A thermal camera not only outperforms a visible light camera in dark scenarios – it is also a great tool for detecting people and objects in 24/7 surveillance, from pitch dark areas to a sunlit parking lot.
Figure 1: Visible light camera to the left and thermal camera to the right.
Figure 2: Visible light camera to the left and thermal camera to the right.
A thermal camera is less sensitive to problems associated with lighting conditions, such as shadows, backlight, darkness and even camouflaged objects; the thermal camera just keeps on performing. The images above were taken on a sunny day, and they compare a 1280x800 visible light camera (images on the left) to a 640x480 thermal camera (images on the right). The person is detected by the thermal camera, but is hardly visible in the visible light camera image.
