My P2 review for the EEVBlog forum will follow in due course

Fraser

[Michaelplease11]

Is thermal master the same company  as infiray/xinfrared?

[Fraser]

They have told me that they are a different company. I have some thoughts on that but will keep them to myself.

Fraser

[artag]

There seems to be some competition to create the 'smallest camera'. I'm unconvinced that that's critically important - while it's a smaller thing to carry it doesn't seem to greatly improve the convenience as there's still no obvious way to carry the camera without losing it, or to prevent damage when plugged into a phone. The case you mention seems more of an acknowledgement that there's a problem than a serious attempt to solve it.

Engineering is usually a compromise, though. I'd be interested to hear of any disadvantages - or, indeed, advantages - that occur as a result of this choice.
 

[thm_w]

Its just more marketing fuel, seems completely unnecessary to make it that small horizontally.

They even claim this: "The only thermal camera for phone with zoom. Two-finger slide of the screen for 1-15x zoom."
Really, 15x optical zoom lens in that thing? I doubt.

[HumbleDeer]

Really, 15x optical zoom lens in that thing? I doubt.

I do not see the company advertising 15x optical zoom. I just see 15x zoom. It's most definitely digital zoom, and still useful together with the overlaying if you combine it with your phone camera. That's one of the things that's drawing parallels with the InfiRay one.

It seems mostly the same hardware, as it uses the same Realtek chipset and as such has the same USB VID/PID. It would be surprising to me if the innerds were elsewhere so much different from the InfiRay P2 Pro. Other than that the macro lens isn't interchangable, which I find to be an absolute d""" move, as they know just as well as we do that the two have a striking resemblance beyond just coincidence.

[thm_w]

Really, 15x optical zoom lens in that thing? I doubt.

I do not see the company advertising 15x optical zoom. I just see 15x zoom. It's most definitely digital zoom, and still useful together with the overlaying if you combine it with your phone camera. That's one of the things that's drawing parallels with the InfiRay one.

Advertising digital zoom was a scummy thing to do 20 years ago. Zero reason to do it today.