Thermal Myth No.2 ~ 'The technology is difficult to understand, and requires specialist knowledge'

Anyone who can install or work with a conventional CCTV camera will find that they easily get to grips with thermals. The obvious difference is that thermal cameras work by capturing images in a different part of the electro-magnetic spectrum to visible light – an infra-red wavelength that our eyes can’t see. This part of the spectrum may be invisible but there’s nothing mysterious about it.
 

In fact many of the key installation considerations are the same. For example, thermal cameras need to be set up, powered and linked to a network just like any other camera, and they produce composite video signals which have the same transmission requirements as ordinary CCTV data.

Once the system is up and working, easy adjustments can be made to the way that thermal signals are translated into visible pictures, tailoring the output to the user’s requirements. Again, it’s not difficult to master. 

And the units don’t require special handling. Good ones are robust, as you’d expect from products that originated in military applications, and their cores are as well protected as the CCDs in CCTV cameras.